Madam, - Dr Edward Walsh (Opinion, September 13th) offers a trenchant analysis of the need for reform in the governance of our universities. He is right in his assertion that the governing authorities of the universities - whose basic structure has not changed in a century - are not up to the task of dealing with the pace of change required today.
However, I would quibble with the emphasis he places on the central role that "hard-nosed" business people should play in future governance structures. In addressing their responsibilities to the "knowledge-driven economy" universities will certainly have to be run in a business-like manner. But they are not businesses.
The measure of excellence in business is the profit and loss account, but excellence in a university is not so easily defined. It does not consist solely of measurable outputs; the contribution of a university to society is greater than the sum of its parts. The university's mission of opening and expanding the minds of students and of pursuing knowledge for its own sake must not be sidelined in a single-minded search for efficiency.
It is important that those who direct the policy and governance of our universities have the capacity to preserve a balance between the need for efficiency and the preservation of the fundamental values of a university. These objectives are not incompatible. - Yours, etc.,
JOYCE ANDREWS, Goatstown Road, Dublin 14.
Madam, - Dr Edward Walsh favours university governance by hard-nosed and distinguished leaders of enterprise and the professions.
It should be remarked, however, that in the survey he quotes the only non-American universities in the top 10 (Oxford and Cambridge) both happen to have a long and continuing tradition of self-governance by academics.
Moreover, the Irish university which fares best in the survey, Trinity, also happens to be the one with the strongest tradition of self-governance by academics. - Yours etc.,
DAVID SIMMS., Gilford Road, Dublin 4