Afshan Saleem
Bahria University
Karachi, Pakistan
Institutions of higher education, and the system of which they are a
part, face a host of unprecedented challenges from forces in society
that affect and are influenced by these very institutions and their
communities of learners and educators. Among these forces are sweeping
demographic changes, shrinking state budgets, revolutionary advances in
information and telecommunication technologies, globalization,
competition from new educational providers, market pressures to shape
educational and scholarly practices toward profit-driven ends, and
increasing demands and pressures for fundamental changes in public
policy and public accountability relative to higher education’s role in
addressing pressing issues of communities and the society at large.
Anyone of these challenges would be significant on their own, but
collectively they increase the complexity and difficulty for higher
education to sustain or advance the fundamental work of serving the
public good.
Through a forum on higher education, we can agree to:
- Strengthening the relationship between higher education and society will require a broad-based effort that encompasses all of higher education, not just individual institutions, departments and associations.
- Piecemeal solutions can only go so far; strategies for change must be informed by a shared vision and a set of common objectives.
- A “movement” approach for change holds greater promise for transforming academic culture than the prevailing “organizational” approach.
- Mobilizing change will require strategic alliances, networks, and partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders within and beyond higher education.
The Common Agenda is specifically designed to support a “movement”
approach to change by encouraging the emergence of strategic alliances
among individuals and organizations who care about higher education’s
role in advancing the ideals of a diverse democracy through higher
education’s practices, relationships and service to society.
A Common Agenda
The Common Agenda is intended to be a "living" document and
an open process that guides collective action and learning among
committed partners within and outside of higher education. As a living document, the Common Agenda is
a collection of focused activity aimed at advancing higher education's
civic, social, and cultural roles in society. This collaboratively
created, implemented, and focused Common Agenda respects the
diversity of activity and programmatic foci of individuals,
institutions, and networks, as well as recognizes the common interests
of the whole. As an open process, the Common Agenda
is a structure for connecting work and relationships around common
interests focusing on higher education’s role in serving society.
Various modes of aliening and amplifying the common work within and
beyond higher education will be provided within the Common Agenda process.
This approach is understandably ambitious and unique in its purpose and application. Ultimately, the Common Agenda challenges
the system of higher education, and those who view higher education as
vital to addressing society's pressing issues, to act deliberately,
collectively, and clearly on an evolving and significant set of
commitments to society. Currently, four broad issue areas are shaping
the focus of the Common Agenda: 1) Building public
understanding and support for higher education’s civic mission and
actions; 2) Cultivating networks and partnerships;
3) Infusing and reinforcing the value of civic responsibility into
the culture of higher education institutions; and 4) Embedding civic
engagement and social responsibility in the structure of the higher
education system
Vision
We have a vision of higher education that nurtures individual
prosperity, institutional responsiveness and inclusivity, and societal
health by promoting and practicing learning, scholarship, and engagement
that respects public needs.
Our colleges and universities are proactive and responsive to
pressing social, ethical, and economic problems facing our communities
and greater society. Our students and graduates are people of integrity
who embrace diversity and are socially responsible and civically engaged
throughout their lives.
Mission
The purpose of the Common Agenda is to provide a framework for
organizing, guiding and communicating the values and practices of higher
education relative to its civic, social and economic commitments to a
diverse democracy.
Guiding Principles
We believe social justice, ethics, educational equity, and societal
change for positive effects are fundamental to the work of higher
education.
We consider the relationship between communities and higher education
institutions to be based on the values of equally, respect and
reciprocity, and the work in higher education to be interdependent with
the other institutions and individuals in society.
We will seek and rely on extensive partnerships with all types of
institutions and devoted individuals inside and outside of higher
education.
We realize the interconnection of politics, power and privilege. The
Common Agenda is not for higher education to self-serve, but to “walk
the talk” relative to espoused public goals.
We understand the Common Agenda as a dynamic living document, and expect the activities it encompasses to change over time.
The Common agenda Framework
The general framework for the common agenda is represented in the
following diagram. It is clear that while goals and action items are
organized and aliened within certain issues areas, there is considerable
overlap and complimentarity among the issues, goals and action items.
Also, following each action item are names of individuals who committed
to serve as “point persons” for that particular item. A list of “point
persons,” with their organizational affiliation(s) is included with the
common agenda.
Issues, goals, and action Items
ISSUE 1: BUILDING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION’S CIVIC MISSION AND ACTIONS
Public understanding more and more equates higher education benefits
with acquiring a “good job” and receiving “higher salaries.” To
understand and support the full benefits of higher education the public
and higher education leaders need to engage in critical and honest
discussions about the role of higher education in society.
Goal: Develop a common language that resonates both inside and outside the academy.
Action Items:
- Develop a common language and themes about higher education's role and responsibility to the public good, through discussions with a broader public.
- Collect scholarship on public good, examine themes and identify remaining questions.
- Develop a national awareness of the importance of higher education for the public good through the development of marketing efforts.
Goal: Promote effective and broader discourse.
Action Items:
- Raise public awareness about the institutional diversity within and between higher education institutions.
- Identify strategies for engaging alumni associations for articulating public good and building bridges between higher education and the various public sector companies.
- Develop guidelines of discourse to improve the quality of dialogue on every level of society.
- Organize a series of civil dialogues with various public sectors about higher education and the public good.
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ISSUE 2: Cultivating Networks and Partnerships
Approaching complex issues such as higher education’s role in society
requires a broad mix of partners to create strategies and actions that
encompass multiple valued perspectives and experiences.
Broad partnerships to strengthen the relationship between higher
education and society involves working strategically with those within
and outside of higher education to achieve mutual goals on behalf of the
public good.
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Goal: Create broad and dispersed communication systems and processes.
Action Items:
- Create an information and resource network across higher education associations
- Create information processes that announce relevant conferences, recruit presenters and encourage presentations in appropriate national conferences
- Develop opportunities for information sharing and learning within and between various types of postsecondary institutions (e.g. research-centered communities.
Goal: Generate and support strategic alliances and diverse collaborations.
Action Items:
- Establish and support on-going partnerships and collaborations between higher education associations, postsecondary institutions and the external community (e.g. civic organizations, legislators, community members)
- Explore with the public how to employ the role of arts in advancing higher education for the public good
- Promote collaboration between higher education and to address access, retention, and graduation concerns
ISSUE 3: INFUSING AND REINFORCING THE VALUE OF CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY INTO THE CULTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
There is a separation and imbalance among traditional research,
teaching and service in higher education. Higher Education should attend
to the implicit and explicit consequences of its work, and reexamine
“what counts” to integrate research, teaching and service for the public
good to the core working of the institution.
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Goal: Emphasize civic skills and leadership development in the curriculum and co-curriculum.
Action Items:
- Develop and implement a curriculum in colleges and universities that promote civic engagement of students
- Create co-curricular student and community programs for leadership and civic engagement development
- Develop learning opportunities, inside and outside of the classroom, that promote liberty, democratic responsibility, social justice and knowledge of the economic system
- Develop student leadership and service opportunities that focus on ethical behavior
- Teach undergraduate students organizing and networking skills, and encourage student leadership and activism
- Diversity education
Goal: Foster a deeper commitment to the public good within the professorate.
Action Items:
- Work with faculty on communication skills and languages to describe their engagement with the public, and educate faculty for the common good
- Identify models for promotion and tenure standards
- Identify models for faculty development
Goal: Identify, recognize, and support engaged scholarship.
Action Items:
- Identify and disseminate models and exemplars of scholarship on the pubic good
- Encourage the participation in community research
- Help institutions call attention to exemplary outreach
- Establish a capacity building effort for institutions
Goal: Bring graduate education into alignment with the civic mission.
Action Items:
- Work with disciplinary associations to hold dialogues on ways graduate student training can incorporate public engagement, involvement and service
- Promote “civic engagement” within academic and professional disciplines according to the disciplines’ definition of “civic engagement”
- Incorporate the concept of higher education for the public good into current graduate education reform efforts
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ISSUE 4: Embedding civic engagement and social responsibility in the structure of The higher education system
Promoting the public benefits of higher education requires system
efforts beyond institutions to intentionally embed values of civic
engagement and social responsibility in governance practices, policy
decisions, and educational processes.
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Goal: Align governing structures and administrative strategies.
Action Items:
- Develop ways to improve student and the community involvement in the governance and decision making process of higher education institutions.
- Identify and promote ways for institutions to improve involvement with the public and the practice of democracy within their own institution.
- Establish public good/civic engagement units that orchestrate this work throughout institutions.
Goal: Publicly recognize and support valuable engagement work.
Action Items:
- Offer public awards that reward institutions with demonstrable track record in serving the public good in order to encourage institutionalization of performance around the public good and civic engagement.
- Develop a comprehensive inventory of funding sources, association activities, initiatives, and exemplary practices that advance the public good.
- Identify, recognize, and support early career scholars who choose to do research on higher education's public good role in society.
Goal: Ensure that assessment and accreditation processes include civic engagement and social responsibility criteria.
Action Items:
- Identify service to the public good as a key component in provincial and federal educational plans (e.g. Master Plans, state budgets, professional associations).
- Bring higher education associations and legislators together to broaden current definition of student outcomes and achievement, and develop a plan for assessment.
- Develop strategies and processes to refocus system-wide planning, accreditation and evaluation agendas to consider criteria assessing the social, public benefits of higher education.
Goal: Cultivate stronger ties between the university and government.
Action Items:
- Develop a 3-year implementation plan that joins college and university rector / Pro-Rector and Director with provincial legislators to engage in an assessment of the needs of the public by province
- Host a series of dialogues between trustees and provincial legislators to discuss the role of universities and public policy in advancing public good at a local, state, and national level.
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