There are many potentially devilish details to identify and consider. It's not clear to me from David's scenario that founding a university is a good investment. The chance that a developing country can begin producing competitive academic-theoretical expertise in petroleum or hard mineral extraction, processing or marketing seems remote. That expertise is already for sale. Ecotourism and cultural tourism aspirations aren't necessarily best served by instituting degree programs. Before attending to structural and curricular details, I'd want the powers that be (and/or those willing to finance a university) to explain in very clear terms what THEIR vision of the country's future looks like, why they think founding a university would help them realize that vision, and how long they expect their heirs and assigns to remain in charge.
Matthew K Chew Arizona State University School of Life Sciences ASU Center for Biology & Society PO Box 873301 Tempe, AZ 85287-3301 USA Tel 480.965.8422 Fax 480.965.8330 [email protected] or [email protected] http://cbs.asu.edu/people/profiles/chew.php http://asu.academia.edu/MattChew
