http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20061107.F04&irec=3
Commercialization of the country's higher education Eko Budihardjo, Semarang The rector of a prominent state university once said vigorously, "My main task as a rector is to raise funds and obtain money". Most of the audience were stunned by his statement, including myself. I remembered again the rector's remark, when I finished reading a book by Derek Bok, Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education (Princeton University Press, 2003). The author pointed out that the commercialization of higher education in the United States has a long history, beginning in the early 1900s, when the fast growth of football teams in many universities provided significant financial benefits to the institutions. University sports have seen football coaches and players earn similar salaries to those of professors. This strategy was followed by the use of universities' names for commercial products -- an even more rewarding practice. The roles of universities in the United States have certainly shifted from non-profit knowledge centers to profit-oriented institutions. But this change has been criticized by many people. The tendency to commercialize higher education is now spreading to Indonesia. A national newspaper early last month pointed out that all state universities will soon be managed under a privatization model. That model was clearly mentioned in the draft law on educational institutions, which is currently being reviewed by the office of the State Secretariat before it is submitted to the House of Representatives. However, the main mission of higher education -- to establish an intellectual community, provide opportunities for vertical and horizontal mobility, ensure social justice and equal access to education, and discover "truths" through research -- must be safeguarded and not contaminated by narrow commercial pressures. It is worth contemplating the harsh criticism of the U.S. model by Frank Newman in his book titled The Future of Higher Education (2004) in which he states: "The search of truth in higher education is now rivaled by the search for revenues". One may agree with the government's intention through the law to ensure state and private universities have greater autonomy and prioritize the management of financial and human resources, technology, and bureaucracy. One may also concur with state endeavors to increase higher education quality through assurance, performance accountability, competition, and instituting a meritocracy. However, it is this author's and many others' opinion that state and private universities should not ever be forced into a commercial battle where students are perceived more as consumers and research and education are "products" or commodities. Jennifer Washburn in University Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Basic Books, 2005) argues that in the last two decades the forces of commercial and business have penetrated almost all aspects of academic life. Higher education institutes are inclined to act as for-profit factories, while professors act more like businessmen than academics. We must bear in mind that in the infamous case of Enron Corporation, several professors from Harvard Business School were paid high consulting fees to publish the outcome of studies that were full of lies and manipulations of facts. This led to the Harvard Alumni Association, which is integrated with Harvard Watch, requesting Harvard University make an open apology to the people of the United States for its involvement. Blending education and profit will only alienate the millions of people that continue to believe in the integrity and sincerity of the academic community. The U.S. lesson here is a valuable one. Higher education should always be ready to go through change but these transformations should not derail the functions of education as a public good. The writer is the rector of Diponegoro University in Semarang [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
