What Should Be Done?
Michael J. Schimpf
Let me start with countries such as the Czech Republic. There, the governments and intellectuals have to face the fact that they need to increase the quality and impact of their universities and other institutions that allow them to reap the benefits of globalization, by this I mean the institutions of a civil society. In terms of universities, the measures that are needed include (1) improving quality by tying funding to performance, and (2) enabling more students to enroll by allocating significant resources to education. Globalization accentuates differences. Unless countries such as the Czech Republic make these types of adjustments, they will not reap the benefits of globalization. They will be left out. In line with President Havel’s emphasis on the need to integrate the post-communist countries into western institutions, the universities in these countries also need to enter into productive cooperation with leading universities in the world. The challenge for the University of Michigan and other leading American universities is to become truly global in the delivery of education, in part through alliances with local institutions in post-communistic and developing countries. We have brought many students from other countries to our campuses. These students have done well in their home countries and in the increasingly global economy. But their numbers are miniscule in comparison to the gigantic challenge of providing quality education on a large scale globally. We have clearly made important strides in the direction of globalization. The vision and financial support of people like Bill Davidson have enabled us to involve much larger numbers of students, faculty, managers, government officials, and journalists from other countries in our educational programs. To give an example, over the last decade the William Davidson Institute and the University of Michigan Business School have sent thousands of students to work with hundreds of companies all over the world. The benefits to the students, faculty and companies have been enormous.
We also are making rapid progress in the use of our distance learning facilities in the global arena—an avenue that appears to be particularly promising for the future. And President Bollinger, Provost Cantor and Vice Provost Kennedy have been exploring various options for globalizing what is already one of the most internationally-oriented universities in the United States. These are clearly much needed steps in the right direction. In conclusion, let me suggest that the university that will be the first to meet this challenge and start delivering quality education worldwide (truly on a global scale) will contribute enormously to the welfare of the world and, at the same time, reap great intellectual benefits. Moreover, its leaders will be recognized as having pioneered a new direction for higher education in the twentyfirst century. This direction will be followed by others. The University of Michigan has distinguished itself in the United States as the leader of a public mission in support of diversity. Extending this mission to the rest of the world would be an appealing next step.
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After receiving his honorary degree, Havel (center) is applauded by Regent Rebecca McGowan (left) and University President Lee Bollinger (right).
SPRING 2001