The Purposes of Higher Education in USA

The Purposes of Higher Education in USA 

The purpose of upper education within us has been a subject of debate for several years. we have a 200-year tradition of the humanistic discipline where colleges are focused on preparing individuals for productive contributions through character development. More recently there has been a requirement that there be a greater specialize in career development. it's within the resolution of this tension that we progress in improving the enterprise of upper education.

Aims of Higher Education in USA 

In 2006, the Assembly of the State of the latest York requested and received testimony on the role of the latest York State in commercializing research and therefore the development of ensuing innovations. I had the chance to form a presentation where I made two observations and one recommendation for the work of the Assembly on appropriate policies to convert state-sponsored university research into commercialized products and foster economic development within the State of the latest York.

First, it's my belief that the first business of upper education is—and should be—the creation of prepared minds. I entirely accept as true with Dr. Derek Bok, President of Harvard University, that there's a danger of commercializing education once we ask colleges and universities to show their attention to the commercial development of their inventions. This commercialization has the potential to erode the central mission of making prepared minds by distracting administration and school into pursuing commercial goals to the exclusion of the upper purpose.

The pressure to achieve creating products and viable businesses with the funds entrusted to the institution may cause (and in some cases has caused) erosion of trust by the overall public and by industry and businesses, of the university as a neutral party that ought to be pursuing the upper goal of education instead of competing in business. The investment by government in education, including research labs and preparatory facilities, may end in the creation of latest products and services, but will certainly end in the assembly of highly prepared workers needed by industry for his or her pursuit of commercializing innovation.

Take the instance of my very own career path as a case in point. As an immigrant child arriving at East Harlem from Latin America in 1961, poor but willing and able, I received an incredible education in ny City. Starting at Stuyvesant high school, I proceeded to a five-year engineering program at City College, which was then totally free. I obtained my master's and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from an equivalent institution soon thereafter. I learned the craft of semiconductor unit manufacturing for my doctoral work on very ancient lab equipment — not cutting-edge research but ok to find out a skill and land a coveted job during a lab at IBM.

Much good work and lots of patents and invention disclosures followed. IBM benefited greatly from my free education but so did the state of the latest York. The chip-making plant in East Fishkill and therefore the mainframe manufacturing facilities in Poughkeepsie and Kingston flourished from my work which of my colleagues. Economic development ensued. The investment by ny State and ny City (and by the United States government within the sort of the GI Bill) paid many handsome dividends.

The point here is that even when commercialization stems from state-sponsored research, the extra advantage of creating well-prepared minds is an outcome that has got to be appreciated in particular. More, it should be protected also. By some counts today the US is producing some 70,000 engineers per annum. India and China are producing ten times that number each a minimum of. We must bridge the gap by creating more prepared minds. Any state expenditure that helps us do this is welcomed and needed. Spending on research and development facilities in education, albeit it didn't produce one commercialize a product or start one new business would, nevertheless, be money well spent.

That’s to not say that such commercialize products resulting from state-funded research & development aren't desirable, on the contrary, they are. At Marist College, for instance, where I used to be Dean of the varsity of Management, there have been several state-supported projects for such development. ny State made investments in those projects, which was money well spent. Still, I contend that the chance such projects present to develop “ready to work” computer scientists and engineers is that the principal advantage of such investments. Commercial products were a secondary but not necessary by-product. the most advantage of such funding in creating prepared minds should be recognized as central to supporting the mission of upper education.

A focus on the creation of prepared minds fits well with the trend in education of an ever-increasing number of adults seeking degrees. we will probably agree that adult students accompany their character well developed and in need of practical education. that's to not say that adults cannot enjoy broadening their understanding by attending humanities classes. they will and will. But their immediate need increases the stress and urgency on that specialize in preparing their minds for more productive roles. Thus the preparation of the mind of those students takes center stage. It becomes even more urgent in an economy where unemployment is high and everybody is seeking to enhance their economic situation.

Furthermore, when commercialize products or ideas appear stemming from research work on university labs and research centers, there are still tons of labor that must be done to get the income and make jobs. the character of that employment is, by and enormous, managerial. Specifically, that employment is that the creation of the latest business enterprises, whether as business startups or as a replacement business venture within an existing business that employment also requires prepared minds but of a special type from science or engineering: it's entrepreneurial work.

The preparation of entrepreneurial minds typically occurs within business schools. Developing skills in entrepreneurial thinking, on development, and on product commercialization are front and center in today’s graduate school curricula. Innovation and therefore the businesses derived them is what is going to keep America and NewY State competitive within the increasingly flat world of globalized business.

My recommendation to the committee was to think that the first mission of upper education is to make prepared minds. Any research and development dollars the state spends may yield benefits in new products and services but will certainly produce the well-prepared minds needed by the American industry and businesses. After graduation, those prepared individuals will create and maximize innovations and continue to make new businesses and more jobs. Moreover, the confine mind that we must develop prepare minds in business also as in science and engineering. it's prepared entrepreneurial minds that will convert the innovations created by engineers and scientists into economic prosperity.

With the support of state entities, colleges and universities will develop new programs and even new schools to specialize in developing these new mindsets. to stay American competitive business and industry needs more of those prepared entrepreneurial minds than the handful we are graduating today.

If aspiring students knew that the govt was supportive of innovation and entrepreneurship they might not only come to review in our colleges and universities but would stay to develop new businesses and enrich us all with their talent and industry.