AND FINAL
PROGRAMME EAIR VALENCIA FORUM 2010
Linking Society and Universities:
New Missions for Universities
EAIR Forum Valencia 2010, Valencia, Spain, 1-4 September
2010
The aim of the 32nd EAIR Forum VALENCIA 2010 is to bring EAIR members together to discuss and explore the current challenges to higher education and the potential answers to these challenges. The overarching theme is the link between higher education and society.
In the past that link between higher education and society was largely unproblematic: higher education was meant to educate the elite, the next generation of leaders in society and to foster the growth of knowledge by carrying out basic research. There may have been concerns, e.g. regarding inequalities in higher education, and of course different system emphasized the missions differently, but the bottom-line was that higher education's role in society was taken for granted.
Impressive changes took place in the past decades that have changed the higher education landscape considerably. Massification, globalisation, the information and communication technology revolution, changing views of governments how to steer higher education, to mention a few important factors, have made higher education quite different in its nature, objectives … and outcomes.
One of the outcomes is that universities - we will use this shorthand to denote all types and kinds of higher education institutions across Europe - may be struggling to stick to their traditional missions, given the contemporary challenges of meeting the demands of its growing set of stakeholders. Students demand intellectual challenges and a sound preparation for the labour market, but given the increased diversity of the student body there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Governments and business and industry expect universities to contribute to economic growth, innovation and research and development. But here also the demands may be quite different, ranging from boosting the economy to international competitive standards to offering practical solutions for specific industries. And, universities are also asked to pay attention to its "third" mission. Under this broad heading, universities are supposed to contribute to knowledge transfer, to strengthen its links with the region, and be of service to society in general.
For sure, universities will be able to handle the challenges: either by focusing on a specific mission (the research-intensive university, the world-class global player, the regional university), or by skillfully trying to combine different missions (the comprehensive university). But the challenges remain: which mission(s) to chose? Which combination of missions is sustainable? To what extent are the different missions reconcilable? The tracks below further explore these questions and serve as guidance for paper proposals. As always, the programme committee invites EAIR members to explore questions related to but beyond those mentioned in the track descriptions.
Valencia is a good metaphor of what can be done.
Being a 2000 year old city with over 500 years of university tradition,
it has a particular approach synthesizing respect to historical
traditions and practical systematic innovation. Our city has developed
a balance between the traditional and the new city setting; the
biggest gothic area in Europe and the Santiago Calatrava's city
of science, arts and technology. Universidad Politécnica de
Valencia (UPV), a third mission oriented university, represents
that spirit in its mission: combining knowledge transfer, societal
engagement, teaching and R&D. UPV accepted the challenge to host
the 32nd EAIR Forum with the aim to contribute to a better understanding
of the missions of higher education and its institutions.
Welcome to SPAIN, welcome to the 2000 year old city of VALENCIA, and welcome to the Universidad Politécnica de VALENCIA, welcome to the future.
Miguel Ferrando Bataller, Forum Chair
Patricio Montesinos, Forum Co-Chair
