Derek Bok’s 2003 book on the dangers of commercialism within the Academy (Bok, Derek. Universities in the Marketplace: The commercialism of Higher Education. Princeton University Press, 2003) is a good read for anyone who is interested in the challenges facing the modern research university. It cogently raises the yellow flag regarding intecollegiate athletics, science and for-profit educational programs, although I have to say, Bok himself recognizes that it’s relatively easy for the former president of Harvard University to raise the warning cry given that institution’s very large endowment.
On the other hand, I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about whether in fact there is any substantive difference between was Bok calls commercialism and what others call entrepreneurship. Here at the Krasnow Institute, we continually face the tension between pressures to create intellectual property and subsequently license the same, versus the problems with secrecy that come with such technology transfer to the for-profit sector. As important is the risk of licensing intellectual property prematurely before, for example, safety issues have been addressed suitably.
Which brings up the whole notion of ethics in the research university–whether it be part of the curriculum or institutional restraint upon un-restricted (rampant) entrepreneurial activity. It seems to me that this point is non-trivial. In the early years of American higher education, a main function of a college education was producing ethically educated citizens. It seems to be that such a focus might be missing from the modern research university–or at least, it’s been de-emphasized in favor of the constant search for new financial resources.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 