Interesting op-ed in the New York Times yesterday called "End the University as We Know It" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4)

There were definitely some things I thought the author should have acknowledged -- for example, the unquestionable successes that have come from our university system, that people come from all over the world to study in our university system.

There were also some issues I would have liked to see taken up -- for example, what and where is the place for "basic research" in this model? How would the proposal to abolish tenure in favor of 7-year renewable contracts play out with increasing monetary pressures at Universities (e.g., if a professor does not get external grants but does important work for the field, is that professor's job in jeopardy?).

At the same time, there was a great deal that resonated with me. For example, that's a great point that we often only prepare students for faculty positions when many won't actually get faculty positions. Indeed, many who don't may be playing especially important roles in connecting research and practice -- are we preparing them for that? Also love the point about the need to employ alternative formats for the dissertation (see Duke & Beck, 1999 for a discussion of the issue within education specifically), again seeing a connection of this issue to issues around research and practice because at least some alternative formats seem to me more likely to have the research impacting practice.

I would love to hear what others think, especially regarding how these issues intersect with the issues of research and practice we are considering on this forum.