Whither the public university: funding constraints

摘要

Knowledge-based competition within a globalised economy is encouraging a fresh contemplation of the sacrosanct role of Higher Education as a leading instrument for economic development and community revitalisation. Today, in a large part of the developed world, 'Higher Education Systems, Universities and Research Institutes' are effectively functioning to help local regions/states for advancing in new knowledge economy, by marshalling their core responsibilities - education, innovation and knowledge transfer - in ways designed to stimulate economic expansion. However, very recently, state appropriations for Higher Education declined significantly, thus exerting an adverse effect on quality of faculty, students and education delivered at Public Universities. This paper makes an attempt to provide a brief recapitulation of the role of Public University, reasons/impact of public funding constraints on Public University's ability to discharge its intended role and consequent efforts to re-position itself in an effort to continue to perform albeit enhance its economic pay-off to society.