Facing statewide budget cuts, MU and universities across the region might consider reducing dependency on state funding, a report released last week suggested.
The report, “A Master Plan for Higher Education in the Midwest: A Roadmap to the Future of the Nation’s Heartland,” by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, calls for more cooperation among colleges and universities in the Midwest region in order to capitalize on the region’s strengths and remain globally competitive.
The author, James Duderstadt, professor of science and engineering at the University of Michigan, said the Midwest has the strongest concentration of flagship research universities in the world, but the region’s higher education might be at the greatest risk.
“The Midwest region must make the commitment and the investments necessary to become the brains of the twenty-first-century knowledge economy,” Duderstadt said.
In the report, he stressed the importance of focusing on unique missions. For MU, that is advanced education and research.
“(MU) is a comprehensive university, with broad strengths, anchored in a state with large cities,” Duderstadt said in an email. “It is more similar to large (Big 10) universities.”
He said the report strongly encourages the state to support universities to stay at world-class quality, but it also warns the state is unable to provide the autonomy to control tuition, fees and enrollments.
Therefore, the report suggests colleges and universities to develop institutional collaboration instead of regional competition. According to the news release, the recommendations are such as streamlining curricula from K-12 through post-secondary education, exploring alternative higher education funding mechanisms, redefining the role of community colleges and promoting a culture of lifelong learning.
“The old geopolitical boundaries, such as state or local governance, are no longer are relevant in a global economy driven by knowledge and innovation,” Duderstadt said. “Instead, what really matters are larger regions characterized by common economic, cultural and demographic characteristics.”
Chicago Council President Marshall Bouton stressed the importance of higher education, given the challenges faced by the region.
“Of the many issues facing the United States and the Midwest in the global era, developing the region’s human capital is one of the most urgent,” Bouton said. “Dr. Duderstadt’s work to re-conceptualize the role of higher education is critical to the Midwest’s future success.”
Duderstadt categorized Missouri into a region including Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota and Iowa. These states all possess large metropolitan concentrations with economies dependent upon high-tech manufacturing, agriculture and services, such as St. Louis and Kansas City.
Traditionally, Missouri has been more dependent upon low-skill and low knowledge economic activities than the high-tech and knowledge-driven jobs.
“Perhaps the most serious is the low priority given education in the state of Missouri,” Duderstadt said. “Fortunately, both St. Louis and Kansas City seem to understand these imperatives, but Jefferson City still seems relatively clueless.”
