colleges and universities, local business and industry,
community organizations, and local secondary schools. The present
competitive environment is academically destructive and financially
wasteful.
Failure to
Communicate.
As a result of
these tensions and tendencies, the institutions do not do a very
good job of communicating their needs and their mission to the
public, to state and federal legislators, or even among themselves.
This failure has negative implications for their funding and for
their enrollment size and composition.
GENERAL
CAVEATS
The great
majority of people with whom we have talked about urban-oriented
institutions of higher education over the past few years agree on
the problems and special characteristics of their institutions as
sketched above. Moreover, both the problems and the characteristics
have been confirmed in data collected from some 280 urban-oriented
colleges and universities by the American Association of State
Colleges and Universities in a national project funded by the Ford
Foundation.
It should be
noted, however, that not everyone is sympathetic to the idea of
focusing attention on urban-oriented institutions. Some argue that
the discussion should focus on higher education of the urban poor
or of any central-city residents in general. They rightly point out
that all institutions of higher education are in trouble today and
that most are called upon, to some degree, to serve the poor and
disadvantaged.
The argument
has merit but, as this paper shows, urban-oriented colleges and
universities differ significantly in mission and circumstance from
their urban and suburban neighbors. If the nation's efforts to
revitalize its cities are to produce lasting results, these must
include a far greater understanding and awareness of the role and
importance of these urban-oriented institutions in the life of the
cities.
Another
argument we have heard is that urban-oriented colleges and
universities, like all institutions of higher education, have
several functions. In addition to teaching, some also conduct major
research and provide a variety of noneducational services for the
community and municipal governments. This argument usually
concludes by saying that it is just as important to be concerned
about the development