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Challenges and Contexts for the Modern Research University

As Korea struggles with the efforts to reform its own higher education system, Robert J. Zimmer, President of the University of Chicago, presented his thoughts on the 900-year history of universities in the West, at the 27th Korea Foundation Forum on August 16, 2010. President Zimmer noted that Korea has already made huge strides in its education sector, along with highly commending the efforts to develop world-class research universities as part of global university endeavors.



President Zimmer opened with an observation of the fact that the modern university has been around for more than 900 years, which attests to its significant contributions to the world through societal changes. Universities were able to maintain their central role in society by understanding the multitude of challenges and opportunities that they had encountered. In particular, his presentation described various contexts of the university environment and the primary challenges that should be addressed, such as teaching students specific skills vs. basic education, promoting education-research interaction, responding to globalization, balancing science/technology with humanities in the university curriculum, and incentives for education.

Historical Context
First, he discussed the historical context of higher education, in regard to the fundamental mission of the early modern university and its evolution. The origin of the modern university dates back to the 11th century in Europe, when the University of Bologna, and soon thereafter Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge universities, for the first time integrated multiple and diverse faculty and students. This can be regarded as a paradigm shift from earlier educational institutions, which focused narrowly on training students for a particular field.
The emergence of the University of Berlin in 1810 marked a critical juncture in the development of a research university, in which the university’s goal was not simply to teach students a skill, but to educate them in how to think, while establishing research as a core emphasis of the university and distancing the university from the state and religion. This German model served as a key principle of the European university during the 20th century.
The U.S. history of higher education began about 1875 with small colleges on the East Coast, like Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, which functioned as undergraduate institutions for education of the elite class. These were far different from the German model. It was the establishment of Johns Hopkins University in 1876, and the University of Chicago in 1892, when an American-style research university was born. These two institutions added distinctive features not found in the German model, which most importantly included meritocracy. This meritocracy opened up the university to faculty and students from around the world, along with promoting a respect for free thinking and a pursuit of knowledge without constraints, in terms of the privileged elite and predetermined concepts. This was a major breakthrough that enabled higher education in the U.S. to flourish and assume a central role in the global scene.



System Context
As for system context, which can enable or obstruct the university’s capability to conduct education and research, it involves the university’s internal structure and broader societal influences. The U.S. university system is based on three basic factors, which have been essential to its development: (1) variability, which refers to a variety of higher educational structures, ranging from 2-year community colleges to 4-year colleges, and research universities of varying sizes and emphases, (2) autonomy, under which the individual university can decide on its goals, strengths, and priorities, in order to reinforce variability, and (3) competition, in which the university is subject to competition to attract the best (or, at least the best-fit) faculty and students. These three factors have allowed the American university to rank among the world’s best in spite of its relatively shorter history vis-à-vis its European counterparts. President Zimmer also noted that these factors were based on the unique makeup of American society, and that other societies will need to identify their own set of formulas to develop their educational institutions.

Globalization Context
The globalization context is relevant as well. In the past, the university was defined by its physical boundaries. However, the forces of globalization have changed this, which means that the local or regional impact of the university can now become global, as we have seen from the technological influence of Stanford University and MIT. Technological advances have challenged universities to go beyond their physical location to a worldwide audience. For example, the University of Chicago has established the University of Chicago in Paris, while the Booth School of Business maintains campuses in London and Singapore. In addition, the University of Chicago will open a sizeable new center in Beijing in September 2010, with future plans for India and other countries.

Korea’s Higher Education
Finally, President Zimmer shared his thoughts on Korea’s educational system based on a U.S. perspective. Of note, he mentioned that elementary and secondary education, which forms a foundation for higher education, appears to be much stronger in Korea than in the U.S. In addition, the Korean government’s strong support of higher education is seen as a major advantage, especially in light of the curtailment of governmental support in many countries as a result of the recent financial crisis.
Along with the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the modern university, President Zimmer’s presentation outlined an analytical framework to help us understand how the university has changed over time to maintain its central role in society, and to address unforeseen challenges in the future. Like a true educator who teaches his students not only the skills to overcome specific challenges, President Zimmer also provided tools to analyze the new as well as history-old challenges facing universities, and to come up with solutions in line with the contexts of its local society and global community.
The presentation inspired many in the audience to reflect on the difficult challenges of higher education in Korea. How can Korean universities become globally renowned institutions in the face of government controls on autonomy and competition? Can the universities in Korea and Korean society truly embrace principles of meritocracy in light of our centuries-old hierarchical culture? How can universities attain autonomy when it must rely on external sources of funding, including the government? Can the government delegate its authority of higher education even when it provides substantial funding to universities?
Surely, there are no easy answers to these complex questions. However, President Zimmer’s eye-opening presentation has called on Korean society to contemplate these matters, collectively and individually, amidst an increasingly globalized world. He has challenged us to develop our own solutions, but on the foundation of a modern research university. Thus, Korea’s mission is to develop globally competitive universities by learning from the experiences of the West, and then further excelling based on our distinctive strengths.

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