University President John J. DeGioia and Provost Robert Groves outlined the challenges facing Georgetown in the 21st century at the “Designing the Future(s) of the University” inaugural event Wednesday.
DeGioia and Groves said that Georgetown would need to address changes, including new educational technology, reductions in government funding for academic research and rising tuition costs accompanied by declining family incomes. Approximately 50 people attended the discussion, most of whom were faculty.
“We’ve decided to be proactive about these choices, not reactive,” Groves said.
DeGioia emphasized Georgetown’s three-pronged role in serving students, faculty and the public.
“Universities bring together young people in a period of profound formation with older, experienced individuals possessing an unusual degree of experience and knowledge,” DeGioia said.
Aside from this role, DeGioia said universities are also expected to contribute to the public by preparing the workforce and fostering economic development and national identity.
“While these expectations ebb and flow, together they constitute the ongoing public and political discourse about the role of the universities today,” DeGioia said.
Public universities, which provide nearly 80 percent of higher education, have seen a decline in government funding from around 63 percent in 1975 to around 34 percent today. This reduction plays a large role in the planning of many universities.
“In some of the significant discussions taking place, these smart networked players are asserting that there will never be one government dime more in support of public higher education,” DeGioia said. “Education is to become the purview of foundations and for-profit companies. We have lost the sense of education as a public good.”
DeGioia emphasized that liberal education is about much more than mere transmission of information or career training.
“If the intellect is focused on discovering truth, this second dimension is focused on living the good,” he said. “We also impart a way of living, a way of being that accompanies along with the information.”
DeGioia said that, even in the face of the role of developing technology such as massive online open courses, time in the classroom is essential.
“There’s a place for the technology,” DeGioia said. “I do believe the most precious resource we have is the time of our faculty. No one else in our society is charged with the responsibility that faculty are.”
DeGioia also spoke of the ways in which Georgetown students complement faculty efforts.
“You could not have a better set of people to be with than our students,” DeGioia said.
Many students in the audience were pleased that DeGioia included their input in the discussion.
“It’s interesting that Georgetown has this dialogue with students,” Jonah Joselow (COL ’15) said. “They are committed to a lot of great things.”
Although the event began dialogue on the future of education, the direction the initiative will take remains uncertain.
“I think it’s a fantastic new initiative that’s very important,” Ben Weiss (COL ’15) said. “The administration is really behind being a forward thinking university for the future. What that new future will be is still kind of up in the air.”