What we need now are governing boards that exemplify the defining values we are trying to protect as higher education changes to meet the needs of an advanced technology-based economy. We want a society whose citizens are involved, enlightened, tolerant, and willing to negotiate differences of opinion. We want them to be productively engaged in satisfactory work. But these two objectives now are in tension within higher education because the nature of work is changing so dramatically. Faculties across Virginia and the nation are trying to adapt curricula to give students the high levels of technical skill and knowledge they need to meet the expectations of business, while at the same time trying to hold on to the defining values that characterize education in a democratic society.
Higher education relates to government on three levels.
It is related administratively, whether public or private, through laws and regulations governing various programs and funding mechanisms. In Virginia, for instance, the private institutions must comply with various rules in order for their students to receive Tuition Assistance Grants. Public institutions are subject to a plethora of laws and regulations that dictate the administrative processes they must follow, the hoops through which they must jump in getting anything done. These supporters are part of the best networks in any state, and they influence political action with their votes and their checks. They are the institutions in which ideas are placed in the crucible and subjected to the most severe tests.