Today, opportunities are outrunning resources. Increased knowledge holds no less promise, but science and scholarship are expensive, the rewards are often long delayed, and other societal needs press on policy-makers. The hunting and gathering skills of universities are already highly developed, for during the long growth period, success depended on an increasing supply of financial resources. Today, university presidents and faculty, as well as officers of associations representing them, ply the halls of Congress and state legislatures and work closely with executive branches. Ever-larger fundraising campaigns are successfully executed, tuitions rise, and grant requests become more elaborate.
Further improvement is possible, but large gains are unlikely.
On the other hand, the skills universities need to do well with limited resources have atrophied from disuse. Such efforts can yield results, but success in the long run will depend less on these strategies than on the foresight, commitment, and will of faculty and staff. The duty of presidents, chancellors, and deans to promote the well-being of their institutions is clear, but in recent decades, many faculty, especially scientists, have given their primary loyalty to disciplines and to national and international professional groups. This tendency is not new, but it has been magnified by the focus on outside resources and on an international reputation as a criterion for tenure. If it was ever true that faculty members' pursuit of individual interests automatically created a great university, it is certainly not so now.