EDAH 643 Discussion Board 2
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Morehead State University *
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Arts Humanities
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Apr 3, 2024
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Do you agree with the definitions shared by Newman & Humboldt? What would you add or take away from these definitions to make it applicable to todays’ society?
John Henry Newman stated that universities “… should be a place of education, religion, and learning for the training of the mind and the development of the whole person” (
Munck et al, 2012, p. 61). Wilhelm von Humboldt had a similar viewpoint on the primary responsibilities of higher education. Humbolt also stressed that universities must link education with scientific research (Munck et al, 2012). The definitions shared by Newman and Humboldt serve an important purpose in the developments that have been made in higher education. Although I personally do not believe religion belongs in education, I understand the purpose religion holds at private religious universities such as Campbellsville University. If a private university indicates that a primary mission of their institution is to “… prepare students as Christian servant
leaders,” as is the case with Campbellsville University, or any other religious affiliation, I do not have an issue with religion’s involvement in higher education. However, I believe public institutions must remain neutral in how religious studies are represented on their campuses to provide fair representation for their diverse student body. In reference to Humboldt’s inclusion of
scientific research in his definition, I agree that scientific research serves an important mission at larger universities such as the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky; however,
for smaller universities and community colleges, I do not believe scientific research holds a prominent role in their institutional mission due to limited funding and alternate educational responsibilities such as technical training. As noted in the text, service to community was not included in either of the definitions provided by Newman and Humbolt. To make these definitions applicable in todays’ society, I believe educating students on the responsibility they have to give back to their communities through missions of civic engagement must be added to the provided definitions.
Do/should universities have a civic mission? Does this concept of civic mission apply to both
public & private universities?
Although this may be an idealistic point of view, I believe all public and private universities should have a civic mission. In fact, when reviewing the mission statements of multiple public and private universities in Kentucky, they acknowledge that their institutions were founded to “… prepare students for active participation in a diverse democracy and to develop knowledge for the improvement of communities” (Checkoway, 2001, p. 125). In terms of the breadth of a higher education institution’s civic engagement mission, overall participation in community involvement often depends on the institution’s status as a public or private university. Since p
ublic colleges and universities receive significant levels of funding from state governments while private colleges and universities rely more heavily on
student tuition fees, alumni donations, and endowments
to fund their academic programs, public universities have a financial
responsibility to give back to their communities while private colleges have a financial responsibility to meet the expectations of their donors.
Take a look at Figure 6.1 (p. 103). Do you think “engagement” should be part of the traditional functions of universities? In our current world of accountability should it be weighted the same as the other traditional areas, why? How would you measure it?
Figure 6.1 displays how universities can make accommodations to their traditional functions of teaching, research, and service to better accommodate the needs of their communities through actions of civic engagement. Such actions could include activism/advocacy, civic learning, community service/volunteerism, service learning, community engaged internships, philanthropy/fundraising, political engagement, community engaged research, and social entrepreneurship/social innovation. One such example of community engagement that I found particularly interesting was shared by Illinois State University. The event is called Fix It Friday. At Fix it Friday, Fashion Design and Merchandising Association students provide free clothing repairs on campus and at a facility in Chicago to reduce the number of textiles in landfills. After reviewing the lasting impact that a single program at one university can have not only their surrounding community but also the impact they can make on a national and global scale, I would argue that engagement should be part of the traditional functions of universities and should be weighted the same as the other traditional areas. I believe engagement should be weighted the same as the other traditional areas because it holds universities accountable for educating their students on the responsibility they have to leave some aspect of their community a little better than when they found it. Participation in civic engagement at the university level could be measured by adding it as a requirement to all faculty performance reviews. In this review, it could be made necessary that faculty dedicate a certain percentage of their curriculum to educating their students on program specific civic engagement opportunities. To ensure student participation, universities could require that students participate in a minimum of 1 civic engagement activity per semester as a requirement of their graduation.
References:
Checkoway, Barry. (2001). Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research University. The Journal of Higher Education
, 72(2), 125-147.
McIlrath, L., Lyons, A., & Munck, R. (Eds.). (2012). Higher Education and Civic Engagement
. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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