Is the university a dinosaur: huge, lumbering, endearing in its own
way, yet unsuited to today's world? Is it a thing of the past,
unnecessary in an age of the Internet and online learning? In a
book likely to provoke people who are loyal to the ideal of the
university as well as those who foresee its demise, Frank H. T.
Rhodes acknowledges that the university is an imperfect
institution, but argues that it plays an essential role in modern
society. In the process, he articulates strong opinions on a range
of difficult issues. The Creation of the Future is no defense or
promotion of the status quo. Focusing on American research
universities, Rhodes makes the case that they are an irreplaceable
resource, quite literally a national and international treasure,
whose value must be preserved through judicious renewal and reform,
beginning with a rededication to teaching as a moral vocation.
Rhodes discusses where the research university is today and how it
got here, as well as where it must go in the future. In the
process, he addresses a wide range of contemporary challenges
facing the institution, including*why universities can no longer be
"ivory towers"*why post-tenure review of professors is
desirable*whether grading standards have become too lax*why
unionization of graduate students is inappropriate*why affirmative
action is necessary*how governance and leadership can be
improved*how to maintain a sense of commitment to the university in
the face of increasing disciplinary specialization*why faculty must
affirm that university membership has not only its privileges, but
also its price.*what should and should not be done to control the
rapid rise in tuition.*whether curricula of professional schools
should be more heavily weighted toward the liberal arts.*why
service is a social obligation of all universities, not just
land-grant institutions.*why research is vital to effective
teaching.His eighteen-year tenure as president of Cornell
University gives Rhodes a unique perspective on a system he finds
both invaluable and in need of change. Although he is an
enthusiastic advocate, he pulls no punches in recommending sweeping
changes. The greatest catastrophe facing universities today, he
writes, is loss of community: "Without community, knowledge becomes
idiosyncratic. The lone learner, studying in isolation, is
vulnerable to narrowness, dogmatism, and untested assumption;
pursued in community, learning will be expansive and informed,
contested by opposing interpretations, leavened by differing
experience, and refined by alternative viewpoints."In championing a
new relevance for the American research university, Rhodes argues
for renewal through the application of old virtues to new
realities. Campus culture, he says, must embrace the human
experience in all its richness, breadth, and ambiguity if it is to
survive and thrive.
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