George Brown Speaks to University Deans

“I urge you to think of this time as an opportunity for dramatic change.” --Rep. George Brown

At a colloquium for university deans on September 23, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Rep. George Brown (D-California), aired his views on how universities will have to change to meet the post-Cold War era. Below are selected quotations from his speech. (If paragraphs have been combined, breaks are designated by //.)

“The nation is engaged in a major economic and psychological transition that will affect the universities and every other American institution. It seems to me there is some value in examining this larger picture.// When I am asked how changing federal budget priorities will affect universities, I tend to respond that the question is much larger and more profound than budget priorities, or moving from a defense to a civilian economy, or the impediment of the budget deficit, or any other single issue. More accurately, we are talking about the changing fabric of American culture. We are not talking about something fully formed or fixed, but rather something in transition, a process that perhaps could last a decade or longer.”

“So what is a university to do? How can university administrators think and plan for an amorphous and ill-defined future? To begin, I would say-- plan for change, plan for flexibility, plan for bold innovation. I realize that these words are anathema. But universities have endured through the centuries by their very ability to change.”

“Thirty years ago, America’s universities experienced what may be considered their `golden era.'// In the last several years, however, universities have been struggling with a far different reality. They are being buffeted by two forces on a collision course-- rising costs and declining revenues. This SHOULD be causing a major reassessment of roles, responsibilities, and priorities.”

“We know that the partnership between the public sector and the universities has been rooted in America’s NATIONAL SECURITY AGENDA for over 50 years. The current national agenda is in a state of flux. We are moving away from defense related and also defense funded research.... I firmly believe that the new direction for national goals must be focussed both on new concepts of national and global security and on developing a more humane society.... Our future research and knowledge base should support these new goals. Likely, this will mean that university support from the public sector will come less from the defense related agencies and more from institutions related to health, industry, trade and economics, environment and education. Universities have some responsibility to help move us in these directions and not just follow the funding through.”

“As the big picture for America’s institutions changes, the culture for science in the universities also will change.// If science is to help us solve the premier problems of the planet, then scientists must be able to COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE WITH THE PHILOSOPHERS, HUMANISTS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, POETS, PAINTERS, PROPHETS, AND EVEN POLITICIANS WHO UNDERSTAND HUMAN BEHAVIOR. // There is ample recognition within and outside of academia that the departmental demarcations may have become obsolete. Because these divisions are inextricably rooted in the very definition of a university, we are reluctant to abandon them.// There is perhaps another way to examine the same issue. Universities, like businesses, are often less emotional about major change made on the basis of cost-effectiveness than on other rationale. Thus, we may have a task more suited to examination by the accountants than the administrators.”

“Let me come full circle to the big picture of change and transition in the nation and what it might mean for science.// I would suggest that whether a continuation of exponential growth in science is good or bad for society is likely to be a moot question because, in the future, society may not be able to afford the previous levels of growth. In addition, the areas of emphasis in science and science funding will change because the nation’s goals are changing. University structures for science also will become targets for reassessment and rearrangement.”

“There is little question that a new agenda and culture are evolving in the nation. This, by its very nature, will upset the status quo in our research system and in many of our institutions, and this is as it should be. We must have a research system that arches, bends, and responds to the society’s goals.// You can become the architects and innovators of much of that change.”