Universities are mandated to develop manpower for their immediate societies and the world. Development of manpower includes teaching, research and communities service.
Universities should provide the following services; education and teaching as the most obvious, research, technology and technical skills, career preparation and development, special assistance for those with disabilities, communnity development, and get students ready for the work world as well as prepare them to be well rounded, intellectual citizens.
Over the 800 years of the modern university, there have been competing narratives about what the institution is designed to achieve. Each of these has a strong contemporary resonance, and universities today generally reflect a balance – whether explicit or implicit – between the various strands.
In summary, universities have been seen as:
Communities dedicated to the learning and personal development of their members, especially students (this could be termed the 'liberal' theory);
Sources of expertise and vocational identity (the 'professional formation' theory);
Creators, testers, and sites for the evaluation and application of new knowledge (the 'research engine' theory, with an important corollary – the 'business and industry services' theory);
Important contributors to society and nations (the 'civic and community engagement' theory).
For an overview of this history see Watson et al (2011), pp. 1–28.
What do you consider to be the main functions of a university?
Points you might have identified include:
The role of universities as repositories and generators of knowledge
The obligation to equip graduates so that they can obtain viable employment
The obligation to offer rational and timely criticism in areas of public policy and social and economic life
The presence of universities as large and influential bodies in civil society and the state
The longer term role of graduates in creating cohesive and tolerant communities.
In the following text version of the video, two Vice-Chancellors offer their views on the key functions and direction of higher education. They illustrate the complex perspectives that must somehow be melded across the sector.
Making available conducive environment for teaching and learning, providing required resources to facilitate up-to-date teaching and learning Putting in place robust staff development training to keep with the pace of events and technologies