n - Eureka Street

THE N ATION: 2We are moving to a syste1n that rewards intellectualBrave new worldThere is no cause to be complacent about cherished notions of academic freedom,Uautonomy and integrity: they are up for grabs, argues Spencer ZifcakNIVERSITIES, IF THEY ARE ANYTHING, are about In 1987, John Dawkins introduced his Greendialogue. They are, or should be, the institutional Paper on Higher Education which presaged majorembodiment of open, diverse, plural and critical changes to the conception and funding ofdiscussion.universities.The aim of government policy was toThey rest, or should rest, upon the conviction 'promote further growth in higher education in a mannerthat knowledge will advance best where facts, inter- consistent with the nation's economic, social andests, beliefs and values are tested, exchanged and cultural objectives.' However, it was clearly thebrought into conflict. Only in this way will scholars economic focus that was uppermost in the Laborengender novel appreciations and generate informed government's mind.judgments. Of course, free speech and uncoerced The higher education system was to play a criticalcommunication are essential to this process. It is for role in restructuring the Australian economy. As farthat reason that academic freedom and institutional as possible, economic and educational objectivesindependence have been regarded so highly. They are would be synthesised. The universities' primary taskthe core values in university life.would be to produce a highly skilled and competentAcademic independence means that, as far as workforce. To achieve these objectives, a new,possible, a university avoids external orthodoxy or competitive environment was created. Universitiesownership. Academic freedom means that new and which best met the government's priorities would bedifferent ideas are encouraged and that intolerance rewarded with increased funding. Those that did notshould have no place. I think it true to say that free would be left behind. This policy was vigorouslyspeech remains active and alive in the university. I pursued. It has produced a number of importanthave worked in many contexts in both public and educational consequences.The first is that professional courses haveexpanded at the expense of the humanities andsocial sciences. Business-related courses, forinstance, have expanded at a rate that is threetimes higher than the average for all other coursescombined. Law schools have grownexponentially. Professional schools are, of course,significantly more dependent on the fields theyserve than are liberal arts schools.conformity, with acade1nics as willing participants in goalsthat have been set not principally by philosophy or sciencebut by government. In so doing, the space available forasking questions and challenging conventional wisdomshas begun to shrink. Instead, we tend to favour inquirydevoted to getting and keeping market share.private sectors. But I have never felt freer to expre smy views, which are often critical of governments ofall persuasions, than I do working in this environment.Nevertheless, having said that, there are, I think,storms on the horizon for uncoerced dialogue in theAustralian university. Indeed, som e of the bad weatherhas already arrived.Three examples illustrate the point: the relationshipbetween education and economic development;alterations in the style of university management; andrecent changes in university funding.So, university-based professional schools findit difficult to challenge conventional practice withoutleaving their students at a disadvantage in thejob market. Further, because they are dependenton the good opinion of the field, occupationalschools have become less willing to make sharpcriticisms of professionals or their work.In a time of drastic fiscal cutbacks, growthin the professional sphere comes at the cost of declinein the non-professional arena. In recent years, it hasbecome far more difficult, therefore, to insist uponproviding a general, liberal education to inform andtemper narrower professional specialities. In hardtimes, students will not pay for a liberal educationand businesses and professions rarely appreciate itsvalue. With declining enrolments, arts facultieseverywhere are losing their role as cultural and criticalcentres, as the prodders of the professional andmercantile conscience.24EUREKA STREET • M AY 1997