<strong>Higher</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Good</strong><strong>the</strong> public good involves addressing some of <strong>the</strong> systemic problems in <strong>the</strong> academy thateffectively discourage faculty engagement. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>se include <strong>the</strong> rules governing promoti<strong>on</strong>and tenure, <strong>the</strong> narrow range of what is c<strong>on</strong>sidered acceptable scholarly work, <strong>the</strong>disc<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> between <strong>the</strong> classroom and <strong>the</strong> community, and <strong>the</strong> prevalence of pedagogiesthat work against <strong>the</strong> broad purposes of citizenship educati<strong>on</strong>.A more immediate challenge, however, is <strong>the</strong> pervasive anxiety and insecurity of purposein <strong>the</strong> professoriate — especially at large research universities. Reporting <strong>on</strong> a study heEducating <strong>the</strong> Whole Pers<strong>on</strong>In a set of in<strong>for</strong>mal remarks, Cali<strong>for</strong>nia State Senator John Vasc<strong>on</strong>cellos observed thatwe are living in an age of chaos and uncertainty, a time marked by ec<strong>on</strong>omic upheaval,demographic change and political instability <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>e hand, and technological innovati<strong>on</strong>and breakthrough insights into <strong>the</strong> nature and complexity of <strong>the</strong> human mind <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r.“If we are going to prepare people to live in a world of profound change,” he said,“we have to imagine and design an educati<strong>on</strong> that recognizes <strong>the</strong> whole pers<strong>on</strong> — body,mind, emoti<strong>on</strong>s, spirituality, sexuality, all of it toge<strong>the</strong>r.”Educating <strong>for</strong> social resp<strong>on</strong>sibility must begin with “a commitment to <strong>the</strong> full humanbeing,” he said. “That is at <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> public good, because <strong>the</strong> more whole I am inmyself <strong>the</strong> more I am able to c<strong>on</strong>tribute to <strong>the</strong> public good.”This is what humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow had in mind when he referredto “democratic character structure,” Vasc<strong>on</strong>cellos pointed out. “A pers<strong>on</strong> has to integratehis body, mind and emoti<strong>on</strong>s so that <strong>the</strong>y are fully valued, appreciated and liberated be<strong>for</strong>ehe is able to realize his democratic character structure. A pers<strong>on</strong> who can learn to dothat will sp<strong>on</strong>taneously engage in society and live democratically.”Society needs instituti<strong>on</strong>s that allow individuals to integrate <strong>the</strong> various aspects of<strong>the</strong>mselves, he said. “If you d<strong>on</strong>’t find those experiences at home, at school, at church,in <strong>the</strong> university, <strong>the</strong>n you walk out into <strong>the</strong> world as nothing more than an ec<strong>on</strong>omicmachine.”Educating <strong>the</strong> whole pers<strong>on</strong> is best d<strong>on</strong>e by example, he added. “We d<strong>on</strong>’t teach bypreaching; we teach by inspiring.”“I want to challenge you as leaders in higher educati<strong>on</strong> to help prepare students <strong>for</strong><strong>the</strong> twenty-first century — to help <strong>the</strong>m become embodied, passi<strong>on</strong>ate, full human beings.I want to encourage you to be out <strong>the</strong>re <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> fr<strong>on</strong>tier helping society find its way in atime of chaos and change.”14
Educating <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Good</strong>carried out at <strong>the</strong> University of Minnesota in <strong>the</strong> late 1990s, Harry Boyte noted that manysenior faculty members feel increasingly disengaged from <strong>the</strong> real problems of society.A generati<strong>on</strong> ago, he said, <strong>the</strong> University of Minnesota had a vibrant sense of itself asa great public and land-grant instituti<strong>on</strong>. Professors routinely took <strong>the</strong>ir work out into<strong>the</strong> community and <strong>the</strong>re was a lively culture of collaborati<strong>on</strong> and open discussi<strong>on</strong> in<strong>the</strong> academic departments. But that public spirit has beengradually hollowed out over <strong>the</strong> last thirty years, he observed.“<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> big worry I have isthat many early-careerand aspiring faculty aregoing to decide that <strong>the</strong>academy is not where <strong>the</strong>ycan live out <strong>the</strong>ir passi<strong>on</strong>sand <strong>the</strong>ir commitment to<strong>the</strong> public good.”— Ann AustinProfessor of <strong>Higher</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong>Michigan State UniversityOne of <strong>the</strong> most striking <strong>the</strong>mes in <strong>the</strong> interviews was how“radically detached” academic culture had become fromsociety at large, Boyte said. “Again and again, we heard ac<strong>on</strong>cern about isolati<strong>on</strong>, about <strong>the</strong> competitive culture, andabout <strong>the</strong> spread of marketplace values — <strong>the</strong> idea of <strong>the</strong>student as customer and <strong>the</strong> noti<strong>on</strong> that <strong>the</strong> university’s publicservice missi<strong>on</strong> is largely a commercial <strong>on</strong>e. We found almostuni<strong>for</strong>mly that people wanted more public relevance. But <strong>the</strong>norms in our instituti<strong>on</strong>s are silencing.”According to Ann Austin, professor of higher educati<strong>on</strong> atMichigan State University, this c<strong>on</strong>cern is also shared byearly-career and aspiring faculty. Her research shows that graduate students and newlymintedprofessors tend to be impelled by a str<strong>on</strong>g sense of social resp<strong>on</strong>sibility. “<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>re isa vibrancy about <strong>the</strong> kind of work <strong>the</strong>y wish to be able to do,” she said. “In interviews thatcolleagues and I have d<strong>on</strong>e, we hear <strong>the</strong>m explicitly saying, ‘I do this out of passi<strong>on</strong>.’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>yoften link that to a desire to c<strong>on</strong>tribute to <strong>the</strong> larger good — to address public issues andsocial problems. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>y also have a desire to be part of a community with o<strong>the</strong>r people whoshare <strong>the</strong>se passi<strong>on</strong>s. This is happening across disciplines.”What many young professors find, however, is that <strong>the</strong> academy does not reward <strong>the</strong>m<strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> sort of teaching and research <strong>the</strong>y want to do. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> norms of scholarship and <strong>the</strong>structures governing promoti<strong>on</strong> and tenure effectively discourage <strong>the</strong>m from engaging inresearch and teaching that is collaborative, student-centered, community-based, projectoriented,or cross-disciplinary. “<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> big worry I have,” Austin said, “is that many earlycareerand aspiring faculty are going to decide that <strong>the</strong> academy is not where <strong>the</strong>y can liveout <strong>the</strong>ir passi<strong>on</strong>s and will simply leave.”A fur<strong>the</strong>r challenge is that many faculty subscribe to outdated ideas about teaching andlearning. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> traditi<strong>on</strong>al lecture — where <strong>the</strong> professor plays <strong>the</strong> role of “sage <strong>on</strong> stage”— is still <strong>the</strong> pedagogy of choice in most American classrooms. John O’C<strong>on</strong>nor, visitingscholar at <strong>the</strong> American Associati<strong>on</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Higher</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong>, spoke about “<strong>the</strong> gap between15