The Great Upheaval: Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future

by Arthur Levine

To look forward rather than backward will require institutions to confront five forces that drive them to focus on the past rather than on the future. One is magical thinking, a belief that the challenges facing their institution will somehow vanish or fail to materialize. A second is complacency and an assumption of institutional exceptionalism, which holds each college to be special, ultimately shielding it from the woes confronting other institutions. Third is short-term rather than long-term vision and planning. Despite the frequency of five-year plans, there is a tendency for most institutions to think about their future a year at time, which discourages creative thinking and investing in the future. Fourth is a tendency to view failed attempts at innovation to be an affirmation of current practices. Finally, there is campus politics and the divides between administrators, faculty, and trustees, which planning for the future and the possibility of making significant changes promises to exacerbate.