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In the past century, universities have risen to\u00a0occupy a central place in the knowledge economy<\/a>, from fostering innovation to attracting promising international students and researchers, and being an\u00a0anchor for regional<\/a>\u00a0and national\u00a0economic development<\/a>.<\/p>\n Universities are\u00a0integral to public policy<\/a>. Never before have institutions of higher education been so influential and powerful in the lives of families, communities and in the state.<\/p>\n At the same time, universities have never faced the intense pressure they do at the moment. The short-term pressure is to\u00a0successfully pivot, in a matter of mere weeks and months, to delivering education online<\/a>\u00a0and continue to conduct research in a primarily virtual manner. Yet that pressure extends considerably beyond the immediate\u00a0impacts of COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also facing pressure from students eager for good jobs after graduation, pressure from competitors located online or in other countries and\u00a0pressure from governments that demand tangible outcomes from public funds<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before the 1940s, universities were\u00a0small, and admitted only the elite who were educated for a limited number of professions<\/a>. Courses and programs changed little from year to year. Universities were largely insulated from each other and from activities and events elsewhere.<\/p>\n After the Second World War,\u00a0the role of the university shifted in two fundamental ways<\/a>. First, universities were charged with educating the rapidly growing middle class. New institutions, degrees, programs, disciplines and specializations proliferated.<\/p>\n Second, universities were charged by the state with supporting applied research, especially in science, technology, engineering, medicine and business. Universities increasingly sought and obtained funding from\u00a0government and private sources<\/a>\u00a0for research, knowledge transfer, commercialization and related activities.<\/p>\n Corporations were eager for new knowledge that might be commercialized, while governments were keen to ensure that universities made contributions beyond conferring degrees.<\/p>\n In this new environment, students had more choice than ever in regard to institutions, programs and delivery modes, but a less clear path to the successful career their parents expected.<\/p>\n University administrations reacted by creating\u00a0elite undergraduate programs such as in business and other professions<\/a>\u00a0that charge high tuition (in part because they are largely taught by full-time members of the collegiate) and guarantee entry-level employment.<\/p>\n Beginning in the 1950s,\u00a0university staff, including professors, unionized and became influential<\/a>\u00a0in increasing compensation for full-time workers. Faculty unions pressed for smaller teaching loads (less hours in the classroom) to free up more time for research-related activities.<\/p>\n As professors became more expensive \u2014 and university administrators searched for lower-cost options such as contractually limited employees \u2014 relatively fewer were hired.<\/p>\n The rise of\u00a0online degrees provided further opportunities to hire contract employees<\/a>\u00a0to teach courses.<\/p>\n Competition between universities increased for limited public and private funds, prestige and access to the best students and researchers. As the English language secured its dominance as the lingua franca of science, business and other fields of study, that competition became international.\u00a0Global ranking schemes<\/a>\u00a0emerged comparing the performance of universities, programs and scholars.<\/p>\n Competitors emerged outside of traditional academia when online delivery of content became low cost with the required technology available to the masses. In the past decade Udacity, Coursera, edX and other\u00a0e-learning organizations<\/a>, some for-profit and some not-for-profit, sought to carve niches in the expanding online learning market.<\/p>\n Universities responded to the encroachment by launching their own online degrees and programs that carried far more prestige, came with more marketing power and a larger base of supportive alumni than could be mustered by the new competitors. Universities charge the same tuition fees for on-campus in-classroom degrees and those earned online at the same institution, thus blurring the differences between the two modes of delivery.<\/p>\n Universities have also learned the value of\u00a0international branch campuses<\/a>\u00a0as a means to market and protect their brands. American and British institutions have taken the lead in\u00a0creating offshore campuses<\/a>, especially in the emerging economies of Asia.<\/p>\n Several Canadian universities have\u00a0branch campuses<\/a>\u00a0in Asia<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Middle East<\/a>.From insulated to post-war boom<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Rise of contract staff, competition<\/strong><\/h4>\n
International branch campuses<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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