The New Agenda for Higher Education: Choices Universities Can Make to Ensure a Brighter Future

Alexander D. Gregor is associate dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba and co-editor of Postsecondary Education in
Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

At least one critic has noted that the term “crisis” has become a
catchword in contemporary analyses of higher education. Although we seem
to have a reasonably good sense of the problems, the solutions continue
to elude us. Edward Renner’s timely book, the product of his
systematic study of the university, exhibits both sound scholarship and
the credibility that comes with extensive experience.

If approached correctly, Renner argues change in higher education can
be something more than a dispiriting retrenchment. Our current set of
beliefs—about the nature of the institution, about the content of the
curriculum, about the people involved—inevitably leads to a particular
set of formulations about what the problems are, and therefore what the
solutions should be. Renner’s goal is to show how we might come to a
different set of beliefs, and from there to a different set of
definitions and (more workable) solutions. Simply adapting the existing
structure (organization, curriculum, and people) to the changing
external realities is not in itself sufficient. Readiness to move in as
yet unforeseeable ways will require a different set of skills and
understanding on the part of university personnel—all of whom can
profit from reading this book.