From ivory tower to academic commitment and leadership the changing public mission of universities

Abstract

After many decades of growth, internationalism, competitiveness and generally enhanced reputation, including for law, universities are today entering a less congenial period. There are many reasons for this. Some, such as Brexit are particular but others, such as the effects of the pandemic are more generalised. This is, therefore, a welcome book as it reflects on the roles of universities, largely beyond teaching and research. As the title suggests, its core concern is the nature of the relationship between universities and society more generally. Chapter 2 is especially insightful. It takes an historical and sociological approach, highlighting the fact that it was not until the eighteenth century that research, as opposed to teaching, became established. Today, we have become so conscious of “league tables” for research, its funding and outputs that it came as something of a surprise that this development was relatively recent. There is also a useful reminder that law, along with theology, medicine and the arts, was one of the first established disciplines of the early universities in Europe, though the rise of the English common law and its rejection of Roman law had a profound effect. The modern era has seen many initiatives to change the direction and nature of universities. The authors argue that the role of the university as an “academic community” has been subject to many challenges. For example, there has been the rise of the “entrepreneurial university” which capitalises knowledge and emphasises technology transfer. Probably the best-known universities adopting this model are MIT and Stanford University, USA, with their strong links to “Silicon Valley”. Strangely neglected is the rise of private, corporate universities, which are in some jurisdictions a common feature of legal education. Indeed, the essential differences between “public” and “private” institutions and their practical consequences are not fully explored, such as issues of accountability and the moves to seeing students as “consumers” – the focus of this book is largely on public universities. The book then considers many contemporary challenges, not least the role of technology and the rise of mass online learning. However, the bulk of the book is concerned with academic commitment and leadership (ACL) which is promoted as developing a more effective link between universities and society. ACL builds on the notion of corporate social responsibility(CSR) which has been a feature of management