[OSList] On the future of universities

Tue Sep 17 19:45:40 PDT 2013

Of course, Mr Stacey's logic is predicated on money as debt. If money were
not debt, there would be no problem with paying for universities, or
universities as property portfolios. Such measuring sticks would not be
necessary.

Or, any other institution that provides a public good or some other good
that is of social value, not financial value i.e. interest paying. Such as
universal healthcare, or childcare or eldercare. The interest-bearing
debt-money system we inherited from Florence is at the root of this
scarcity mentality. It is also the root of the commoditization of
human-beings and human relationships. Hence,  he sees the "staff" as either
tenured, "incentivized not to teach", and "casuals". Never mind the
life-long relational process of learning and creating new knowledge, and
the thousands of years of preservation of such that preceded us. It is all
invisible to him. It has all been commodified as "intellectual property" or
"information businesses". It was not a business that preserved for us the
wisdom of the ancients. It was a culture of reverence for learning as
promulgated in institutions like universities.

Fortunately, in the UK, they are addressing qualitative aspects of money
system choices. They have been made perhaps more desperate by the
debt-money system than we are yet in the US. But, it is coming. There are
completely other ways of financing public goods without going into debt and
without therefore having to apply these kinds of logics to public goods and
cultural goods.

Fortunately, Positivemoney.org.uk has some new thinking that can reverse
this trend Mr Stacey accepts as nature. Funded by some Quaker family
foundations evidently.

http://www.positivemoney.org/publications/

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 9:03 PM, Alan Stewart
<alan at multimindsolutions.com>wrote:

> Dear All
>
> Here are two views on this issue. In the first, the question is posed ‘How
> much longer will universities exist?’ See the whole article, in which is:
>
> “ …So what is a university?
>
> Firstly, it is (usually) a very expensive piece of land, with very
> expensive heritage buildings and very expensive gardens. It probably has
> its own police force, very expensive sporting facilities, loss making
> taverns and restaurants, and may also own student accommodation and
> performance spaces.
>
> A university is first and foremost a messy, diversified property portfolio
> that is expensive to administer and is often more about presentation than
> purpose – sandstone quadrangles, cricket pitches groomed to chequerboard
> perfection by teams of silent men on roller mowers, carillons and formal
> gardens.”
>
> … And ending with:
>
> “Sooner or later, an alternative institution that's cheaper, more
> supportive, and less ‘kinetic’ to learn in, will set up shop, and draw away
> the best academics. Students will follow.
>
> Then ultimately, the university will be finished.”
>
>
> http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/how-much-longer-will-universities-exist-20130916-2ttdx.html
>
>  Seeing this brings to my mind a different perspective of what is a
> university and it’s future, as was recently reported on these lists by Jen
> Mein and Jodi Sandfort about what the University of Minnesota (UMN) is
> offering as a ‘harvest gift’ to the global AoH<http://www.artofhosting.org/>community. This is an
> e-book <http://purl.umn.edu/155523> which carries stories of how AoH  principles
> and practices are being used across a broad spectrum of this university’s
> activities.
>
> For as indicated upfront in their e-book there are remarkable happenings
> at UMN:
>
> * “Introduction*
>
> Within the historic buildings with marble columns, beige conference rooms
> and traditional classrooms throughout the University of Minnesota campuses,
> there are people working differently. Chairs in circles, markers and table
> clothes on tables, agendas that are drawn out with pictures, signal
> something is different. But beyond those physical artefacts, the people
> invited into these spaces are entering into meaningful conversations around
> powerful questions.
>
> The Art of Hosting is alive at the University of Minnesota and this eBook
> captures stories of how some of the faculty, staff, and students have been
> motivated to change how they work with each other, with diverse external
> communities, even how they understand themselves. From conversation to
> transformation, the Art of Hosting goes far beyond hospitality ... “
>
> Here are instances of the Art of Hosting practices being used at UMN which
> drew my attention.
>
> . <https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/aohumn/home/membership>  Stories of
> Practice, Wisdom and Community at UMN<https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/aohumn/home/membership>
>
> . Section Introduction to AoH e-book of UMN<http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/155523/3/CCAoH_UMN_eBook.pdf>
>
> . Applying Art of Hosting as an Open Governance Model<https://cultivatingchange.wp.d.umn.edu/hostingconversations/category/institutional-effectiveness/>
> . Art of Hosting Meets Art of Teaching Gathering Harvest - January 15,
> 2013
> <http://umnaoh.blogspot.com/2013/01/art-of-hosting-meets-art-of-teaching.html>
> . AoH Book Group Discussion: Wave Rider, by Harrison Owen<http://umnaoh.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/aoh-book-group-discussion-wave-rider-by.html>
>
> Reading the above indicates that these across the board AoH approaches are
> leading to:
>
> . a substantial change of culture within this university – no mean feat!
>
> . participation by all concerned being a key feature, on the premise that
> 'we are in this together and to treat each other well.'
>
> . a sense among faculty, staff and students that this is not lip service.
>
> . autonomy within the university for how cultivating change is developing
> organically. “To date, more than 175 people working for the University,
> including faculty, students, teaching, research, administrative staff, and
> college deans are trained.”**
>
> *And so I would ask of UMN people and others on these lists: *
>
> . Would you suggest that a firm focus on creating contexts for
> conversations that matter is meeting the needs of faculty, staff and
> students in ways that perhaps other universities are not, granted that it
> is early days?
>
> . Do you see that this opens up opportunities for universities all over
> around our little planet, 3rd from the sun, to cultivate similar kinds of
> change of culture?
>
> . *Parri passu* would this also create new career options for *AoH*practitioners and others who work with particular components such as Open
> Space Technology (OST) <http://www.openspaceworld.org> and The World Café
> (TWC) <http://www.theworldcafe.com/history.html> in enabling universities
> to make a start on cultivating such change?
>
> . Could there be opportunities for these practitioners to collaborate with
> others outside of ‘The Academy’ in setting up alternatives which do meet
> the needs of people who would otherwise become university students and
> faculty?
>
> Looking forward
>
> Go well
>
> Alan
>
> Alan Stewart, PhD
> Social artist with conversations that matter and participatory fun
> Former Senior Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University in California
> Twitter: @alpalstewart
>
> See my new e-booklet Time to converse – at the heart of human warmth<http://amzn.to/18dxS2P>
>
>
>
>
>
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