How a Cornell Committee Wants the University to Change

As higher education contends with seismic upheaval, the university cannot remain “exactly as it is today,” faculty at Cornell University said in a new report that outlines how the Ivy League institution can weather the current storms and “prepare for those that we cannot yet predict.”

The report resembles attempts from faculty at Vanderbilt and Yale Universities to diagnose what ails higher education and to chart a course forward. Unlike the Yale and Vanderbilt reports, the Cornell faculty largely contained their discussion to their own university, though they noted that they hope the commitments and recommendations inspire other institutions.

Cornell Provost Kavita Bala convened an interdisciplinary committee of faculty last fall to explore how the university should change over the next 50 years and specifically adapt to three disruptions: rapid technological change, fissures in the relationship between universities and the federal government, and the erosion of public trust in higher education. The results of that 18-person committee’s work were released Tuesday in a 238-page report and a condensed 17-page vision statement.

“The committee’s central premise is that the wave of disruption challenging higher education today is not a passing threat driven by transient forces,” the panel wrote in the vision statement. “Tensions between universities and the federal government are symptoms of larger, longer-term systemic issues that have arisen over decades. The future of the American university lies in leadership that recommits to a clear purpose, which the committee defines as promoting a human-centered, integrated learning ecosystem to cultivate sound judgment.”

Urgency was a key theme throughout both documents, as the committee noted that the work ahead won’t be easy but is necessary.

“Today’s pressures are too intense and the opportunities too promising to prioritize nostalgia over envisioning the future,” the committee wrote.

The committee made nearly 70 recommendations about how to reorient the university to that core purpose. They range from the broad—promoting whole-person education—to the specific, such as establishing a task force to develop a new tuition model, reconsidering the dissertation in doctoral programs and exploring a subscription model for lifelong learning.

The committee also recommended that Cornell create the Future of the American University Forum to build on the report’s recommendations, and further the discussion about where Cornell and higher education go from here.

“The questions raised by this committee cannot be resolved by a single report,” the wrote. “They require an institutional home that can sustain discussion, turn inquiry into action, and then transform the results of actions back into inquiry.”

Throughout the report, the committee stressed the need to connect the work of Cornell, a land-grant institution, with the public and focus on community engagement.

“At Cornell, public engagement and impact are woven into our DNA,” the committee wrote. “In challenging times such as these, it could be tempting to lean away from this commitment. It is exactly the opposite that Cornell must do, not only to regain public trust, but also to fulfill our purpose of putting knowledge to work in communities.”

Bala endorsed the report in a Tuesday statement and said the university will work on a strategic plan to translate the recommendations into action. She intends to share more concrete steps in the coming weeks.

“Throughout the committee’s work, one fundamental question rose to the top: ‘Is a university education still worth it?’ The committee’s answer is a resounding yes—if we clarify and renew the university’s purpose,” she said.