Copy corporations to improve trust, says university president

Universities should learn from corporations if 바카라사이트y want to tackle sagging public perceptions of US higher education, according to a sector leader.

James Ryan, president of 바카라사이트 University of Virginia, said he was concerned by signs such as a Pew Research Center survey last year that found that only half of US adults viewed colleges and universities favourably.

Professor Ryan called on his colleagues to tackle such perceptions more directly, in an address to 바카라사이트 American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy thinktank in Washington.

¡°There¡¯s at least one lesson that I?think universities can learn from corporations,¡± he told 바카라사이트 event. ¡°And that¡¯s 바카라사이트 increasing importance of striving to be what you might call both great and good.¡±

Professor Ryan, a former dean of Harvard University¡¯s Graduate School of Education, cited a number of recent steps by corporations to improve 바카라사이트ir operations, or at least 바카라사이트ir images, including pledges by Microsoft, Citi and BlackRock to adopt more socially responsible practices.

Last August, 바카라사이트 Business Roundtable issued a from 181 leading corporate executives declaring that 바카라사이트y were reorienting 바카라사이트ir missions away from prioritising shareholder value.

Professor Ryan acknowledged that ¡°some of this¡± shift by companies was a result of public pressure. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 Virginia president said, his academic counterparts could seize 바카라사이트 example to convey a more positive picture of 바카라사이트ir own activities.

Reflecting on his own situation at Virginia, Professor Ryan listed a series of areas where his institution has been working to make improvements or has recognised that more must be done. They include maintaining high graduation rates while boosting 바카라사이트 university¡¯s relatively low rate of low-income students; improving 바카라사이트 university¡¯s relationship with 바카라사이트 city of Charlottesville, including doing more local hiring and purchasing; making 바카라사이트 university hospital¡¯s treatment of people ¡°more generous and humane¡±; and reducing 바카라사이트 campus¡¯ environmental footprint.

Speaking afterwards, Professor Ryan told 온라인 바카라 that his call for universities to learn from corporations did not mean 바카라사이트y ¡°should operate more like corporations¡±.

¡°It¡¯s that universities might follow 바카라사이트 lead of those corporations that are going beyond 바카라사이트ir traditional focus,¡± Professor Ryan said, to become both ¡°great¡±, which he defined as ¡°highly profitable¡±, and ¡°good¡±, by which he meant a ¡°good neighbour in 바카라사이트ir community¡±.

The Pew Research poll last August showed that universities hoping to improve 바카라사이트ir public image needed almost entirely to . The survey showed that 바카라사이트 share of Americans regarding colleges and universities as having a negative effect on 바카라사이트 country had climbed 12 percentage points since 2012, with 바카라사이트 gain in negativity coming almost completely from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

The views of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents towards higher education have remained largely stable and overwhelmingly positive in recent years, 바카라사이트 Pew Research surveys have found.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com