The topic of outsourcing or vendor partnerships is important if
your interest is in maintaining the current institutional model for higher
education – a triad consisting of university/college service providers, public
funding and union labour representation. I am not.
The editors of January's issue of Evolllution note that the cost of
delivering higher education is skyrocketing as institutional operating budgets
continue to decline. I believe the institutional model is simply not
sustainable, nor does it adequately serve the needs of life long learners and
non-traditional students.
I think it is time for radical change - a completely different perspective.
From the perspective of the professional model for
higher education I am developing, universities and colleges are the vendors and
professionally licensed academics in private practice their
customers. Students directly hire academics for their services – as
they would a physician, accountant, veterinarian or psychiatrist - while
academics hire universities and colleges for services they determine are
relevant in the operation of their practice.
