University of Virginia Library

Stuart Pape

Selective Excellence

Both President Shannon and
Vice-President Hereford have, in
recent months, justified large
increases in the size of the
University on the dual grounds that
the college-age population in
Virginia is mushrooming, thus
magnifying the University's
obligation to provide an education
for all qualified Virginians, and the
fact that new fields are being
established almost on a daily basis
and the University must develop
new programs in order to keep pace
and to remain a quality institution.

The latter contention, viewed in
terms of the financial plight of
nearly all universities and colleges
in the country today, is particularly
troubling. It is founded on the idea
that every institution of higher
learning must strive to be at or near
the top in as many different
academic fields as possible a theory
which has been a cornerstone of
educational dogma in modern
times.

Increasing Pressure

Universities have increasingly
felt the pressure to compete across
the board, and indeed a broad view
of the role of the university in a
modern society dictates to an
extent that involvement and
proficiency in all areas of academic
pursuit be sought. Accordingly,
when a new branch or completely
new field is opened up, the
prestigious schools engage in a kind
of race, each seeking the limited
number of faculty who will be
qualified to teach this new material,
as well as the limited funds that can
reasonably be expected to be
available.

Once the premise that it is
incumbent upon the institution to
add each and every new field to its
curriculum is adopted, it follows
that the number of students must
or rationally should be increased.
Otherwise, as the theory goes, the
same number of students will be
spread across a larger number of
fields. That in and of itself would
not be an undesirable result, but
too few students in too many fields
would render the cost prohibitive.
In short, there would be an
insufficient return of the money.

Graduate Glut

This is precisely the line of
argument adopted by the
University Administration to justify
an increase in the enrollment here
in Charlottesville. It is a reasonable
line to adopt, but more in tune
with the situation in higher
education in the United States
several years ago and is now
somewhat myopic in scope.

Several prominent universities,
notably Princeton, Yale and
Stanford have begun to orient their
graduate programs to coincide with
the anticipated decrease in the
growth of the demand for
individuals with advanced doctorate
degrees. Recent graduates in most
fields can testify to the glut of job
seekers. Every indication is that at
least in the foreseeable future no
change will occur.

Static Demand

Most observers believe that the
primary causes of the over supply
of doctoral graduates are the failure
of the universities to develop
coordinated Ph.D. plans, and the
felt necessity to offer programs in
every field. The necessity of
continued entry in this race is
precisely the argument offered to
justify growth today. But,
indications are that the demand for
individuals with advanced degrees
will not increase at anything near
the rate that it has in the past.

More importantly, perhaps, is
the effect that a continual
development of new programs has
one the financial stability of
universities. With limited financial
resources available, universities
must consider whether there will be
sufficient funds to meet the
demands of existing programs and
facilities before new ones are
developed. There seems to be little
need for twenty schools to have
departments in a field where the
present and anticipated availability
of funds and faculty as well as the
demand presented by students is
limited.

Indeed what happens when
every school endeavors to develop a
program in every new field is that
the already limited financial
resources are spread even thinner,
diluting the program to the point
where it is no longer top level.

New Prescription

A far better response would
seem to involve coordinated
planning whereby certain schools
would add on programs consistent
with existing facilities, localized
demands, availability of funds,
anticipated importance, and the
like. The necessity for each school
to have every program is
undemonstrated.

Obviously this is not a
prescription for a halt to the
addition of new programs and
facilities. Additions will be
necessary where the new
development is essential to an
already existing program or of such
magnitude to affect many programs
or change substantially the
character of some field.

The hope is that universities, by
adopting a plan of selective
excellence, can continue to provide
quality education and high level
services to the community and
country they serve, while at the
same time becoming more attuned
to societal needs and financial
exigencies.