The industrial countries of the West have much in common in defining and meeting the great challenges facing their Higher Education systems in the new millennium. Recognizing this, a small group of Western Europeans and Americans, long closely associated with Higher Education, arranged for a Colloquium to examine these challenges
in depth and to propose promising initiatives for meeting them. Toward this end, a group of ten Europeans and ten Americans met in Glion, Switzerland during May 13-17, 1998.

Preface
The industrial countries of the West have much in common in defining and meeting the great challenges facing their Higher Education systems in the new millennium. Recognizing this, a small group of Western Europeans and Americans, long closely associated with Higher Education, arranged for a Colloquium to examine these challenges
in depth and to propose promising initiatives for meeting them. Toward this end, a group of ten Europeans and ten Americans met in Glion, Switzerland during May 13-17, 1998.
At the request of the members of the “Glion Colloquium”, Professor Frank H. T. Rhodes, President Emeritus, Cornell University, gave expression to the collective views of the participants in the form of this Declaration. The participants are grateful to him for his sensitive and eloquent summary, the first draft of which was circulated to
all participants, who then contributed editorial comments and suggestions.
While the principal focus is on research intensive universities in Europe and North America, significant portions of the Declaration also speak to the colleges and other institutions of Higher Education in both Europe and North America, e.g., information technologies, new patterns of governance, leadership and management, and issues
of accountability.
We thank the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Swiss Science Agency, the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the University of Geneva, the Swiss Rectors Conference and Swissair for their generous financial support. We are also indebted to the Association of European Universities in Geneva which kindly put Mrs. Mary O’Mahony, Deputy General Secretary, at our disposal for the full length of the Colloquium.Werner Z. Hirsch University of CaliforniaLuc E. Weber University of Geneva
Participants and Signators
- Prof. Paolo BLASI, Rector, University of Florence, Chairman of the Italian Rectors’Conference, Member of the Board, International Association of Universities
- Prof. James J. DUDERSTADT, University Professor of Engineering, President Emeritus of the University of Michigan
- Prof. David P. GARDNER*, President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, President Emeritus of the University of California and of the University of Utah
- Prof. Hans Van GINKEL, Under-Secretary-General and Rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo, Vice-President International Association
of Universities and Association of European Universities - Prof. Werner Z. HIRSCH*, Department of Economics, University of California at Los Angeles
- Prof. Stanley O. IKENBERRY, President of the American Council
on Education, President Emeritus of the University of Illinois - Prof. Charles F. KENNEL*, Director of the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography and Vice-chancellor, University of California at San Diego - Dr Guy NEAVE, Research Director of the International Association
of Universities - Prof. Howard NEWBY, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of
the Universities of the United Kingdom - Prof. Jacob NUESCH*, Member of the International Committee of the
Red Cross, President Emeritus of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich - Mr. Peter PREUSS, President, The Preuss Foundation and Regent of
the University of California - Professor Frank H. T. RHODES, President Emeritus of Cornell
University - Mrs. Auriol STEVENS, Editor of the “Times Higher Education Supplement”
- Prof. Chang-Lin
TIEN, NEC Distinguished Professor of
Engineering, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley - Prof. Martin
TROW, Graduate School of Public Policy, University of
California at Berkeley - Prof. Dennis
TSICHRITZIS, Professor at the University of Geneva,
Chairman of the Executive Board, German National Research Center for
Information Technology - Dr Alan
WAGNER, Principal Administrator, Directorate for
Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD Paris - Prof. Luc E.
WEBER*, Consul for international Affairs of the Swiss
Rectors’ Conference, Member of the Board of the International Association
of Universities, Rector Emeritus of the University of Geneva - Prof. Harold M.
WILLIAMS, President Emeritus of the Getty Trust and
former Regent of the University of California - Prof. Heide
ZIEGLER, President of the International University in
Germany, Rector Emeritus of the University of Stuttgart -
The University at the Millennium
The new millennium, into which we move and which our children will inherit, confronts us with a bewildering mixture of promise and threat. On the one hand, we glimpse the promise of revolutionary advances in biomedicine, communications, information technology, alternative energy sources, new materials, automation and globalization; on the other hand, we contemplate the looming threats of balkanization, tribalism, terrorism, sectarianism, north-south inequalities, hunger, the intricate balance between population, resources and environment, the challenge of sustainable development and the relationship of all
these to the future of traditional nation-states. And, if the balance
between promise and threat is unclear, what is clear is that the essential key — though not the only key — to human well-being in this daunting
new world is knowledge.Now knowledge is not a free-good; it is not a naturally-occurring resource. It is a personal discovery, an individual creation. It comes only to the prepared mind, coaxed into existence by personal reflection and inquiry, individual discovery, sophisticated research and
costly exploration. And it can be received, understood, and applied only
by the educated and informed individual. Those things on which the
future of humankind will chiefly depend in the new millennium —
education, personal skills, natural resources, effective capacities,
sustainable communities, as well as wise leadership, informed choice,
national discipline, sound policies, international agreements, the humane use
of technology and the judicious and benevolent use of resources —
will depend increasingly on knowledge: knowledge discovered,
knowledge gained, knowledge tested, knowledge shared, knowledge applied.
And these things, in turn, will require wisdom: the way in which
knowledge is weighed and used.Knowledge is the core-business of the university. In every
aspect of its discovery, testing, dissemination and application, the
universities of the world play a crucial role. In this role, they are not alone. They are part of a great network of tertiary education; they depend on
the work of schools and colleges; they are partners with
professional associations, non-government organizations, industry,
business, research institutes, hospitals, government agencies and
international organizations; they share the concerns and contribute to the needs
of their communities, regions and nations. But, beyond all these
alliances and dependencies, vital as they are, the universities play a unique
and crucial role. They are the chief agents of discovery, the major
providers of basic research that underlies new technology and improved
health care, they are the engines of economic growth, the custodians
and transmitters of cultural heritage, the mentors of each new
generation of entrants into every profession, the accreditors of competency
and skills, the agents of personal understanding and societal
transformation. In them, on a daily basis, the young and the old seek to bring
wisdom, insight and skills to bear in the daunting complexities of human affairs.The university is one of the greatest inventions of the present millennium: although created more than nine centuries ago, it
remains one of the glories of human aspiration and one of the triumphs of
the power of imagination. We, as members of its community of
learning, challenge it to play a transforming role in society, and thus to transform
itself.To the university:
a call to imaginative boldness and responsible freedom
Universities are learning communities,
created and supported because of the need of students to learn,
the benefit to scholars of intellectual community, and the importance
to society of new knowledge, educated leaders, informed citizens, expert
professional skills and training, and individual certification
and accreditation. Those functions remain distinctive, essential
contributions to society; they form the basis of an unwritten social compact,
by which, in exchange for the effective and responsible provision of
those services, the public supports the university, contributes to its
finance, accepts its professional judgment and scholarly certification, and grants
it a unique degree of institutional autonomy and scholarly
freedom. Within this compact, the university has a reciprocal obligation
for impartial scholarship, the highest professional competence and
integrity, the cultivation of advanced knowledge and a love of learning among
its students, and a sensitivity towards the need for its services in
society at large. The situation confronting all nations — both industrialized and developing — now requires, as never
before an informed citizenry, an educated workforce, skilled in
handling changing and increasingly sophisticated tasks, and this, in turn,
requires not only achieving an optimum level in student enrollment, but also
the means of providing and pursuing life-long learning. At the very time
of these new demands, the universities are experiencing severe
financial constraints, with increasing competition for scarce public funds for
other pressing public needs. Yet these other social needs demand, in turn,
a renewed public investment in higher education, as the need
increases for creative solutions to social problems, sustainable development
and the expansion of skilled professional services. Wise political
leadership will be required to sustain long-term investment in learning,
without which social advancement is an empty dream.We call on our colleagues in the universities
to recognize their unique responsibilities and opportunities
to their communities, regions and the larger global society by :
Their affirmation that teaching is a moral
vocation,
involving not just the transfer of technical information,
however sophisticated, but also the balanced development of the whole
person. That will mean an emphasis on the development of a creative
learning environment — rather than relying solely on the traditional pattern
of formal lecturing and “one-way” teaching — the cultivation of a
student-centered and student-friendly atmosphere and the goal of
producing not only highly skilled, but also broadly educated,
self-motivated graduates, with a thirst for life-long learning, aware of their
heritage, conscious of their civic obligations and ethically responsible in
their professional careers.
Their affirmation that scholarship is a public trust. All members of the university community — young and old —
are committed to learning, and to the discovery and exploration on which
it is based. Scholarship, though it is rooted in individual insight
and personal inquiry, is a cooperative venture, supported by public
funds and private patrons as a social enterprise, because it enriches
human understanding and contributes to human well-being. That public
support presupposes the impartiality and independence of the scholar, and
the integrity of the scholarship. Two opportunities — new alliances and
the use of information technology — now offer the possibility of
expanding the range and usefulness of scholarship and providing
unprecedented benefits to society. Creating new intellectual alliances within the university and
new partnerships outside it. Traditional disciplines, with their deliberate concentration
and abstraction, are powerful engines of scholarship but, for all their
power, they impose self-created canons and constraints on broader
inquiry. Strong departments, for all their benefits, may restrict the range
and limit the scope of critical investigation. Strong disciplinary
expertise will continue to be essential, but, wedded to the insights and skills
of those from other disciplines and professions, it now offers
unusual promise in confronting broader public issues.Partnership with institutions, agencies and corporations beyond
the campus can supplement and extend the skills of the academy.
Scholars have been slow to apply their skills to pressing social issues,
partly, one supposes, because of their complexity and intransigence;
partly, perhaps, because of a lack of both means and incentives to
address them, and partly because the issues are often controversial and
the risks of failure are high. But society needs the insight and expertise
of the academy in all areas of great public concern. New alliances,
new support and new incentives are needed to address them, just as
the land grant university was created in response to the needs of
mid-19th century America. These new alliances will not replace the norms
and canons of traditional disciplines, but will be a powerful supplement
to them.Employing new information technology (IT),
which now allows the organization of these partnerships on a
grand scale, whether locally-focussed, or globally-based. This new
technology can now provide massive interdisciplinarity, and experiment
and simulation of undreamed-of power. It is likely to transform every
aspect of the university’s activities, but if its capacities are to be fully
employed in their learning, research and public service, universities will need
to encourage flexibility, entrepreneurism, experiment and breadth
within their organizational structures and among all their members. Recognizing public service as a major institutional obligation and providing the means and
the incentives to pursue it. For all its independence and autonomy,
essential as these are, the university has a social responsibility and a
public obligation. It must use its autonomy, not as an excuse for
isolation, indifference or advocacy, but as a means of making an
independent contribution to society, providing an impartial voice and
professional service to the public good. Providing new structures, flexible career paths and
selective support for new patterns of creative inquiry, effective learning, and
responsible public service. Universities have proved remarkably adaptive over
the centuries in responding to new challenges and novel
opportunities. Financial constraint will, however, require the future development
of new initiatives more by substitution, than by addition; this will
strain existing hierarchies and structures, require new patterns of
appointment and employment and demand new methods of funding and
support. Antiquated structures, cumbersome procedures and narrow,
exclusive career tracks are likely to require substantial modification if
universities are to make the most effective contribution to changing challenges
and opportunities. Developing new patterns of governance, leadership
and management that promote effective learning, creative scholarship and
responsible service. Universities have prospered to the extent that they have developed an effective and responsive pattern of shared
governance, which has served them well. This has typically involved a
three-fold pattern of public oversight and trusteeship, shared collegial
internal governance and informed — and generally consensual but often
short-term — administrative leadership. Though the particulars have
varied with time and place, this overall three-fold pattern has proved
both durable and effective, but it now shows signs of intense strain.
Some public governing boards have become more politicized than has
been historically true, asserting authority over areas once viewed as
faculty prerogatives; government ministries and state agencies in
some countries have engaged in micro-management of university
affairs; faculty councils have sometimes used their powers to promote
special interests, delay action, and prevent proposed reforms;
administrative leadership has been seen as too weak in some institutions and
unwisely assertive in others, while effective management is widely seen as
the casualty of these competing interests, held hostage to
indecision, compromise and overlapping jurisdiction. At its best, the
contemporary university is seen as a model of effective participatory governance;
at its worst, it is seen as an archetype of bureaucratic bumbling and
learned inefficiency.All universities need to work with their stakeholders to ensure
the preservation of the benefits of collegial governance and openness
with the achievement of excellence, responsiveness and effectiveness in
all their various activities. This will require institutions to clarify and
redefine jurisdiction and responsibility; it may also require rethinking
and strengthening the role of the rector/chancellor/president and the
terms of appointment to this office. Accepting the obligation for accountability. It is the public, through direct state and federal payments,
tax exemption, voluntary support, corporate contributions and private
gifts — as well as fees for service — such as student tuition, housing
charges and patient fees, for example — who sustain the university. To
them, the university must be openly and appropriately accountable for
the prudent use of its resources. This accountability requires, of
course, the fullest level of professional financial reporting and
independent professional auditing. What it does not mean, however,
is accommodation to every political pressure, popular-demand, public
interest, scholarly fashion or social whim, whether from within
or without. The university must be properly accountable for its
“output”; the integrity of its scholarship, the quality of its professional
standards, the impartiality of its judgments and the competence of its
graduates. But, beyond those things, it must remain sturdily independent,
yielding neither to internal activist interests, nor to external pressure,
but changing deliberately, selectively and responsibly, in the light of
public needs and changing knowledge. Anything less would make it
truly unaccountable, as well as fundamentally compromising its
essential function. Affirming the ancient values upon which the academy is established. In a society of shifting
goals and uncertain values, the university must stand for something
more than accurate data and reliable information; more, even than
useful knowledge and dependable standards. The university is the
custodian, not only of knowledge, but also of the values on which that
knowledge depends; not only of professional skills, but of the ethical
obligations that underlie those professional skills; not only of scholarly
inquiry, disciplined learning and broad understanding, but also of the
means that make inquiry, learning and understanding possible. In
its institutional life and its professional activities, the university
must reaffirm that integrity is the requirement, excellence the
standard, rationality the means, community the context, civility the
attitude, openness the relationship and responsibility the obligation upon
which its own existence and knowledge itself depend. For 900 years of the present millennium, the university, as a community dedicated to those values has
served society well. Its effectiveness in the new millennium will depend on
its reaffirmation of those ancient values as it responds creatively to
the new challenges and opportunities that confront it. This is the
moment for both society and the university to reaffirm the social compact,
on which the future of all our peoples will so largely depend, and for
their leaders to work together towards the achievement of their
common goals.* * *