In every sphere, there are certain disadvantages in the organization and some problems that have to be solved. Unfortunately, higher education leadership is not an exception, and there is a number of issues to take care of. With the beginning of a new year, the leaders of this sphere have to start thinking about several questions and the ways of dealing with them. The purpose of this paper is to provide two such issues and suggest some steps for improving the situation.
The first challenge is defining and agreeing on the purpose of institutions of higher education. Some people argue whether teaching “should be about learning for its own sake, or about learning how to do something practical, useful, and immediately applicable” (Buller, 2018, para. 2). The problem lies in trying to divide these two purposes and denying that both of them are essential and should be united and followed simultaneously, and students should not have to choose. The academic leaders have to highlight that both of these goals are compatible with and also inseparable from each other.
Another great problem that needs to be solved is that the cost of higher education is increasing significantly every few years, and there are several reasons for this which the leadership of higher education may influence. Some of them include athletic programs that help some students from universities but “add staggering costs to the bottom lines of the vast majority of them” (Buller, 2018, para. 4). The members of leadership should understand that, despite the fact that such programs are significant for institutions, it is more crucial to put this money into giving non-wealthy students an opportunity of studying. It is important to direct those resources to expand the faculty and to improve academic spaces.
Reference
Buller, J. L. (2018). Current challenges in higher education leadership. Academic Briefing. Web.