Canada at a crossroads on the purpose of universities: Spooner

In a recent article for The Conversation, University of Regina Professor Marc Spooner argues that Canada must consider the effects of attempting to repurpose and reprogram universities to serve labour market needs. Spooner writes that trying to “turn universities and colleges into lesser and more convoluted versions of one another” will narrow the scope of universities and have long-term consequences. Universities are teaching, research, and service institutions that foster research and knowledge, he writes, but students view their purpose differently depending on the cost of their education. Spooner argues that conceptions of higher education should not be pitted against each other and that universities should not be a site for “politicking.” “We urgently need to ask ourselves what kind of society we hope to maintain, foster and create and link that to how universities can best serve that society,” writes Spooner.