Institutions of education, and the system of which they are a part, face a host of unprecedented challenges from forces in society that impact and are influenced by these extremely institutions and their communities of learners and educators. Amongst these forces are sweeping demographic adjustments, shrinking provincial budgets, revolutionary advances in information and facts and telecommunication technologies, globalization, competitors from new educational providers, market place pressures to shape educational and scholarly practices toward profit-driven ends, and escalating demands and pressures for basic changes in public policy and public accountability relative to the part of larger education in addressing pressing concerns of communities and the society at substantial. Any one of these challenges would be significant on their personal, but collectively they improve the complexity and difficulty for education to sustain or advance the basic perform of serving the public very good.

Through a forum on education, we can agree to: Strengthening the partnership amongst higher education and society will need a broad-primarily based effort that encompasses all of education, not just individual institutions, departments and associations.

Piecemeal solutions can only go so far methods for alter ought to be informed by a shared vision and a set of typical objectives. A “movement” strategy for modify holds greater guarantee for transforming academic culture than the prevailing “organizational” approach.

Mobilizing change will require strategic alliances, networks, and partnerships with a broad variety of stakeholders inside and beyond education.

The Common Agenda is particularly designed to support a “movement” strategy to change by encouraging the emergence of strategic alliances among folks and organizations who care about the function of larger education in advancing the ideals of a diverse democratic system through education practices, relationships and service to society.

A Prevalent Agenda

The Typical Agenda is intended to be a “living” document and an open process that guides collective action and learning among committed partners inside and outside of greater education. As a living document, the Widespread Agenda is a collection of focused activity aimed at advancing civic, social, and cultural roles in society. This collaboratively made, implemented, and focused Frequent Agenda respects the diversity of activity and programmatic foci of people, institutions, and networks, as nicely as recognizes the widespread interests of the whole. As an open approach, the Popular Agenda is a structure for connecting perform and relationships around popular interests focusing on the academic function in serving society. Several modes of aliening and amplifying the typical function within and beyond education will be offered inside the Frequent Agenda approach.

This method is understandably ambitious and special in its goal and application. In the end, the Common Agenda challenges the program of greater education, and these who view education as important to addressing society’s pressing challenges, to act deliberately, collectively, and clearly on an evolving and significant set of commitments to society. At the moment, four broad challenge regions are shaping the focus of the Typical Agenda: 1) Constructing public understanding and support for our civic mission and actions 2) Cultivating networks and partnerships three) Infusing and reinforcing the value of civic responsibility into the culture of greater education institutions and four) Embedding civic engagement and social duty in the structure of the education program

VISION We have a vision of higher education that nurtures individual prosperity, institutional responsiveness and inclusivity, and societal wellness by advertising and practicing studying, scholarship, and engagement that respects public wants. Our universities are proactive and responsive to pressing social, ethical, and economic difficulties facing our communities and higher society. Our students are people of integrity who embrace diversity and are socially accountable and civilly engaged all through their lives.

yoursite.com of the Typical Agenda is to provide a framework for organizing, guiding and communicating the values and practices of education relative to its civic, social and financial commitments to a diverse democratic system.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

I believe social justice, ethics, educational equity, and societal transform for constructive effects are basic to the work of larger education. We think about the partnership amongst communities and education institutions to be primarily based on the values of equally, respect and reciprocity, and the operate in education to be interdependent with the other institutions and folks in society.

We will seek and rely on in depth partnerships with all sorts of institutions and devoted individuals inside and outdoors of higher education.

We recognize the interconnection of politics, power and privilege. The Common Agenda is not for greater education to self-serve, but to “stroll the talk” relative to espoused public targets. We comprehend the Typical Agenda as a dynamic living document, and count on the activities it encompasses to alter over time.

THE Frequent AGENDA FRAMEWORK The general framework for the widespread agenda is represented in the following diagram. It is clear that when goals and action things are organized and aliened inside particular issues locations, there is considerable overlap and complimentarity amongst the troubles, goals and action items. Also, following each and every action item are names of folks who committed to serve as “point persons” for that distinct item. A list of “point persons,” with their organizational affiliation(s) is included with the prevalent agenda.