Another key ingredient was a state that was prepared to invest large sums of money in the system, based on enrolment growth. The UC agreed to grow with California’s population (a commitment it retains) and the state funded the places. "It was this large-scale investment by past state governments – which, of course, we are not seeing now – that really (gave) an ability to recruit quality faculty," notes Douglass. David Hollinger, professor of American history at Berkeley, summarises the move: "It was a commitment to education as a public good – and you needed it in California because we didn’t have the Ivy League institutions – and the willingness of the taxpayers, through their elected representatives, to pay whatever it cost to create a first-class university."

Read full article [here].
by Zoe Corbyn, Times Higher Education.

Posted: January 13th, 2011, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.