ABSTRACT
Colleges and universities around the world are being transformed as never before. Ready or not, like it or not, and everywhere in the industrialized world, the academy is being reshaped by forces external to it: a global economy, shifting demographics, a revolution in terms of quality and changing technologies. Even such classic institutions as historic universities in Britain and liberal arts colleges in the United States are responding in one way or another to national imperatives to produce workers and leaders who have the knowledge and skills to perform successfully in a continuously changing, competitive, and interconnected world (Newman 1985; Ball 1991; “Transatlantic Dialogue” 1993; “Dance with Change” 1994). Some faculty and administrators resent having to adjust to this new relationship between the academy and society. Nevertheless, as terms like access, productivity, globalization, and accountability are applied to the academic work setting, increasingly and universally they are beginning to understand that failure to respond appropriately puts their institutions at risk (“Transatlantic Dialogue” 1993; Scott 1993).
