Membership MattersNortheastern University President Joseph Aoun Opens Colloquium 2012
Found in Membership Matters
Feb. 2012
Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern University, kicked off the 2012 Colloquium with a thought-provoking analysis of current challenges and opportunities for U.S. higher education in the global context. He described the traditional higher education model as ripe for change, and encouraged the participants by stating, “We are not here to be passive observers, but to shape the ‘new normal.’”
Aoun outlined some of the challenges facing U.S. higher education, including decreased funding and more regulation at the federal level and, at the state level, the “privatization of the publics” and “a general tension toward dismantling public systems.” Given that 80 percent of students attend public colleges and universities, Aoun cautioned, “this should be a grave concern to us all.
