Carol Miller is quite correct that "competitive" in the educational
context has undergone a transformation.  And, in my mind, an undesirable
transformation.
 
A corollary to this new "competitive" is the concept of
educational "customer".  I have yet to hear a person in higher education
use the "customer" concept and place the student in the top three
customers.  Possibly more importantly I have never heard a user of the
"customer" concept ever place society in the top five customers.  Always I
have heard employers placed in the first or second slot.  Further, the
usual use of the concept customer in connection with the student always
has a short term focus (e.g., parking, pleasant delivery of services,
etc.) with no more than lip service devoted to student learning.
 
Increasingly, students are viewed as revenue streams to be captured.
Often, employers then are viewed as the real source of the revenue stream,
either in the near term as the source of reimbursement for working
students, or in the slightly longer term as consumers of our "product."
 
I believe this bespeaks a corrosive paradigm.
 
At the high risk of a poorly selected analogy, let me try a couple of
analogies.  First, to focus on customers in this sense is similar to a
firm focusing on cash flow rather than profit:  cash flow is necessary,
but is not sufficient for success.  Second, defining education's goals
based on the first job is similar to letting the nose of the camel under
the tent: soon the job is the main content of the education.
 
I encourage each of you --in your hallway conversations and committee
meetings-- to challenge anyone who adopts the "customer" paradigm.  Ask
the "customer" proponent to quickly list the top three customers, and to
identify top need of each customer that your educational institution will
strive to satisfy.  It will probably be necessary to also ask the
"customer" proponent where society fits in and what is the purpose for the
pursuit of knowledge.  Personally, I believe the conversations your
inquiries spawn will hold far more long run profit for your institution
than any conversation the unchallenged "customer" proponent would have
wanted to pursue.
 
Michael
 
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=  Michael J. O'Hara, J.D., Ph.D.             [log in to unmask]  =
=  Chair, Law and Society Dept.,     Univ. Neb. at  Omaha  68182  =
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