What should be the relationship between business and higher education?

Higher education is a passion of mine.  I recently read the article from The New Yorker  - "Do Business People Make Good University Presidents?"  This article discusses the appointment of a businessperson as President of the University of Iowa and the reaction of the faculty of the university.  This bringing in of an "outsider" to academia brings up interesting questions like what is the purpose of a University.  A key point is that a University's purpose is not to maximize profits but to maximize student's education. This might be a foreign concept to a for-profit world.  Perhaps it could be likened to a business model that included having higher quality standards or keeping a brand "image" up or maybe a luxury market where name is key but in general a university does not follow a typical business model. However, academia could use some help in streamlining things like student services and infrastructure maintenance and expansion to maximize them for the dollars available-not eliminate them!

For profit businesses and the public in general should realize that the value of higher education goes well beyond that student themselves. Without universities, businesses don't have an educated innovative workforce. They also don't have consumers. Business and academia should have a symbiotic relationship that can take the best of both an academic world and a business world and combine them to benefit society. That is after all what government is for- for doing things to benefit the entire population that no one other single entity could do for the greater good and for the long term even if it doesn't necessarily make business sense- things like infrastructure, education and the arts. But in an era of ever shrinking government funding, how does higher ed evolve to survive?

What can we do to encourage the conversation between business, higher ed, and government to keep an innovative education system moving forward? Are there things that alumni can do to help? Are there models for success that should be followed? What can the future be for higher ed? Creating the right balance will be key to keeping universities relevant and thriving.

Original post from Linked In.