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The Developmental University

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Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education ((PSGHE))

Abstract

This chapter outlines the model of university that provides the best fit with the role proposed in the SDGs. The developmental university emerged in Africa in the post-independence period, but has its roots in the nineteenth-century land grant institutions in the USA, with other antecedents in Latin America. It has four primary characteristics: service to society, egalitarianism, non-academic impact and application of knowledge. Examples of developmental universities in practice are discussed, including the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana, and the ‘thematic’ federal universities in Brazil. Finally, the challenges facing these institutions are assessed, including resource constraints and the possible encroachment on autonomy from the close relationship with the state.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Orr (1994) argues, however, that the land grant institutions did not fully succeed in their goal of revitalising rural communities.

  2. 2.

    The term ‘service university’ in Cummings (1998) is, however, used in a sense consonant with that in this article.

  3. 3.

    Carayannis and Campbell (2012) have more recently put forward the notion of Mode 3 knowledge, involving civil society as well as government, academia and industry, in a more collaborative and networked set of relations.

  4. 4.

    Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana.

  5. 5.

    Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira.

  6. 6.

    An additional campus has been established in São Francisco do Conde, Bahia.

  7. 7.

    Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul. UFFS has a total of over 8000 students. It goes beyond the legal requirement (of 50%) and reserves 90% of its places for students from public schools.

  8. 8.

    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará.

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  1. UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

    Tristan McCowan

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  1. Tristan McCowan
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McCowan, T. (2019). The Developmental University. In: Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals. Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19597-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19597-7_4

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