Page 342 - Crisis in Higher Education

312 • Crisis in Higher Education

Comprehensive Underlying
and integrated Table 5.1 Root causes Table 4.3 problems
solution

FIGURE 15.1
Relationships among the comprehensive and integrated solution, root causes, and
underlying problems.

between the elements of the solution and the root causes, and
Table 4.3 offers an overview of the relationships between root causes
and underlying problems. Both sets of relationships are dense, so
the relationships are many. Table 5.1 also shows that each element
of the solution affects more than one root cause, and each root cause
is affected by multiple elements of the solution. Similarly, Table 4.3
shows complex relationships between root causes and underlying
problems.
2. Relationships within the three factors: These relationships are also
important and abundant, and they are illustrated by the following
examples. Within the elements of the solution, if universities desire
to have student-centered learning, they are more likely to redesign
curriculum and pedagogy. Within the root causes, if universities do
not fully understand who their customers are, their performance
standards are more likely to erode. Within the underlying prob-
lems, if tuition continues to increase, student access becomes more
difficult.

The solution is comprehensive because the problems and root causes are
many and complex. The solution is integrated because there are no one-
to-one relationships among the problems, root causes, and the elements
of the solution, so the solution should be implemented in total rather than
piecemeal. To facilitate implementation, the following sections provide
insights about the relationship between the elements of the solution and
the underlying problems.