{

Judge Judy Decides

Sort of

And the verdict is

This growth in community engagement increases the benefits of higher education for the public.  Not only are the students of higher education institutions adding to the community and the economy but so is the actual institution.  Institutions willing to invest in a community allow more people access to that institution.  Whether that access is as a student, a patient in a teaching hospital, or simply by meeting a person different from themselves, the public benefits from the existence and involvement of the institution in their community.  It is for these reasons that higher education is a public good.

Higher Education is a Public Good

“As Stiglitz (1999, p. 308) notes, knowledge is almost as close as we can get to a natural public good. Although knowledge may at one time belong to the individual, it then develops into innovations, and practice in businesses and organizations” (as cited in Marginson, 2007, p. 318). The knowledge obtained from higher education fuels societal benefits.

Public Good Group II

Higher education also provides private benefits for individual members of society, conferring personal emancipation and individual advantage (Fisher, 2005). Higher education is widely viewed as an opportunity for personal gain through better job prospects (Marginson, 2007). Additional benefits or private goods include access to professional “clubs” such as alumni networks and university career centers. Most, if not all, schools make these available to only their students or alumni, and not to the general public. Privatization reduces the public’s taxation burden for individuals, and influence of organizations over the direction of higher education may increase (Fisher, 2005).

Higher Education is a Private Good

Service learning and engagement is a necessary component for students to not only build lasting relationships and expand their networking skills, but they are able to take what they learn in the field, regardless of major choice, and apply it to what they learn in the classroom. Students’ engagement and experiences can be brought back to the group to reflect and discuss as a whole what they’ve learned, expanding a student’s view based on their specific activities to include the entire group’s individual experiences, helping enrich the minds of everyone in the classroom.

Require Service Learning

SL has raised many particular concerns about how to quantify and evaluate its output in a program (Kezar & Rhoads, 2001, p.149).  Having the freedom to choose a community service allows students to expand their knowledge and build experiences without the worry of integrating that service work into the classroom.  It also alleviates the pressure faculty experience when looking for a SL project.  Extracurricular community service is an empowering and eye opening experience that allows students of all ages to interact with people in need and improve socioeconomic and/or environmental conditions in the community-at-large.  

Require Something Community Oriented

The commentary upon the decisions of the groups fell into two camps: the first was agreement with the public good brief; the other was in the need for service learning.

Amicus Curiae

This was a magnificent set of arguments on both sides- Bravo to the prosecutors, plaintiffs and society as a whole.

Judy Judy has reviewed the briefs and the Amicus Curiae thoroughly and offers now her opinion through the following question:

Whose public and whose service?

The public/private debate is messy and becoming messier. Even if a person now aligns work to higher education- for the overall good of society and presumably the person- is the education too narrow so that in 5-10 years the gain is lost when the person is unemployable? And what about, as many wrote, the economics of higher education. If one can’t afford college, it doesn’t do anyone any good.

Public vs Private

Is service learning merely putting, as many have asked, lipstick on a pig as the time to assist is reduced to a semester, a term, a summer?

How can service learning or community engagement or any form of civic responsibility be required or even suggested to the growing demographic of non-traditional students who have to work to afford tuition?Service Learning vs

Community Engagement

As present and future faculty and administrators, these topics will be and are ours to debate to the fullest for years to come. There are no immediate answers, no logical verdict. Therefore:

I decree that both sides of both arguments have significantly researched and prepared their statements in such a way that deliberations on these two topics must continue for the good of society and the individual.

Ongoing Deliberations

Court is adjourned