Public Relations in Higher Education

Some Problems Facing Modern Universities:

 

Cutbacks in Financial Subsidization

 

A university needs a clearly defined sense of self and image. Higgens 

(1983:25) suggests that this is becoming increasingly important to a 

university's development in the area of fund-raising. Simply invoking Alma 

Mater is likely still to draw gifts from alumni, but other potential donors, for 

example corporate donors, need much more persuasive reasons. Corporate 

donors look for a well-managed institution whose identity and purpose fit with 

the corporation's own identity. For example, WITS University is geared 

towards business and commerce because of the Pretoria - Witwatersrand - 

Vereeniging area's mining-capital orientation. In this way the corporation can 

feel that its own interests are being served through its sponsorship of that 

institution.

 

Here one could outline two broad points of view opposing the status of the 

contemporary South African university:

 

• 

from the point of view of commerce and Government, higher education 

institutions do not enjoy a reputation for good management of 

resources. Commerce generally see higher education as extravagant 

and unbusinesslike. Universities are sometimes regarded as a luxury 

that society could well do without (Tomaselli 1986:1).

  

• 

From a post-apartheid point of view:

  

The Western ideal of a liberal education is being seriously 

questioned in many quarters in South Africa. It is being 

challenged on two main counts: for its tendency to elitism and 

---

on its relevance to the present day needs of society. To put it 

bluntly: What is the use of a liberal education if people are 

poor, starving and oppressed? (Hartshorne 1987:3).

 

In mid-1987 the Government identified universities, particularly English-

language campuses, as sites of revolution (ibid). It warned that a failure to 

curb "campus unrest" would result in punitive cuts in state subsidies. The 

universities rejected this and tempted the State's retaliation. Consequently, 

university fees rose by a massive 21% per annum, putting considerable strain 

on the university's ability to survive.