A Probe into Cooperation Mechanism between Universities and Government – a Case Study of American Universities

張瑾

In 1916， prior to American entry into the previous World War， the need to mobilize the nations scientific potential for national defense became evident. During World War I， federal government commenced to make research contracts and training projects with universities for national defense needs， and some projects were still available when the war was over. For the government， its cooperation with universities to some extent financed by federal appropriation was more efficient and low-cost compared with that with other for-profit organizations.

1. Means of Cooperation

During World War I， Army ROTC （Reserve Officers' Training Corps） program was established. During the Great Depression， universities were involved in the programs of the Work Projects Administration and National Youth Administration. During World War II， universities participated heavily in the Engineering， Science and Management War Training Program inaugurated in 1940.

After World War II had broken out， the relation between universities and the federal government went far deeper. Statistics from Kerrs research showed that higher education in 1960 received about 1.5 billion dollars from the federal government – a hundredfold increase in twenty years （40）. In 1940 the National Defense Research Committee （later the Office of Scientific Research and Development） was established， and leading universities became engaged in the various programs of war research it set up； more importantly， they built directly-funded research centers in universities， bringing large groups of professors to take part in the military scientific researches （Kerr 39）. The establishment of those centers and laboratories with great federal appropriation improved the universities function of scientific research and has become one of the powerful factors that have made universities gradually become the national scientific research centers and lead the world in the significant research areas.

The basic relationship between the federal government and universities for conducting wartime research was governed by contracts negotiated according to the principle of no-loss and no-gain. Roger L. Geiger stated that universities were “reimbursed for the direct costs they incurred and also given some allowance for overhead”. （Geiger 7）.

Given the absolute priority of the war effort， the usual academic tasks of universities were largely displaced for the duration. The two largest Research & Development efforts of the war were the Manhattan Project and the Radiation Laboratory at MIT. The first concentrated on enormous amount of science， engineering， and material resources upon the single goal of producing an atomic bomb. The second began with a British–designed magnetron， the basis for microwave radar and then proliferated into an entire industry with multiple products and applications. Each evolved different relationships with universities.endprint

2. Significance

As the invention of atomic bomb and computer brought into the world a new epoch， scientific research demonstrated its decisive role in the World War II As a result， both science and scientists have enjoyed high status in American society since then， and also， a new relationship between them and the federal government has been formed. The research of universities serves the national needs， especially in war time， which greatly influenced the governments traditional understanding of academic research. It is felt deeply that science research， fundamental scientific research in particular， held the balance of the survival and development of the country and nation. The cooperation between American university and the federal government specially the military sector has become an important characteristic of American society since World War II.

3. Conclusion

Through the historical prospect， it has been shown clearly that the basic motivation of establishment and reform of American university is the concept of serving the country whose needs vary from time to time. American university has gradually become the center of American society， a driving force of social advancement and knowledge updating.

Although with many problems to be solved， American universities are still crucial for solving the social problem in future and preserving the precious qualities of human beings. The new universities will definitely play a more important role in the creation of the future and its history of development will yield fruitful results， which universities in China would draw lessons from to make more contributions to the further modernization in China.

References

Geiger， Roger L.Research &Relevant Knowledge： American Research Universities Since World War II. New Jersey： Transaction Publishers， 2004.

Kerr， Clark. The Use of the University. 5th ed. Cambridge： Harvard University Press， 2001.endprint