For years there has been continual discussion as to how the public school system needs to be reformed. The medical profession, as well as the defense establishment, have also had their share of criticism. It would appear that the time has come for a critical look at the state of higher education.
The author, a professor of higher education at the University of Arkansas, has turned a highpowered searchlight on the state of affairs in the groves of academe. While Lucas believes that higher education is nowhere in a full-blown state of crisis, he does state quite emphatically that institutions of higher education are in trouble. He believes that the issues of contention are both real and substantial. They range from questions about intellectual freedom, the need for external accreditation, cultural diversity, reform of the curriculum, and admission policy, to the hiring of faculty and promotion practices.
According to Lucas, inhabitants of the academy attempt too often just to preserve the status quo and fail to acknowledge that there is a need for any fundamental change.
What the author has attempted to undertake in this book is a review, a "taking stock" of the present condition of American colleges and universities and attempting to think "things afresh."
Lucas' main points are as follows: