Governors and Higher Education--1983

For the most part, 1983 was a quiet year in the otherwise occasionallytumultuous relationship between higher education and the governorsof the American states. To be sure, there were growing indicationsof serious budget problems on the horizon, exacerbated by droppingenrollments and shifting needs among students, faculty, andsociety. There was also an increasing awareness throughout thecountry of the future significant role that high technologymight play in institutions of higher education; but these prospectsstill need to be worked on and sorted out. The year provides,therefore, a good opportunity to look back at the fundamentalrelationship between governors and higher education and to examinea few specific areas of longstanding concern so that we maybe better prepared for what lies ahead.