Former Residents Conference. European Universities in Crisis: a View from Spain.

The Nebrija Former Residents Club held on Thursday, March 23, 2017 a conference on the situation of universities in Europe, which featured the presentation European Universities in Crisis: a View from Spain, given by the Rector of the Nebrija University, Juan Cayón.

The event began with the participation of Antonio Porro, president of the Club, who spoke about the projects of this association that seeks to create links between people who have been part of the life of Nebrija Residences, and who have a meeting and networking space in the new club.

The Rector of the University took stock of the current scenario that European universities are experiencing, and pointed out some of the aspects that have caused the crisis that education is suffering in the old continent. Thus, he pointed out the context of crisis in which postmodern Europe finds itself as one of the factors that influence the current university situation. He also made reference to the teaching model, based more on skills than knowledge. "Of course, universities must contribute to the transmission of skills and knowledge that are useful for employment, certainly. But limiting its role in our society exclusively to that entails curtailing its true meaning as an institution of higher education,” highlighted the rector, who also pointed to university bureaucracy as one of the possible causes of the crisis in the European educational environment.

Juan Cayón also presented some of the reasons for the decline in quality in the European university system, such as the overcrowding of classrooms, the democratization of teaching and the abolition of entrance exams. "There is a very clear increase in inequality among students, which makes the professor's task much more difficult and causes the level obtained to be worse," said the rector. Another cause that, according to Cayón, is causing the university system to suffer are professors who "are more concerned with accreditation processes than with the quality of university teaching and research".

Along these lines, Cayón spoke about the need to go back to the origins of the university institution. “True education is the enemy of utilitarianism at its core. Traditionally, the university has been understood as a community of free men seeking truth, a definition that today continues to seem valid to us and that meets the essence of universities”, stated the rector.

Photos of the Event