Rooting of Loose Engagement of Iranian Universities with Industry from the Higher Education Informants

If universities functioned in a stable environment, the demands for leadership would be modest. Mission, vision, programs, strategies, and policies could simply be put on automatic pilot. Automatic pilots don’t work for universities. Environment is in continual context, and the results and consequences of these changes for the future of universities are profound. Sound, creative and empowering leadership is indispensable, and it spells the difference between productive, sustainable universities and those that are in continual crisis and failing. One need only reflect on the change that has come about in university over the last century. The very mission and scale of universities have been transformed. Universities are altering the ways and means of teaching and learning. New directions and methods in research and service to society are evolving. The costs-benefits of the academic enterprise are in continual fluctuation and open to challenge. The roles of faculty are different, as are campus cultures. The very definition of precisely who is served and touched by universities is in transition. Leading change is clearly the most difficult and taxing challenge faced by university managers and leaders. Occupying a position of leadership and exercising the role of manager and leader are entirely different.Too many positions of leadership are filled by those who occupy the chair and carry the title but fail to lead universities in ways that enable them to adapt to a demanding environment, optimize their mission, align with values, and produce a lasting contribution to society. It does not speak to the position of leadership, to title, or to mere survival skills; rather it speaks to the creative act, the behavior, the hard work, and the skill and competency of leadership and management