A recent book published at the end of 2015 entitled "The University and the Economy", (Geuna, A; Rossi, F) develops the concept of University as a complex institution and points out that the university, with clear exceptions, was conceived in medieval times and modern as "primarily seats of learning focused on the preservation and inviolability of the sum of learning rather on the creation of new knowledge." The first University founded in 1088 in Bologna, contributed some ideas about the relationship teachers and disciples in search of that "unum necessarium". What to say about the figure of Thomas Aquinas, a first-class intellectual teaching at the University of Paris and providing a world-class "innovation" rescuing from oblivion the egregious figure of Aristotle, through Arab philosophers, as a vehicle to support the Catholic doctrine on other philosophical bases (Cazorla et al, 2014).
The Spanish 16th century, called the Golden Century, would be incomprehensible without the University of Alcalá founded at the end of the 15th century. Innovation, that is to say new applied knowledge, has existed since ancient times, but it has progressively accelerated in the last decades of the last century on that new paradigm of R & D & I (Research, Technological Development and Innovation), based on a technological base In this last phase, perhaps it has been forgotten that the concept of innovation as new knowledge that is created and disseminated affects engineering and science; but also to the humanities of all kinds.
With these brief strokes, it is intended to emphasize that perhaps throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in many parts of the developed world, a concept of university limited to the delivery of a series of teachings that lead to obtaining of a university degree that qualifies for a certain profession. This approach, which is rooted in the so-called Napoleonic tradition, is especially introduced in those universities that have a marked proportion of technical education. In the frontispiece of one of these universities appears "Knowing is Doing," which summarizes the approach of this type of university that permeates technique - and only technique - something as rich intellectually speaking as knowledge. A change to "knowing is understanding" will bring us closer to discovering possibilities of change in our universities and in their fundamental elements: professors (Cazorla et al, 2014). This will provide us with an objective vision as managers of universities and, therefore, with prudence and audacity, we will be able to combine a teaching task that leads to continue preparing good professionals with a series of measures to convert the institution into a research university with a Constant plan for improving positioning in the world rankings.
Sometimes we consider the university as an association of professors and students looking for a common goal or objective, a place where we will give sessions in line with our students and where little else can be offered apart from this. If we make a deeper reflection we can see how the previous definition supposes a synthesis - too shallow - of the university concept.
The previous definition of university refers us, exactly, to a common goal: to teach and prepare students for their future incorporation into the professional world. But if we attend to evaluate the previous goal we can observe how sometimes the university-business connection fails. In a relatively recent survey of a CEO of an important Spanish company, a series of negative characteristics are detected in our graduates:
1. Excessively theoretical training and a reduced practical component.
2. Overly general knowledge with deficiencies in specialization and updating.
3. Little preparation for research and creativity.
4. Little preparation for the management of human teams.
5. Ignorance of the company as a structure and dynamic entity.
These shortcomings, which many of us could identify in our universities, lead us to consider that the transmission of knowledge is not relevant if that knowledge is not related to the demands - technical, contextual and behavioral - of society or is outdated and decontextualized. Therefore, we can conclude that a connection between the university and the society in which we live is necessary, where the university is a pioneer and transmits cutting-edge knowledge. In line with this reflection we can understand the importance that research has for the university, because through it the university is linked to social demands playing a leading role and in turn generating new knowledge that will be transmitted to students. In this way, the overcoming of the only academic-professionalizing concept of the university in which the professor is an instrument limited to teaching is glimpsed. This transformation of concepts will help the university to serve the society in which it is based, and in turn will transform the university into a frontline university.
