Mehmet Özay 19.11.2018
The ability of higher education institutions to carry out their education and training activities and their scientific activities and publications, which are now considered natural extensions of these activities, in a sustainable manner is linked to the fact that these institutions are built on solid foundations and that this construction is sustainable.
While the tangible and intangible foundations of this structuring manifest themselves in various ways, there is no doubt that the coexistence of these two phenomena is inevitably binding. At this point, whether an institution of higher education is state-based or a product of private enterprise leads to differences in the provision of material and non-material conditions. In this sense, the existence of higher education institutions as a result of a private enterprise means that this structure is realized entirely through civilian individuals and institutions. In the classical foundation tradition, the sustainability of the existence of such higher education institutions is dependent on certain 'assets'.
Today, instead of such akar, which ensures institutional continuity, donations (donations), which are perhaps another contextualization of this tradition (endowment) phenomenon emerges as a product of today's socio-economic conditions. In this context, there are two main starting points for the university and the donor.
First of all, as an institution, the university has ceased to be a structure that can be undertaken by a single person or institution alone in terms of the diversity and depth of academic structuring and the challenges and difficulties brought about by economic structuring. From the donor's point of view, again in connection with the previous situation, there is a danger that the university lacks the capital accumulation to undertake the burden of the entire infrastructure of a wide-ranging and deep academic life, and/or even if it has such a capital accumulation, this capital accumulation does not gain a sustainable quality.
This inevitably raises the question of how an academic institution's existence can be given a sustainable character. In the East, as in the West, academic institutions have tended to become independent of state support, and to varying degrees, have realized their institutional sustainability with support from the private sector.
In terms of those who support this process, it is possible to see, for example, royal or sultanate circles of the countries concerned, business circles that stand out for their economic capabilities, and even individual individuals and families who have been involved in scientific circles in the past.
They are characterized by their role in the realization of new formulations for the sustainable functioning of private higher education. These supporting structures become partners in the multiple structure by undertaking the cost of a unit in the relevant higher education institution. Here, the phenomenon of 'flow' is transformed from a singular to a plural characteristic. And the so-called supporter group, in time, becomes substitutes for each other, ensuring the sustainability of the relevant higher education institution.
At this point, a supporter can support a department or unit that is in line with his/her own field of interest and expertise. On the other hand, the supporter may also have the opportunity to obtain a direct or indirect gain, such as the development of his/her professional field through academic studies.[1]
[1] Open Civilization, Year 1, Issue 9, November 2018, p. 2
English and Indonesian versions translated with DeepL AI
