Competition and Teaching in the Research University: Are these incompatible values?

This paper argues that the infiltration of market forces and neoliberal policies into higher education has significantly undermined the core teaching mission of universities, leading to a devaluation of teaching, an overemphasis on research productivity, and a reliance on contingent faculty that ultimately compromises the quality of education and the public good. A framework to retrieve teaching as a relational act is offered as an imperative for universities and the academic community.