A radical overhaul of the Irish university sector in which colleges build stronger links with industry and the wider community is proposed in a major new report.
The report - seen by The Irish Times - says Irish universities need to "demonstrate a capacity to re-create themselves".
Failure to embrace change, it warns, could lead to "relative decline and marginalisation".
The report, which will be published shortly by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU), is set to shape Government thinking on the university sector.
It was written by Prof Malcolm Skilbeck, the former deputy director of education at the OECD and a leading world authority on education policy.
The report says Irish universities should:
Broaden and enlarge their student intake, to increase the proportion of mature and postgraduate students and those from poorer backgrounds.
Develop new funding sources by offering student and other services on the international market.
Strengthen links and partnerships with industry and the community, with work and community experience forming part of all degree programmes.
Publish internal evaluations of how various university departments/faculties are performing and develop a national quality assurance system. This would help the public gain a more informed view of what universities are doing.
Adopt more flexible teaching to facilitate part-time study and help develop in all institutions a commitment to adult education.
To improve access, the report says alternatives to the Leaving Cert as the sole route to university should be considered.
"Existing structures are not providing sufficient opportunity for all who could benefit from higher education to do so, " it says.
The report says the projected drop of 36 per cent in school-leavers from 1998 to 2012 (from 74,000 to 47,000) poses an immediate challenge to the university sector.
It warns that Irish colleges must come to terms with the new realities, where "alternatives already exist, internationally, for carrying out each and every one of the main functions traditionally performed by universities".
These include teaching being delivered on-line by private providers and research being conducted by specialised research institutes.
It warns that change may be difficult to achieve in universities because of their traditions and their deeply embedded values and structures.
There is also, it says, "a reluctance by many members of the academic community to become . . . footsoldiers to government and economic policy".
Prof Skilbeck says the educational standards achieved by Irish graduates compare well internationally, despite the "serious underfunding" of the university sector until recent years.
The report, The University Challenged - A Review of International Trends and Issues with Particular Reference to Ireland, was commissioned by the HEA and CHIU.
Universities will have to extend their reach beyond their current position, according to the report.
They must reach out to their surrounding communities, establish partnerships with industry and provide genuine access to the poorer sections of society.
In the foreword to the report, the chairman of the HEA, Dr Don Thornhill, and Dr Roger Downer, of the CHIU, say "the university is no longer a quiet place to teach and do scholarly work . . . and contemplate the universe at a leisurely pace.
"It is a big, complex, demanding business requiring large-scale ongoing investment."