CORPORATE EDUCATION, AS A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF UNIVERSITIES

The paper discusses the importance and relevance of corporate education as a social responsibility of universities. The research findings are intended to provide a starting-point for understanding the nature of the working relationship between universities and corporations in order to successfully develop and deliver corporate education programs in engineering and business. The role of universities has been evolving over the last 20 years, from a focus on teaching and research towards a partnership with industry, government and communities. Nowadays the mission of higher education comprises also the necessity to contribute to the sustainable development and improvement of society as a whole. The ability of the universities to organize the traditional disciplines differently to suit the needs of the society is the key to success of corporate education. Beyond the crisis, the strategic importance of the corporate education is driven by technological changes, the global economic liberalization, the rise of the service economy, the cosmopolitanism, etc.