UNIVERSITY AGENDA FOR DEVELOPING STUDENTS' SKILLS IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

The topic selection of this paper is motivated by several aspects like its intriguing character, the challenges that promotes, the multiple perspectives it requires and mostly by the potential it has of generating positive effects for society. The roles of the university changed across history enumerating titles as: moral symbols, social etalons, education providers and innovation facilitators, promoters of entrepreneurial talent, economic and civic leaders and mostly as knowledge pioneers. Throughout the content of this paper we argue, in the first section, the major roles that the university played across time, the ones that it presently performs and we forecast its future powers. Within the second section of the paper we connect the paradigm of the ?earning organization' with the strategic knowledge management model for transforming the potential of the university (in terms of intellectual, financial, material resources) into operational (pragmatic) results. The undeniable strategic advantage of universities is that they can equally provide information and knowledge to both the private and the public domain. Debating about the options of transforming a university into a learning organization will provide new directions for the university leaders in order to increase their value creation for society. Throughout the third section of the paper we will present 'the University agenda for developing students' skills in the knowledge economy'. Under this section we approached the major shifts on the labor market regarding the employability skills. Further we provide argumentation for the most wanted categories of skills in the time horizon of 2030, which are considered to be: fluency of ideas, judgement and decision making, originality, active learning, system evaluation, learning strategies, complex problem solving, critical thinking, system analysis, deductive reasoning. In this context we analyzed the university contribution and perspectives as main player.