"In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach."

Some top universities and colleges require their faculty members to work outside of academic world in the aim of practicing viable issues, accordingly, being qualified with more valuable factual experiences and advises further than theoretical background. Importance of academic world and some possible inefficient time allocations of this policy aside, I agree with this application since we observe positive feedbacks from graduates of these school.
While some particular jobs are based on market strategies, recent technologies and innovative ideas, it is not rational to charge students with just burden of theoretical stuff. To put it another way, the key of success in some fields is keeping up ongoing speed and changes rather than bonding and assimilating old theories. There a good academic will be the one who can give concrete real advises. For instance, a good colleague in advertisement, Bob Johnson, has given many lectures and during these period has worked on various agents to observe what is going on. This is important in the sense that student can adapt more easily and get aroused by feeling ready to directly involve into market. Otherwise, in their first jobs, they may feel unqualified or impractical, although they realize somethings just get time in further.
Recent studies show that colleges which involve theory intense educations become successful in research methodologies but fail in corporate and public sectors. Theory is full of assumptions, conditions in the aim of getting desired results, effects, however, real life have far more convoluted obstacles instead. It is important to learn also how you can face and fight with these obstacles and how you partner with your colleagues in these process of risk management. Most academics are not able to give real life illustrations even though they can immensely explain and develop proof and logic of theory. For instance, a proper civil engineering academics should be able to give possible unfortunates and they manage this process. This illustrates that civil engineer academic should involve in construction areas in order to observe meticulously.
Last point I agree with the statement that this application also feeds and rises new research areas since scholars will see some problems to resolve or ameliorate, accordingly, they could give advices their students new questions, new technics to work on. For instance, most famous scholar of architecture in Turkey, Deniz Yılmaz, who is currently giving lectures in Istanbul Technical University, has a habit of giving her students projects which require their students to contemplate and provide a solution for a current challenge in architecture of Turkey rather than designing discrete buildings. This improves practice of students and serves as an opportunity to apply what they have learned.
On the other hand, this application may cause some problems in time managements of these academics since it is not easy all the time to conduct and concentrate on a research effectively, therefore, allocating efficient time to these professional occasions may decrease.
In conclusion, all things considered, I agree with the statement beyond its possible negative drawbacks.