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TERI University: Facilitating Creation of the Market for sustainable skills

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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The roots of TERI University can be traced back to 1998, when ‘TERI School of Advanced Studies’ was established. The School was subsequently renamed as the TERI University in October 2006. The University was conceived to cater to the need of disseminating the vast reservoir of knowledge created by TERI, a not for- profit, independent research institute recognised globally for its contribution to scientific and policy research in the realms of energy, environment, and sustainable development. Since its inception, the University offers not just world-class education, but also an environment that enables its students to develop fresh perspectives on their subjects of study. In an exclusive interview with T. Radhakrishna and Sudheer Goutham of Elets News Network (ENN), Dr. Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor of TERI University, shares the genesis, vision and outlook of TERI University

Can you explain your vision for research at the University?

India, as well as the whole world, today are faced with several existential crises around climate, water, energy, food and several other issues. Whereas, in the past we had the luxury of time to experiment with solutions, today, we have to focus on designing and delivering on systemic solutions that maximise the probability of successful interventions. The research at the TERI University would leverage its interdisciplinary study programmes to encourage a blend of technical and socio-economic research, which would aim to create such systemic solutions. The University would also seek to strengthen its capacities on Institutional Design and Behavioral Sciences towards this end. Since sustainability pre-supposes resource efficiencies, we would also seek to integrate the application of Information Technology into our research.

Kindly mention the opportunities that are included in the University for operating on the global stage? The TERI University joins only a few other academic leaders that are pioneering academic programmes on sustainability sciences.

We already have a close collaboration with several of these leaders, either in terms of simply curriculum exchanges or including faculty/student exchanges too. We have recently initiated joint degree programmes with a couple of international universities. I hope that, over a period of time, we will be able to function seamlessly with our partners on identified initiatives through a more effective use of Information Technology.

Some key partner Universities that TERI University has had the privilege of working with include: The Yale University, USA; Columbia University, USA; Freie University, Berlin, Germany; Deakin University, Australia; Queensland University of Technology, Australia; University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Rheims University, France among a few others.

What are the main strengths of the collegiate system?

The TERI University is a Deemed University under UGC regulations. As such, it is not permitted to affiliate colleges. We are, however, permitted to establish a few campuses across the country and are progressing on the first couple of such campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad. We expect to be able to start offering preliminary programmes from these campuses by 2018, if not earlier.
Once again, our focus is to ensure that there exists no distinction on access to resources and quality faculty across our campuses through specially designed ITbased enabling tools.

The TERI University is a Deemed University under UGC regulations. As such, it is not permitted to affiliate colleges. We are, however, permitted to establish a few campuses across the country and are progressing on the first couple of such campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad.

What do you consider to be the main challenges facing your University?

Our University offers interdisciplinary programmes on various sustainability themes. While sustainability concerns and awareness is increasing in leaps and bounds, this has not as yet fully translated into competitive employment opportunities for students. I have no doubt that very soon our students would be demonstrating the value they bring to any workplace through their contributions to society. We also have to actively increase our visibility and outreach, so that we may facilitate the creation of this ‘market’ for sustainability skills.

How would you like to build on the success of your University’s legacy?

The TERI University is as yet a young University and is still growing. In the last 4 years that I have been at the University, we have added a new programme every year. Each new programme is designed to strengthen the links necessary to provide systemic solutions. Given the exposure of our students to theory and practice, we would now like to establish an incubation centre for sustainability solutions, which would also be open to students from other Universities or other desirous innovators

What, according to you, would be the real success for the University?

Success to me would be in the form of our students becoming the visible drivers for the change that they would like to see in society (paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi here). Since they would bring about this change by being embedded within organisations, I expect that they would drive this change from within, thereby making it more sustainable.

Success would also be in the form of a more active demand for a larger number of our students, with the value systems that we are honing in them. Together, I hope we can create the force to drive India towards a more sustainable development pathway.

Finally, success would also reflect itself from more sponsored research opportunities for the University and more industry funded Departments/Chairs in relevant subjects.

Success to me would be in the form of our students becoming the visible drivers for the change that they would like to see in society. Since they would bring about this change by being embedded within organisations, I expect that they would drive this change from within, thereby making it more sustainable

How do you continue to recruit and retain the very best staff?

‘Best’ is a value term that cannot be defended. Our attempt is to attract faculty members, who align with our vision of interdisciplinary learning, who are highly committed to their students, undertake active research that would add to both society and academic curriculum, and who themselves are engaged in a continuous learning process. Once we create this culture in the University, and I believe we are getting here, a process of natural self-selection happens which we can aid by designing the right incentive structures. We are still on the learning curve on this subject.

What are your plans for Alumni relations?

We have a registered Alumni Association, which has elected office bearers in place. While this association organises annual event and also encourages Alumni to share their experiences with current students, the University is also trying to see how it can provide continued support to its alumnis. Targeted news services, free participation in events, access to learning resources, etc. are some of the avenues that we are exploring.

PES University: Committed to Producing Highly skilled human resources

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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PES was established in 1972 at Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India. The University is focused on four main educational areas: Engineering, Medicine, Management and Life Sciences. The institution offers both foundation courses in these areas, as well as specialisation with a Bachelors’, Masters and Doctorate degrees. Years of experience in education with a unique curriculum, worldclass infrastructure, a committed responsive faculty and an unwavering commitment to quality of education has made PES successful with more than 18,000 students spread across four different campuses, three state-of-the-art campuses in Bengaluru and a Medical College with 750-bed hospital in Andhra Pradesh. In an exclusive interview with T. Radhakrishna and Sudheer Goutham of Elets News Network (ENN),
Dr KN Balasubramanya Murthy, Vice Chancellor of PES University, talks about the unique PES University approach to shape the overall personality of its students

What is the mission and vision of PES university?

PES Group was started in 1972 by the People’s Education Society (PES), the sponsoring body for the University. At present, we have close to 18,000 students and have the size of 1500 employee strength. Moreover, we have 40 plus programmes and an alumni strength of more than 30,000. The vision of PES University is to create an ethically strong and global approach for academic environment. The three important attributes to vision statement are: professional preparation, the ethical behavior of students and their global competence. We ensure that any student who graduates from our university possess these qualities. Our mission is very clear, we want to provide the students a sense of history, an understanding of values and ethics, the commitment to law and morality, the appreciation of human creativity and lastly an ethical enquiring mind. Our core value is excellence.

There are basically three possible avenues for students graduating with us. First is the obvious choice of many i.e Employability, second is Entrepreneurship, and third is Higher Education. Students can pursue Higher Education here, if they want

What distinguished PES university from other Higher Educational institutes in the state?

We are a State Private University, established under the Karnataka Act No 16 of 2013. At present, ours is one of the most sought after Higher Education institution in Karnataka. PES University emerged out of PES Institute of Technology, which was started in 1988. The objective of PES University is that we want every student to become good citizen first, only then he can become a good engineer and manager.

What according to you are the problems that are being faced by Education sector of India?

The PES University is aware of the problems faced by the higher education sector nowadays. The problems can be broadly classified into three categories: One, it is High Volume. There is a huge volume of graduate students who are keen about getting admission in higher education.

Second, it is of low quality. We do not have enough mechanisms to handle the increasing volumes. Three, is low employability. This is due to the development of automation fields, which affect and lower the employability rates.

pes-universityWhat all opportunities are there for a student who graduates from PES University?

There are basically three possible avenues for students graduating with us. First is the obvious choice of many i.e Employability, second is that of Entrepreneurship, and third is Higher Education. Students can also go for higher education, if they want.

A student has to self assess, as to what is his/her area of strength, and where will he/she fit in PES University. For this, we have also designed programmes, which shall help the students to make informed decisions. For example, we have programmes on entrepreneurship in which we conduct workshops and conferences, which in turn helps the aspirant to assess whether he can make a good entrepreneur or not.

The vision of PES University is to create an ethically strong and global approach for academic environment. The three important attributes to the vision statement are: professional preparation, the ethical behavior of students and their global competence. We ensure that any student who graduates from our university possess these qualities

One of the most effective ways for this can be engaging the alumni in several ways, like we make them talk to the juniors, sharing their experiences about campus life and the professional life. We also try to ensure that the students always get good placements. We advise them not to take or leave a job due to salary. It is always better to make a decision on the type of work the company is engaged in, so that in the long run it helps them to become good engineers. We also tell the students to get a job in the field they are interested.

Jain University: Imparting Quality Education, Creating Human assets

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Jain University is an intellectual destination that draws students from more than 25 countries to Bengaluru. The University promotes sports, encourages creative talent, emphasises on education for nation-building, innovates entrepreneurship, and facilitates employment generation. “Ensuring quality higher education is one of the most important things we can do for future generations (Ron Lewis),” quotes Col (Hon) Dr N Sundararajan, Vice Chancellor, Jain University, while sharing the University’s best practices, in an exclusive interview with T. Radhakrishna and Sudheer Goutham of Elets News Network

Can you explain your vision for research at the University?

The University chose a vision to `Foster Human Development through Excellence in Quality Education, Research and Entrepreneurial Development`. The Mission Statement of the University states that it shall strive:

  • To provide quality education, creating human assets and intellectual capital
  • To enhance research and development in different disciplines
  • To develop a new generation of entrepreneurs who will be instrumental in fueling economic growth
  • To create able leaders, managers and technocrats

Research and Development is an important and an integral component of the mission of Jain University. It has a research policy, which is a vital document for realising the mission of the university. The following are a few salient features of the Research policy

  • Provide optimum facilities to researchers v Purchase equipment, upgrade labs and subscribe to e-journals
  • Create national facilities like coating lab for fire testing facility with support from Underwriters Laboratory
  • Initiate the establishment of instrumentation center
  • Implement UGC regulation 2010 for M.Phil/ Ph.D
  •  Collaborate with research institutions of repute
  • Create the position of a Dean for Research to coordinate research activities.

What according to you are the main challenges facing your University?

Jain University was declared as a Deemed University in December 2008. The University commenced its programs from 2009-10 academic year. Over the last six years, the University has made conscious and concerted efforts to build on its strengths and consolidate on its achievements.

Jain University is a self–financing University, facing multiple challenges. The real challenge is to ensure academic excellence and to get the best students. We need to build a very good infrastructure and tackle the financial problems. Along with this, retention of good faculty is also a challenge. Being a private unaided University, the faculty and administration have faced serious roadblocks in securing support and funding from Government research funding agencies and getting consultancy projects.

What opportunities are there for your University to operate on the global stage?

The academic and other activities of the University is framed keeping in mind the core values of national development, fostering global competencies and inculcating a sound value system coupled with the promotion of use of technology. Devising to operate on the global stage has been a passion in the university. On one hand, it strengthens the investigation level, enabling to network with best people and developing strong network with reputed institutes of research excellence. On the other hand, these collaborations open multiple opportunities to work on a large scale. Currently, Jain University has 76 major collaborations with various funding agencies and institutes of excellence all over the world. They include University of California, Berkeley; Forum of Federations, Canada; International Association of Centres for Federal studies; Forum of Federation, Sudan; and Konard Adenauer Foundation; Wipro Technologies; Government of Karnataka; ICSSR, Government of India; CNN-IBN and World Value Surveys.

What are the main strengths of the collegiate system? Colleges are vital and integral part of the University system. The main strength is how the University and the colleges coordinate to work together. They are inseparable and they need to work in unison. It is through the good work of the colleges that the reputation of university enhances.

What all do you remember about your University when you were a student?

I am an alumnus of National College, Trichy, University of Madras. During my Master’s programme, I had been influenced by the knowledge, intelligence, sincerity and dedication of my teachers. It was during this time that my interest to become an educationist who could bring about a transformation became stronger and stronger. Driven by the opportunities given to me today, I have been able to implement some of the thoughts into action.

How would you like to build on the success of your University’s legacy?

Jain University has confidently positioned itself as a ‘Space for Learning’ with a stamp of quality, innovation and creativity. The University has set for itself the goal of achieving excellence in its teaching / learning, research initiatives and entrepreneurial ventures. I believe that quality and innovations are always ‘work in progress’. Every day, there is a need for creation of new milestones and raising the bar. I insist every stakeholder of the University to internalize the University’s vision and strive for excellence in every step, in every action, in every programme and in every new initiative. The focus on `quality education for all` inspires everyone in the University to be proactive, forward looking and fully energized to play their role in fulfilling the vision the University has set for itself.

How would you like your Vice- Chancellorship to be viewed in future?

Jain University has consciously ushered in innovative academic programmes and has a special focus on interdisciplinary / multidisciplinary research. I look forward to undertake even more focused cutting-edge research in emerging areas of pure and applied Sciences, Engineering & Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, which are relevant for National development.

We desire to create chairs in different disciplines in the next couple of years and enhance University-Industry interface. To move ahead in the race, we need to be leaders of globally reputed groups. However, challenging it is, we have to gain international recognition, which would of course be our long term plans. Nothing succeeds like success and for me success means result orientation, quantification of quality work, conversion of dreams into reality and thoughts into action.

How would you continue to recruit and retain the very best staff?

The University believes in recruiting and retaining highly qualified and committed faculty. They are given facilities to conduct research and publish papers. They are also encouraged to go as resource persons to other institutions and the financial implications there on are taken care off by the University. Eminent faculty are associated with the University

For Professional development of the staff following measures are provided:

  • Periodic Faculty Development programmes
  • Motivation for upgradation of qualification
  • Financial support and leave for participation in National/ International conferences
  • Encouragement to take up minor and major research projects
  • Recognition and incentives for publications in indexed journals

Jain University is self–financing. It is, facing multiple challenges. The real challenge is to ensure academic excellence and to get good students. We need to build a very good infrastructure and tackle the financial problems. Along with this, retention of good faculty is also a challenge for us

What are your plans for Alumni relations?

Our Alumni have been our true ambassadors of quality, excellence and professionalism. They play a very important role in building a relationship with various stakeholders and the University.

Many of our Alumni are in important mid-career positions in their chosen domain of expertise. Some of our current students and alumni who have excelled in the field of Arts, Music and Cinema include Ambi Subramaniam (Classical Violinist); Tanvi Singla (Miss Asia Pacific World 2011); and many others.

Some of our alumni have made a mark in the the sports arena. To name a few: Pankaj Advani (World Billiards & Snooker Champion); Robin Uthappa (Indian Cricketer); Shikha Tandon; and Rehan Pooncha (International Swimmers). The university has a healthy practice to have regular Alumni meetings. The wonderful support and the motivation will help us develop optimum networking with all the concerned stakeholders.

The university has a healthy practice to have regular Alumni meetings. The wonderful support and the motivation will help us develop optimum networking with all the concerned stakeholders.

REVA University: Transforming Students into excellent citizens

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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The Founders of REVA University believe in the motto of ‘Knowledge is Power’. Driven by philanthropic vision and a missionary zeal, the campus is built to transform students into outstanding citizens. Dr. P Shyama Raju, Founder & Chancellor, Dr. V G Talawar, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. S Y Kulkarni, Principal Director-Academics, Dr. N Ramesh, Director-Planning, REVA University, share the University’s placement programme, skill development courses and collaborations with international universities

Tell us about REVA University.

REVA University was established under the Government of Karnataka Act 80 of the year 2012 at Bengaluru. Presently, we offer five Engineering programmes and run programmes in Law, Architecture, Humanities, Science, Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Biotechnology. Right now, there are nearly 12,000 students in our university. Our campus is spread across over 47 acres with proper infrastructure facilities. Our aim is to provide quality education.

vg_talawarWhat is the University’s vision? How do you want the University to be in terms of quality and standard?

REVA University aspires to become an innovative University by developing excellent human resources with leadership qualities, ethical and moral values, research culture and innovative skills through higher education of global standards. We aim to provide student-centric learning environment through innovative pedagogy and education reforms;

? To encourage research and entrepreneurship through collaborations and extension activities;

? To promote industry-institute partnerships and share knowledge for innovation and development. Moreover, we want to focus on research. We are working on various research based projects like nano-technology and even bio-sciences.

In what ways is REVA University different from its competitors? Though the University is at a state level but our collaborations are with most of the Universities with global repute like University of Florida, California and Alabama. We also have faculty exchange programme, students exchange programme and also collaborative research with all these Universities. Apart from this, we also do collaborative consulting for them. In order to become truly international, we have students from other countries like Nepal and Gulf. Therefore, though our jurisdiction is only limited to the state but if you look at our working and our collaboration it is truly international in nature.

Though the University is at a state level but the collaborations are with most of the universities of global repute like University of Florida, California and Alabama. We also have faculty exchange programme, students exchange programme and collaborative research with all these universities. Apart from this, we also do collaborative consulting for them

sy_kulkarniWhat would you say about the Campus Placements of your University?

The Training & Placement Cell of REVA University is the chief facilitator for the students to obtain placements best suited to them and primarily liaisons between Industry and the Institute. Its goal is to provide world class training to students. The Cell has emerged as a favored destination for many national and international organisations who come back year after year to recruit fresh talent nurtured at the University.

Therefore, our Campus Placement is very high-quality. Nearly 100 MNCs and other companies visit our University every season. This year, we have reached almost 100 percent placements with our eligible students.

With India giving special importance to Skill development, what all are you doing as far as hands-on training and skill development are concerned?

We first try to identify what are the skills required by the students to become proficient Engineers and good professionals. In a way, all these skills are incorporated through our curriculum and are delivered to the students as and when required. REVA University is known as the centre for excellence in skill development activities for the Government of India. In the premises, many students are undergoing skill development activities.

n_ramesh

Can you tell us about the faculties enhanced by Skill Development?

Firstly, we enhance the mechanical skills of our students. We also have programmes like CAD/CAM and other IT-related skills are there to enhance the working abilities. We have programmes, even for our management and commerce students. Not only this, we have several skill development courses for our Banking and Finance students.

What is the teaching strength in your institution?

Highly qualified, experienced faculty members and scholars from reputed national and international institutions along with industrial and business experts have contributed in preparing schemes of instruction and curricula for these meticulously designed programs. REVA University strives to strengthen its team of committed faculty members and staff who ensure that the journey of enlightenment progresses smoothly for every student. For this, we have more than 600 teaching staff. Including our non-teaching staff, we are a 1000 plus workforce.

ritm1What are you doing towards upgrading the quality of the faculty, as the University has to be at par with the industry standards?

We have a lot of faculty development programmes for our teaching staff as well. We are continuously working towards filling-in the gaps between the skills that are required and what we are capable of. We see to it that our faculty members are made more comfortable, more capable and more confident. Once we have groomed our faculty members, it automatically percolates to the students.

How are the faculty trained by the University?

We do it in two ways. One is in-house training and another is outside. We send our members outside after identifying training places

Featuring Among Top 10 Research Universities is the goal

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

The Dayananda Sagar Schools and Colleges of Science, Engineering, Health Science, Arts and Commerce are pioneering institutions founded by Late Shri Dayananda Sagar in the early 1960s. A front-runner in the field of education today, Dayananda Sagar institutions (DSI) operate under the aegis of the Mahatma Gandhi Vidya Peetha Trust, in Bengaluru. “DSI’s commitment to internationalisation is demonstrated in its collaborative research and exchange programmes involving global institutions. Besides our high-calibre faculty, the students are given a challenging academic environment with well-equipped resources such as lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries and networking computers,” says Dr A N N Murthy, Vice-Chancellor, Dayanand Sagar University, in an exclusive interview with Sudheer Goutham and T Radhakrishna of Elets News Network (ENN)

After five decades of active presence in education, The Management of Dayanand Sagar Institution (DSI) has established a new private university called Dayananda Sagar University (DSU) in 2015-2016 academic year. How DSU envisions its way ahead?

We wish to reach top 10 research based University rank. We are confident of achieving this goal with the collective support of highly accomplished faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and resources, including ultra modern labs, and experienced global academicians and experience in R&D.

Which are the programs that DSU offers? Share more light on the Engineering branch?

Our institutions are characterized by the quality of education across a broad range of disciplines from Pre-University Courses (PUC) to Post-Graduation and Doctoral Programs, including Engineering, Business Management, Pharmacy, Dental, and Nursing. The DSU in its academic program is offering B.Tech courses in Computer Science, Electronics & Communication and Mechanical Engineering during the academic year 2015-16.In addition, under Engineering, we have initiated M.Tech programs with specialization in Big Data, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Embedded Systems, and Design Engineering. Each of these M.Tech programs are driven by Industry needs with experts from Industry participating as Adjunct faculty. Automotive Electronics is one such area.

How these programs are different from others?

Our programs are unique as we bring a lot of importance to these programs and value to students pursuing these courses. Apart from academics, we facilitate regular interactions between industry professional and students. We also provide onsite training opportunities for the benefit of students. Our programs and their curriculums are upgraded periodically as per the needs of the industry. Accordingly, projects are being done in the beginning of the second semester in M. Tech. After the second semester and before the commencement of the third semester, we will have industry leaders visiting our campus to interact with students. Electives will be decided by the students and by the company. This will mainly focus on the requirement of industry, leading to employability.

We are extending this practice to undergraduates too in final year. There is an unique program at Under Graduate level B.Tech Computer Technology with emphasis on entrepreneurship helping those who want to become entrepreneur in ICT. Under the program, students will be interviewed by the panel of industry personnel to assess student interest in becoming an entrepreneur. The team will see how students want to convert their ideas into business plans. Here the focus lies on two sets – one on computer technology, another on entrepreneurship. The industry expert will mentor and help students convert their ideas into a business plan within the span of four years. By the end of the course, students have potential to become entrepreneur as well as a B. Tech graduate. In case, he is not able to start his own business, the experience that he gains through the constant interactions/exercises will help him to become a productive employee.

The DSU on Hosur Road, Bangalore has been named as Innovation Campus, which is highlighted with a tagline ‘Walk in with your ideas and transform it into a product’. Give us details?

This space of DSU is a startup village in the campus for innovation and entrepreneurship. It has a unique working model on ‘Make in India’ by creating an ecosystem for the ICT space and other verticals, including e-commerce. This space is a ready to manufacture, start-off and go-to-market facilities. This resource is open to any individual, our students and ambitious entrepreneurs. We have set up innovation labs in collaboration with multi-national technology based industry such as AUTODESK, Bosch Rexroth, IBM, VMWare, and Bosch Etas. For example AUTODESK Center helps in Design, Analysis, Modelling. An individual can carry out his ideation through 3D model with the help of 3D-printer. Then he can demonstrate it to the owner, and display it to the company. Keeping demand for this concept in mind, we will soon open 11 labs covering different aspects of ICT.

Our programmes and their curricula are upgraded periodically as per the needs of the industry. Accordingly, projects are being done in the beginning of the second semester in M.Tech with focus on the requirements of the industry, leading to employability

hemachandra_sagar

Five years from now where do you see DSU positioning itself?

Dr D Hemachandra Sagar (Chancellor) and Dr D Premchandra Sagar (Pro- Chancellor) have a big vision for Dayanand Sagar University. They wish DSU to be among Top premier Universities in the world. We will grow strength by strength to achieve the goal. As part of the expansion plan, we are setting up a new campus. In another four years, our new campus will come up on 128 acres of land on Kanakapur Road in Bengaluru. The DSU Innovation Campus will compliment the new one. I visualize that in another six years, all streams put together, the annual intake of students in DSU will be around 4000.

What were the challenges you have faced?

We have faced several challenges. Key challenge was convincing technology companies to join the academia like DSU and work with us. Earlier, many technology companies were of the view that faculty members and students were not exposed to latest technologies. Similarly, education institutions felt that technology companies were not interested in working closely with the academia. After continuous efforts for some time, we were able to bring a change in this perception. Today, some of the global companies have joined DSU’s initiatives, working closely with us.

What are the challenges that you see in reaching the goal?

We know that achieving set goal as mentioned earlier is very tough. We see several challenges in the process towards our goal. The biggest challenge we see is to have qualified faculty. To deal with it, we need to evolve faculty development program regularly. The University’s Board of Studies has participation from IT Industry (40 percent) and Academia and Research (60 percent). The Board will take a consensus on the syllabus. I am quite happy with the content that we have prepared. Now, the challenge is to deliver it. We are working on several models to deliver the content with the support of the industry and other premier academic & research institutions.

How do you plan dealing with faculty recruitment?

For recruitment, we prefer referrals and also direct enquiries from qualified individuals with industry experience. We are also in touch with reputed institutions such as IITs and IISc for this purpose.

premachandra_sagar

What are the memborable events in your journey as Vice Chancellor?

Dr. D Hemachandra Sagar (Chancellor) and Dr. D Premchandra Sagar (Pro- Chancellor) have faith in me and have given freedom, allowing me to think and take up initiatives. The network I have developed with IITs, IISc, National Labs, IIMs and Departments at State level as well as National level is helping us in executing development plans we have planned.

University Admissions Go Online

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Karnataka is soon going to become the first state in the country to go live with Online Admission System at its universities

Come June 2016 and Karnataka will roll out an online admission system (OAS) for programmes offered by its Universities in the State, thanks to the efforts of Shri TB Jayachandra, Minister for Higher Education, Karnataka, and his visionary team.

The OAS is a software module developed by the Department of Higher Education, Govt of Karnataka, with the help of the National Information Centre (NIC) under the “Jnana Sangama” initiative. This online admission initiative is expected to benefit around 10 lakh students or more by facilitating easy admission process for various courses/ programmes offered by State Government-run universities in Karnataka and to much more, indirectly.

“This online admission system is part of a 100-point blueprint designed for the Department of Higher Education’s functions. Of them, 15 modules are related to administration, 22 for Universities, six for colleges, 15 for colleges and polytechnics, 12 for universities and colleges and 30 for universities, colleges and polytechnics,” says Shri Bharat Lal Meena, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, who is the brain of Jnana Sangama.

The Jnana Sangama programme has been prepared to facilitate ease of administration and academic reach for students in universities and its colleges. The programme aims to provide an end-to-end digital solution from admission to completion of education, covering all functions of the department and its stakeholders. The action plan has mapped all the functions of key stakeholders: students, faculty and administration, and feedback mechanism for parents.

Through Jnana Sangama initiative, the Higher Education system in Karnataka – 50 universities, 2,992 undergraduate and postgraduate colleges, 305 polytechnic colleges and 207 engineering colleges – will get a major boost. According to Shri Meena, all initiatives under Jnana Sangama are interconnected. The software is freely available to all institutions – private and public.

Perhaps, Karnataka is the first state in India have implemented IT reforms in Higher Education, through the University Grants Commission (UGC) had wanted all the universities in the country to implement OAS.

On December 28, 2015, Prof Ved Prakash, Chairman of the University Grants Commission had issued a circular to the Vice-Chancellors of various universities in India, requesting them to implement online admission system for all the programmes offered by their respective universities beginning new academic year June-July 2016.

Notably, it is the Department of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, which first prepared and placed its blueprint in November 2015 for comprehensive IT reforms in Higher Education, thus becoming a model for other states to emulate.

Let’s Talk Education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Dr Ravi Gupta
Dr Ravi Gupta

At a time when governments across the globe are making all-out efforts to strengthen the enterprise of education, especially through Skill Development in the Higher Education domain, the various state governments in India are also working to that end in a steadfast manner.

In the present digital age, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionised every sphere of our life, and so has been its impact on the domain of Education. This impact is all the more visible in states like Karnataka, where the rate of literacy is signifi cantly higher compared to other states.

In this backdrop, the Department of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, along with Elets Technomedia, has organised “Jnana Sangama” (Convergence of Knowledge) conference, where participants will discuss the past and present trends in education and refl ect on the way forward.

This Special Issue of digitalLEARNING is dedicated to the event. In an interview, Bharat Lal Meena, Additional Chief Secretary – Education, Government of Karnataka, and one of the major initiators of ICT in the State, briefs about the “whats” and “whys” that culminated into the Jnana Sangam. This issue also carries views of the Vice Chancellors of some of the leading universities of Karnataka.

The ongoing trend of digitisation drive in the fi eld of education has also propped up activities in the eduPERIPHERAL segment. We have also profi led some of the most prominent players in the segment, and present here their views, in addition to the outlook of top eduPERIPHERAL stakeholders, about the growth prospects and future of this fast emerging industry.

Creating a trustworthy brand name in the domain of Education has always been a diffi cult task, and listing those in a credible manner a herculean one. But, in line with the promise made in our last issue, we have come up with a ranking of the “Most Trusted Engineering Brands of India” based on their Social and Online presence. The purpose of this ranking exercise is to project the TOP 50 Engineering institutions of India.

Besides, ERP is one software that has made the education system virtually dependent on it. All educational institutions, whether big or small, use ERP for systematic fl ow and escalation and easy accessibility of information. That being the reason, we bring to you a special feature on eduERP, which presents a 360-degree view of the tool, both from the user as well as the industry perspective.

digitalLEARNING.in, our website has undergone a major overhaul over the last few months. Do visit the website and enrol yourself in one of the forums there to stay informed about the latest happenings and participate in lively discussions taking place there.

We look forward to your sustained patronage and support in boosting the enterprise of education.

Byndr’s Mission ultimate accessibility in education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Education has surely become the foremost frontiers for social entrepreneurship and innovation in the digitally developing world of today. Byndr with its roots, both in the U.S. and India, has a global mission to provide students the ultimate accessibility in educational resources. Satish Kumar Nampally, Co-Founder, Byndr speaks to T. Radhakrishna and Sudheer Goutham  of Elets News Network (ENN) about the brand’s aim to provide easy-to-use, fast and mobile-first products for all stakeholders in Higher Education

What motivated you to launch Byndr, an Educational Technological company?

Byndr is a US based startup company, with its Corporate Office at Philadelphia and its subsidiary in India. Majorly, there are 5 Co-Founders of this company. Three of them are in the US and two (including me) are here in India. One of the Founders, being in the teaching profession, is working in a business school. We realized the need for this platform, when she told us that she needed to connect with her students after the 60 minutes of physical class. From there we saw an opportunity and all of us collaborated to bring this out. At first, we made the beta version, then we went to University of Pennsylvania, to participate in their yearly event on education Start-ups. For our venture biz idea, we received an award of cash prize worth $20,000. This is how Byndr came into existence.

How does Byndr help in the education sector?

In developing countries like India and Indonesia, where there are not only a lot of Smartphone users, but they usually have to deal with bandwidth issues, due to network etc. Under such circumstances, we thought of creating a technological platform, which can perform in this kind of environment for the education sector. Byndr can connect the two most important parties in the education system the teachers and students on one platform through technology. Therefore, we are a cloud-based, Learning Management System (LMS).

What makes Byndr unique from other companies in the segment?

There are many software companies, which are providing solutions for educational institutions. However, through research we found that out of these, not many cater specifically to academics.

They either cater to the content, or the administration of the college or the transportation and library management. They basically are ERP based solutions. Moreover, the companies which are into academics also, are dealing only into content based solutions. In content based solutions, the teacher gets the ready-made content. It binds the teacher to teach with the content, which she does not own or she has not made. On the other hand, our product makes the teacher manage her own content and teach in her own way.

In what ways are you trying to empower the teacher?

Our product empowers both the teacher, student and college. By now I have visited more than 250 colleges with our software. I have found that, it is the teachers who make the content, deliver lectures in whichever way they want to. Our platform gives ability to teacher to administrator their class, share learning resources in meaningful way to engage their classes and empowering them, we plan to work on Content Curation to help students with additional content and resources.

Where do you see the company in the next five years?

In the next five years, we want to expand to other emerging markets like Indonesia, Brazil etc. We want to create a platform which both, students and teachers can fall in love with. Creating such a platform is a very fulfilling idea. Our main aim is that if a college wants to adopt an innovative technology, they should not think beyond Byndr.

Alliance between Tata Motors and ASDC sure to boost the Automotive sector

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Illustration depicting a highway gantry sign with a new skills and training concept. Blue sky background.

The Automotive sector is sure to take a big leap due to the alliance of Tata Motors, a leader in Indian Automobile manufacturing, with  Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) for a joint skill development programme in the automotive sector. The main objective of the partnership is to impart and enhance industry-ready occupational skills to Indian youth.

Tata Motors has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of India recognised skill council for helping the former to open skill development centres across its six plants in India. The company’s skill centres will comply with competency levels of the NSQF (National Skills Qualification Framework).

The corporate partnership of Tata Motors with ASDC is a step towards reaping India’s demographic dividend by enhancing employability within India as well as in other countries and also contribute to Government’s aggressive plans under the Skill India Mission, towards ‘Kaushal Bharat- Kushal Bharat’.

The expectation through this collaboration would be to propagate the ASDC certification among the youth who wish to make a career in the exciting field of automobiles. The programme will comprise modules based on the skills for design, engineering, manufacturing, automobile production, sales and service as well in various support functions with a focus on quality, productivity, dexterity, discipline and safety.

AICTE reproached by the Supreme Court for delaying approval to Technical Colleges

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

In a recent happening, the Supreme Court of India reproached the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for slowing up the process of granting approvals to technical colleges as well as violating the schedule fixed by it for the purpose.

This issue was brought to light when the counsel for Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (a nodal university of technical colleges in UP)  referred to the violation by AICTE of schedule fixed by the Supreme Court in 2012.

Due to the delay, UP University has been forced to postpone the counselling session for students as the verification process of the colleges had not been completed. Verification is must before the university gives affiliation to the colleges ,once AICTE gives its approval.

However, in this case when the university started verifying the colleges it learnt there were about 20,000 fake teachers in 612 colleges. Therefore, the affiliation of these colleges from the University was stalled and it asked the SC for more time to complete the verification process.

According to the SC 2012 verdict, Universities had to complete the verification by May 15 for grant of affiliation, which has been delayed.

Hence, now the SC has demanded explanation from the AICTE as to the delay in communicating approval to 612 engineering colleges in Uttar Pradesh.

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