Faster HigHer - Fujitsu Global€¦ · Henri Martin Didon, the Principal of a College in France, a...

92% respondents say

benchmarking is animportant exercise

87%say there is a need for an independent accreditation

body in India

74%say that

developingnew

courses relevant

to industry

needs

and latest

reasearch

trends is very

important

86% of private institution respondents

believe credibility is the biggest

reason for opting for international

accreditation

Only 10%think current rankings providea fair picture of an institution’squality

Only

64%of all respondents

practice benchmarking

While

86%

say that faculty

related

parameters

are“very

important”

in rankings only

29% say

the same about

placement related

parameters

Volume 04 Issue 06 100A 9.9 medIA PublIcAtIon

july-August 2013www.edu-leAders.com

FasterHigHer

strONgerAre the existing tools of measuring

quality helping us get there?EDU finds out

eD

U | volu

me 0

4 | Issu

e 06

FO

R Le

AD

eR

S IN

HIG

He

R e

DU

CA

TIO

N

ww

w.ed

u-lead

ers.com

FOREWORD

1July-August 2013 EduTEch

Dr Pramath Raj [email protected]

The winning spirit

“It is the spirit of daring to break records against all odds that the Indian higher education needs to adopt today”

You must have noticed that our cover-line this time is the Olympic motto— Fast-er Higher Stronger. A motto that we at EDU believe needs to be adopted by Indi-an higher education institutions as well. More so because our raison d’être (rea-son to exist) is to help leaders in Indian higher education create and lead

institutions of high quality. It is this purpose that led us to come up with the theme of the third annual VCs’

Retreat: Benchmarking with the best: Rankings Accreditation and beyond. Just like the last two years of our retreat we also decided to conduct a survey that could capture the pulse of the community.

We wanted to find out if we are currently measuring quality in a fruitful way. What does the community of leaders in higher education think of the current models of rankings and ratings? Can India borrow ideas of benchmarking from international bodies or does it need its own systems of assessing quality? What is the importance of research, funding, curricu-lum and pedagogy in quality assessment in the Indian context?

The results of this survey have been covered in great detail in our cover story. What has not been covered is some of the reactions we got to our theme and our survey. Why are you even considering benchmarking? When a majority of our institutions struggle with basic facilities and dearth of quality faculty why should we even consider trying to measure where we stand in terms of quality?

It is here that we believe our attitudes need to change. Just like the Olympics the most important thing should not be to win but to take part “just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.” If you give up even before you start then you have lost already.

The Olympic motto is “for people who dare to break records” against whatever odds come their way. Incidentally the person responsible for coining this motto was an academic, Father Henri Martin Didon, the Principal of a College in France, a friend of Baron Pierre de Cou-bertin, educator and founder of the International Olympic Committee. Father Didon had used these three Latin words: Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger) to encourage the students at an interschool athletics.

It is this spirit of daring to break records against all odds that the Indian higher education needs to adopt today. When our Vice Chancellors meet for this year’s Retreat we hope that they take in this message as closely as they take in the results of our survey.

2 EduTEch July-August 2013

Contentsjuly-august 2013EDU

updates 04 plan05 regulation ratings 06 policy plan07 accreditation

philip’s pick24 philip altbachDoes anyone care about developing countries: Brain drain or brain exchange?

Viewpoint08 rs grewal Make the accreditation process more holistic

Viewpoint12 akshai aggarwal Mission possible: A top Indian university

campus28 going green How Great Lakes Institute lowered resource consumption and raised student experience

academics32 course launchA case study on why SP Jain Institute of Management started a women manager programme

technology40 must haves for higher-edThe Professor S Sadagopan, Director IIIT Bangalore picks 10 of his favourite tools for higher education

40

28

First you read, then you think, then you do and finally you learn —Amelia Whitelaw, Director, Global Experiences, London

36global perspectiVe Find out what’s currently happening in institutions around the world. The Chronicle of Higher Education shares its perspectives with EDU

44 the mooc revolution may not be as disruptive as some had imagined By Steve Kolowich

47 rise of international rankings may heighten inequalities between and within institutionsBy Karin Fischer

Business School

coVer story

14 Faster higher stronger Are the existing tools of measuring quality helpful? EDU’s survey on Benchmarking Rankings and Accreditation takes a close look at community views By Tanya Choudhury


this index is provided as an additional service. the publisher does not assume

any liabilities for errors or omissions.

ADVERTISER INDEX Pearson IFC

entab 11

young IndIa FIlms IbC

ZenIth ComPuters bC

92% respondents say

benchmarking is animportant exercise

87%say there is a need for an independent accreditation

body in India

74%say that

developingnew

courses relevant

to industry

needs

and latest

reasearch

trends is very

important

86% of private institution respondents

believe credibility is the biggest

reason for opting for international

accreditation

Only 10%think current rankings providea fair picture of an institution’squality

Only

64%of all respondents

practice benchmarking

While

86%

say that faculty

related

parameters

are“very

important”

in rankings only

29% say

the same about

placement related

parameters

Volume 04 Issue 06 100A 9.9 medIA PublIcAtIon

july-August 2013www.edu-leAders.com

FasterHigHer

strONgerAre the existing tools of measuring

quality helping us get there?EDU finds out

eD

U | volu

me 0

4 | Issu

e 06

FO

R Le

AD

eR

S IN

HIG

He

R e

DU

CA

TIO

N

ww

w.ed

u-lead

ers.com

MAnAging DiREctoR: Pramath Raj SinhaPUBLiSHing DiREctoR: Anuradha Das MathurMAnAging EDitoR: Smita Polite

designSR. cREAtivE DiREctoR: Jayan K narayananSR. ARt DiREctoR: Anil vKASSociAtE ARt DiREctoRS: Anil tSR. viSUALiSERS: Manav Sachdev & Shokeen SaifiviSUALiSER: nv BaijuSR. DESignERS: Shigil narayanan, Haridas Balan& Manoj Kumar vPDESignERS: charu Dwivedi, Peterson PJ, Pradeep g nair, Dinesh Devgan & vikas SharmacontRiBUtoR DESignER: Sameer KishoreconSULting SR. ARt DiREctoR: Binesh Sreedharan MARCOMDESignER: Rahul Babu

STUDIOcHiEF PHotogRAPHER: Subhojit PaulSR. PHotogRAPHER: Jiten gandhi

sales & marketingBRAnD MAnAgER: tanya choudhurynAtionAL MAnAgER-EvEntS & SPEciAL PRoJEctS: Mahantesh godinoRtH: vipin Yadav ( 09911888276)AD co-oRDinAtion/ScHEDULing: Kishan Singh

production & logisticsSR gM oPERAtionS: Shivshankar M. HiremathMAnAgER oPERAtionS: Rakesh Upadhyay ASSt. MAnAgER - LogiSticS: vijay Menon ExEcUtivE LogiSticS: nilesh ShiravadekarPRoDUction ExEcUtivE: vilas MhatreLogiSticS: MP Singh and Mohamed Ansari

oFFice addressnine Dot nine interactive Private Limited.office no. B201-B202, Arjun centre B Wing,Station Road, govandi ( East), Mumbai 400088.

certain content in this publication is copyright of the chronicle of Higher Education and has been reprinted with permissionFor any customer queries and assistance please contact [email protected]

Published, Printed and owned by nine Dot nine interactive Pvt Ltd. Published and printed on their behalf by Kanak ghosh. Published at Bungalow no. 725, Sector-1Shirvane, nerul, navi Mumbai - 400706 Printed at tara Art Printers Pvt Ltd., A-46-47, Sector -5 noiDA (U.P.) 201301 Editor: Anuradha Das Mathur

FoR LEADERS in HigHER EDUcAtion

coPYRigHt, ALL RigHtS RESERvED: Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from nine Dot nine interactive Pvt. Ltd is prohibited.

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts before recycling

cover Design: Binesh Sreedharan


from the world of higher education


0 5 r e g u l at i o n 0 5 r at i n g s 06 policy

06 plan 07 accreditation & more

Plan: Union minister for human resource development, MM Pallam Raju made a statement saying that efforts to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education from the current 19% to 30% by 2020 are underway.

He said, “We have a gross enrolment ratio of close to 19 per cent, which is much below the 26 per cent average GER in global scenario. But we are cer-tain that with the sustained efforts that began in 11th five-year Plan we will be able to take our GER to 30 per cent by 2020,”.

He made the declaration while speaking at the fifth convocation of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad. He also empha-sised that the quality of education needs to be raised from the school level to higher institutes saying “That is exactly what the government is trying to do right now. There is a very clear plan and that plan must progress from school education through college education and through the universities. It is important to integrate education with higher disciplines and bring an inter-

GER will be 30% by 2020: MHRDHRD Minister MM Pallam Raju has stated that India will be able to increase its GER to 30 % by 2020

Mission Possible: HRD Minister Pallam Raju believes that India will be able to reach its target of taking its gross enrolment ratio to 30% by 2020

uGc wEb paGEs for univErsiTiEs In a bid to ensure transparency

and availability of up-to-date

data online the Union Grants

Commission has made a web

page for each university.

Details including MPhil and

PhD degrees awarded, budget-

ary allocation by UGC, grants

released, utilisation certificates

submitted and other relevant informa-

tion can now be found on the page. Univer-

sities have already started uploading their

data.

A letter from UGC chairman Ved Prakash to

vice-chancellors has stated that “The UGC,

being the nodal agency for coordination,

determination and maintenance of stan-

dards of university education in India, has to

maintain and update statistical database

on institutions of higher education”.

aicTE launchEs nEQuip for norThEasT A Rs 180 crore project has been initiated by

the All India Council for Technical Educa-

tion. The project will be carried on for three

years for the development of infrastructure,

boosting faculty aptitude and improving the

academic scenario of the council approved

technical institutions in the north-

east. Degree engineering institutions and

engineering polytechnics which are AICTE-

approved and meet the criteria will receive

grants of Rs 7 crore and Rs 5 crore respec-

tively. The project has been named the

North East Quality Improvement Pro-

gramme (NEQIP). Also some select AICTE-

approved university departments will

receive a grant of Rs 7 crores.

A letter has been sent out to the directors of

all technical education of all the eight north-

eastern states including Sikkim, from Kun-

cheria P Isaac, member secretary of the

AICTE. The letter is a missive that asks

them to urge institutions to participate and

profit from the project.

updates


globalupdate

RaTInGS: US President Barack Obama has

proposed a controversial plan to rate colleg-

es based on measures of access, afford-

ability, and student outcomes, and to

allocate aid based on those ratings.

Under the plan, students attending

higher-rated institutions could

obtain larger Pell Grants and more-

affordable loans.

The Obama administration and its

supporters say the ratings would

empower consumers with fresh informa-

tion and would pressure colleges to keep

costs down. They describe a “datapalooza,” in

which prospective students would be able to com-

pare institutions on measures such as debt levels,

graduation and transfer rates, and graduates’ earn-

ings. “We need much greater transparency for the

public. … We have to get them better information,”

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters.

“You want to see the good actors be rewarded. You

want to see them get more resourc-

es.” Obama outlined the pro-

posal in a speech at the

University at Buffalo,

part of the State

University of New

York. ( From :The

Chronicle of High-

er Education)

Obama wants to tie aids to college ratings

REGUlaTIOn: A new bill has been intro-duced in the Rajya Sabha that will amend the original legislation of the MCI. This will give the Centre legal authority to inter-vene in matters of corruption and policies on medical education when the MCI is recreated

Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad set the Indian Medical Council (amendment) Bill,2013, before the Rajya Sabha. He stated that the amendments will make the composition of the council compact and more representative and allow the Centre to discharge its functions effectively.

In its previous avatar the MCI was beyond government influence. Many MCI office-bearers abused the body’s autonomy for personal gains. This new bill has come

Legislation to control MCIA new bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha which will give the Centre legal authority in matters of corruption and policies of the MCI

In the last three decades family incomes have risen by only 16% while fees at US public universities have risen 250%

billion is provided each year by the US federal government as student aid$150

about after the centre failed to substitute the MCI with a National Commission for Human Resources on Health (NCHRH).The bill for the for-mation of NCHRH as a regu-latory body for medical and para-medical education was abandoned by the Parliamen-tary Standing Committee on Health. The NCHRH bill was a result of the previous MCI president Ketan Desai being caught by the Central Bureau of Investiga-tion. He was caught accepting a bribe from a medical college.

The bill will allow the central government to take out MCI office bearers including president and vice president if they acquire

financial holdings in any medical college or are convicted of an offence. No one can now become president or vice president for more than two terms. The Centre will also now be able to give directions to the MCI on policy matters.

a healthier council: The new bill will allow Centre to give directions to MCI


UPdaTES

POlICY: Private institutes and universi-ties are now eligible for the “University/College of Excellence” status from the University Grants Commission. This is the first time that they have been given this opportunity. The UGC will allow pri-vate institutions recognised under Sec-tions 2(f) or 12(b) to avail its revamped Universities with Potential for Excel-lence (UPE) Scheme.

Under the revamped scheme the fund-ing will rise from the current Rs 100 crore per institution across two phases to Rs 220 crore across three phases. A for-mal status of “University of Excellence” will be conferred to every institution that meets the Phase II criteria. However pri-vate institutions will not be given any funding under the scheme. They will

‘University of Excellence’ tag open to private varsitiesThe excellence tag will however not make institutions eligible for funds

only be offered the status of “University/College of Excellence”.

Top UGC officials stated to the media “For private institutions, it is the status that is more prized. While the govern-ment does not have the resources to fund all noteworthy institutions in the country, this move is being made in recognition of the good work that some of our private institutions have been doing”.

The new UPE scheme will benefit 21 institutions, instead of the current 15

beneficiaries. Out of 15 universities selected for the UPE scheme, only two - Delhi’s JNU and Andhra Pradesh’s Uni-versity of Hyderabad, qualified for Phase II funding.

Expansion is also on the cards for the Colleges with Potential for Excellence scheme. This will allow private institu-tions to gain the tag of “Colleges with Potential for Excellence”. However the private institutions will not get the fund-ing component of Rs 5 crore per college.

Fair play: In a first, the UGC Chairman Ved Prakash has extended the excellence tag to include private institutions

an AICTE committee has been created to revise the

scheme for setting up polytechnics in the public private

partnership (PPP) mode as stated by minister of state for

human resource development Shashi Tharoor on Wednes-

day. His written reply in the Lok Sabha states that the gov-

ernment has approved a scheme to provide financial assis-

tance to set up 300 polytechnics in the PPP mode during

the 11th Five Year Plan period (2012-17).

He later spoke to various media saying “However, the

response of the private partners to the scheme is poor. The

AICTE ( The All India Council for Technical Education) esti-

mated the total cost to be Rs 15 crore per polytechnic,

excluding land.

The scheme

provides for Rs

3 crore central

government fund towards capital assets, Rs 2 crore by the

state government and a minimum of Rs 10 crore by the pri-

vate partner”. The land is to be provided by the private part-

ner; alternatively, the state government will provide land.

The admissions are to be made under the aegis of state

government based on the procedures being followed in the

state. Appointments will be made by the Institute Manage-

ment Committee.

AICTE to revise PPP polytechnics scheme

Plan


UPdaTES

voices

“The soaring cost of higher education has become

a barrier and a burden on too many middle-class families” — Barack OBama,President, US

“Our universities must produce men and

women of character and integrity. Without these values, it is impossible to achieve anything worthwhile in life. Along with academic proficiency, our universities must lay great emphasis on character-building”- PranaB mUkherjee, President, India

“Leaving a top five per cent of universities, I feel that the

quality of higher education in India is pretty bad”—Sam PItrOda, adviser to Prime minister on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovations

aCCREdITaTIOn: The Gujarat Gov-ernment held a one-day state-level workshop on academic excellence and accreditation of engineering institutes. This was done so that principals of the state’s engineering colleges could be well versed in the new outcome-based accreditation system adopted by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

The new accreditation policy is aimed at making engineering studies more industry-oriented. This will also place Indian engineering on equal footing wi th technica l educat ion wor ld wide. Former AICTE chairman Dr R Natrajan spoke to various media saying “We need to have a system of interna-tional standards. The new accreditation policy is a step towards becoming part of the Washington accord”.

The Washington Accord, is an inter-national accreditation agreement between bodies responsible for accredi-tation in the signatory countries. The new system will produce work ready engineers and R J Joshi, joint director, technical education stated “We have to identify the needs of industry and pre-pare the curriculum accordingly. Every course of every engineering college will be reviewed from time to time”.

All engineering institutes must now gain accreditation under the new policy. S C Sahasrabudhe, director, DAIICT stated “If one wants to compete with col-leges on the inter-national level, insti-tutes should seek the new accredita-tion”. A score of 750 out of 1000 will be needed for accredi-tation under the new policy. Colleges will be judged on

New accreditation policy by NBANBA has adopted an outcome-based accreditation system aiming at full membership under the Washington Accord

nine criteria such as curriculum, stu-dents’ participation, financial support and faculty contribution. M N Patel, principal, L D Engineering College remarked “The previous policy was sub-jective but the new one is outcome-based. Analysis of the courses will now be measurable,”.

The NBA will begin the new accredita-tion to engineering colleges from August 2nd starting with Andhra Pradesh and moving to colleges in Gujarat within six

m o n t h s . A f t e r accreditation of all colleges under the new policy, India wi l l v ie for ful l membership of the Washington Accord. India has provision-al membership and wishes to become a full signatory by June 2014.

A score of 750 out of 1000 will be needed for accreditation under the new

policy


Viewpoint RS Grewal

Make the accreditation process more holistic

Accreditation can help sustain and enhance the quality of higher education, maintain academic val-ues, act as a buffer against politicisation of higher education and serve public interests and needs. It could be described as a pronouncement that a cer-tain threshold of quality has been achieved or sur-passed. However, one might argue that accredita-tion is more about minimum standards (be they academic, competence, service or organisational) than about the quality of the process.

None the less, accreditation decisions should be based on transparent, agreed, pre-defined stan-dards or criteria. Some believe that accreditation is a binary state, either an institution or a programme is accredited or not. In an environment dominated by ‘massification’ of higher education accreditation has become synonymous with quality.

Get over the philosophy of control in higher-education India is rushing precipitously into an accredita-tion regime and Indian policy planners are busy blindly copying the western models and thrusting it on the Indian higher education sector without any due consideration to Indian environmental factors. Though accreditation involves compli-

Two centuries of British rule ensured that India’s higher education system did not grow enough to reap the benefits of the Industrial Revolution. Nothing much has changed even after 66 years.

Numerous commissions and committees have recommended reforms but the bureaucratic ineptitude has acted as a big inhibitor towards the much needed change. We have now reached a stage where mere ‘change’—a slow and gradual process— would not suffice. We need transformation—a surgical action—if we need to emerge as a Knowledge Power.

The exponential growth witnessed during the past two decades in the higher education sector, especially the advent of entrepreneurial educa-tors, has compounded the matter further. There is a need to build a mech-anism that assures the stake holders that an institution or a programme meets certain standards. The process of accreditation aims to achieve that goal.

R S Grewal Viewpoint


ance and indirect accountability, the main empha-sis of the policy planners has degenerated to maintain control of the sector. They argue that this control helps in improving the sector.

However the process of certification and assur-ance pertaining to the soundness of the institu-tion’s practices does not always help in improving an institution. The certification function invari-ably overshadows the aspects related to improve-ment because the process leads to the production of bulky documents that overstate the institution-al strengths and conceal the weaknesses. This is precisely the opposite of what is needed if improvement and quality assurance are the main concerns of the policy planners.

Institutional accreditation is insisted upon to ensure that institutions of dubious merit do not become established as bona fide higher education institutions. Accreditation also monitors the sec-tor to ensure that accredited institutions continue to fulfill the norms expected of a higher educa-tional institution. However, the key concern is the need to control higher education providers who may be in the system only for profit.

There are two organisations dealing with accreditation of higher educational institutions in India; the National Academic Accreditation coun-cil (NAAC) and the National Board of Accredita-tion (NBA). Both follow different models of accreditation.l NAAC. It follows the institutional accreditation

model that is based on an evaluation of whether the institution meets specified minimum (input) standards such as faculty qualifications, research activities, student intake and learning resources. It also carries out an estimation of the potential for the institution to produce grad-uates that meet explicit or implicit academic standard or professional competence. Thus, apart from providing accreditation status it also awards grades to institutions.

l NBA. It follows an ‘output’ based model. Though it evaluates inputs such as staffing, pro-gramme resources, curricula design, content, teaching process and the level of student support, its main focus is on outcomes such as the graduate abilities or graduate attributes and employability. Moreover, its domain extends only to technology oriented programmes.NBA usually accredits technology oriented pro-

grammes for their academic standing or the pro-fessional competence of its graduates to practice. In a way it may be termed as professional accredi-tation. If that be the case then inputs from the industry professional bodies and the academia

should have been major considerations to evolve agreed and pre-defined standards or criteria. Such professional bodies in India are generally not very active and have no standing of their own with the industry or the academia. In such an environ-ment the criteria provided by NBA are vague and could lead to different interpretations and militate against the concept of harmonisation.

A study of the brochures and the websites of Indian universities would reveal that they all claim to have state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty, engaged in cutting-edge research, aspira-tions to achieve global ranking etc. But, Indian higher education institutions are known for their mediocre or poor quality.

The recent Shanghai based Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has only Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore amongst the Top 500 institutions in the world. Performance of Indian higher education institutions in other ranking surveys is also similar except for some minor variations.

However, there are many universities and other higher educational institutions in India that have been awarded ‘A’ grade by our accreditation agen-cies. They may be following a ‘relative’ grading sys-tem keeping the standards of only Indian institu-tions in mind. But, this lowers credibility of Indian accreditation bodies in the eyes of world academic fraternity raising questions like: Are our accredit-ing agencies competent enough? Do they comprise of people with impeccable credentials?

The criteria of qualification and excellence are neither clear nor apparent. The bigger picture is fuzzy. No one is sure what education should achieve. Employability is the key but there should

Author’s BIoBrig (Dr) RS Grewal, is the former VC of Chitkara University. After retiring from the Army in 2002, he joined the Manipal Group, where he was the director of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology. Later he was the pro-vice chancellor of Sikkim Manipal University and also the first director of ICICI Manipal Academy.

“India is rushing precipitously into an accreditation regime and Indian policy planners are busy blindly copying the western models and thrusting it on the Indian higher education sector without any due consideration to Indian environmental factors”

Viewpoint R S Grewal


also be an attempt to create more knowledge through research. Thus, accrediting organisations themselves need to be subjected to external review based on a set of standards.

involve non-bureaucratic pri-vate bodies in accreditation Considering the size of the Indian higher educa-tion sector, the diversity and the continental dimensions of the country, the workload assigned to the two accrediting bodies is far beyond their capacity to handle.

Creating more independent accrediting agencies with the control of these remaining with the Government that lays down the policy could be one of the solutions. Non-government organisations could be assigned the role of accreditation agencies but they would have to be highly reputable. The USA is following this model successfully.

There are 19 institutional accrediting agen-cies and more than 60 programme accrediting agencies in the US. However, in a country like India, that is beset with poor governance, it would be a monumental task to assess and approve such accreditation agencies.

In most of the developed countries accreditation is carried out through non-government organisa-tions created in whole or in part by the higher education community. In India, both the NAAC and the NBA are government owned organiza-tions. The former has linkages with the UGC and the latter traces its origin to the AICTE and its governing structure is dominated either by serv-ing or by erstwhile AICTE officials. There is a need to have a fresh look at the organisational structure of these organisations and free them

from the clutches of bureaucrats who have already failed the system in the past.

The National Knowledge Commission and the Yashpal Committee had recommended set-ting up regulatory bodies like IRAHE or NCHER respectively as overarching bodies at the national level.

A bill known as, National Accreditation Regu-latory Authority Bill, had also been drafted. But none of these have seen the light of the day due to pressures exerted by vested interests and the power blocks within the existing regulatory bodies. That is not in our national interest.

take an integrated approach and involve all stakeholdersIn India accreditation has become a struggle for power instead of being a benign process. It does not engage all those involved. It is also not a pure process of identifying those who have met mini-mum criteria to join the elite group of institu-tions. The higher education sector needs a pro-cess to evaluate and recognise institutions that meet peer developed standards established for the purpose of promoting quality education.

The accrediting organisations need to create and use specific standards to ensure that institu-tions and programmes meet threshold expecta-tions of quality as well as to assure that they improve over time.

These standards should address key areas such as faculty, student support services, finance and facilities, curricula and most importantly stu-dent learning outcomes.

A significant rationale for accreditation is uni-formity across the sector. The presumption is that uniformity is important and desirable and that all programmes leading to a particular degree should ‘cover’ the same content.

This assumes that covering the same course content equates with uniformity of learning and understanding of the subject area. This is more important in a country like India where stan-dards differ from region to region and from institution to institution. Apart from setting uni-form benchmarks this would also facilitate stu-dent mobility.

At present the programme accreditation process is limited only to technology oriented domains. There should be separate accreditation bodies cre-ated for each profession.

Our policy planners need to take a holistic view of the Accreditation process rather than just con-centrating on finding ways and means to exercise control over the higher education sector.

“In most of the developed countries accreditation is carried out through non-

government organisa-tions created in whole or

in part by the higher education community”


Viewpoint Akshai Aggarwal

Mission possible: A top Indian university

From the east india Company days to today Most of India’s larger universities are based on the structure devised by the East India Company (EIC) for Universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay (1857). In 1857, the three universities were designed as a ploy to avoid an enquiry from the British Parliament about the way huge revenues from India were being misused. Thus, in 1850, while the EIC allocated £15,000 for edu-cation, £5,000,000 went to the military. The EIC’s policy of keeping universi-ties starved of funds and tight bureaucratic control through Directorates of Education continues till today.

At independence, India had some non-affiliating local universities like Indian Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University etc. Some new universities like Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Vansthali Uni-versity, were added over the years. During the sixties, India established agricul-tural universities based on the Land Grant model of USA. A number of private self-financed “Deemed to be universities” came up in the last few decades.

A few years before independence, Sir Ardeshir Dalal and Sir Jogendra Singh, members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, proposed the estab-lishment of the NR Sarkar Committee for “Devel-opment of higher technical institutions of India”. In March, 1946, the Committee submitted an interim report on the basis of which a chain of IITs were established from 1951-63. This proved to be really successful.

Today in South Asia IITs are the only institu-tions to be listed in the top-ranking 400 universi-ties of the world. In the QS ranking of 2012 IIT Delhi ranked 218.

How good are our institutes?Earlier this year in May 2013, Prof. P. B. Sharma, Vice Chancellor of Delhi Technological university said,” …almost 90% of India’s higher technical education… is under private ownership. In so doing, the underlying assumption was that the private ownership shall promote quality and rele-vance much better than the Institutions under the public ownership system... This objective has however not been realised to a large extent and as such, is a major area of concern.”

Manipal, established in 1993, with over 28,000 students is probably the largest and best private

India can have a top class university if it can untangle itself from bureaucratic controls, focus on developing collaborative research, improve infrastructure and encourage hard work, self-confidence and high morale in the university community. The

academic community has to take the first steps in advocating this change.


Akshai Aggarwal Viewpoint

university. However, a Scopus based study of 2012 ranks it at a world rank of 1118. In India, among the first 25 Higher Education and Research insti-tutions ranked by the Scopus study, Manipal is the only private institution at rank 194.

No privately-managed institution is able to reach anywhere close to the standards of excel-lence of the top ten government institutions. Meanwhile even the rankings of government institutions is slipping, since the rest of the world is moving ahead much faster. Thus the gap between excellent institutions in the developed world and Indian universities is just getting wider. During the next two decades, India may have the largest pool of young workers, but they would be very poorly educated as compared to those in the developed world and East Asia.

We have to build universities equivalent to the best, to ensure that our young do not feel handi-capped in the flat world of today. Here are some ideas on what can be done.

Remove bureaucratic ControlA study by five professors from Harvard, Stanford and Europe has found that universities can become great only if they are released from bureaucratic control. Universities can sustain themselves at the frontiers of research only if they have the discretionary authority to direct resourc-es and autonomy in managing their budget. The United Kingdom and Sweden have really success-ful autonomous universities.

K R Narayana Murthy of Infosys has been quot-ed as saying that directors of IIMs were restrained from travelling abroad for over three decades. No wonder then that in India, internationalisation is only a slogan at seminars, workshops and confer-ences or used by small, private universities as their sales pitch; in reality, they cannot deal with the rest of the world on an equal footing. The larger state universities are excluded from inter-nationalisation due to bureaucratic controls.

As a first step, this 156-year-old practice involv-ing complete bureaucratic control over universi-ties should be done away with.

embrace it as an enablerIndia cannot get rid of poverty if its young cannot contribute to the knowledge society meaningfully. Today, 50 percent or more of students at techno-logical universities graduate with ATKTs (Allowed to Keep Term) all through their studies. The only way to change this is by making our classrooms, laboratories and workshops exciting places for learning. India must embrace IT and convert

every space at its universities into a place for active learning.

Universities must become the centre, for schol-ars, researchers, faculty members and students, and for intelligent leaders from all sectors of soci-ety. Active learning processes, including a large immersion-study programme will bring society closer to the university.

Create vibrant networks of research and developmentWe must also use IT for establishing creative col-laboration among groups of faculty members, industries and researchers in scientific establish-ments in a region. The structure of affiliating-type universities may be used to create networks of Master’s and doctoral students and faculty mem-bers through policies encouraging collaborative work. Each region should develop the finest research facilities and then work to attract research students and faculty from across the world by pro-viding them the best of facilities.

improve infrastructure Self-financed institutions have created excellent infrastructure, while most government institu-tions have merely designed concrete boxes, in varying stages of disrepair.

We should learn from the MITs, Oxfords and Cambridges and provide first-rate infrastructure to our universities. Top-quality libraries, laborato-ries working facilities, residences, schools and crèches should become a regular feature.

Of course all this cannot be done without cred-ible micro-policies that encourage and build self-confidence in the university community.

Author’s BIoDr Akshai Aggarwal is the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Technological University (GTU). A PhD in electrical engineering from MS University of Baroda Dr Aggarwal has taught at MS University of Baroda, Gujarat University and University of Baroda. He joined as the Vice Chancellor at GTU in 2009

Universities can sustain themselves at the fron-tiers of research only if they have the discretion-ary authority to direct resources and autonomy in managing their budget

14 EDUTECH July-August 2013

EDU’ssurvey on Benchmarking Rankings and Accreditation***

Are the existing tools of measuring quality helping us get there?

EDU finds out

BY TANYA CHOUDHURY, DESGIN BY CHARU DWIVEDI

COVER STORY INDEX

17 | BENCHMARKING, RANKINGS AND ACCREDITATION

21 | RANKINGS: THE PARAMETERS THAT COUNT

FASTERHIGHER

STRONGER

EDU started the Vice Chancellor’s Retreat with a vision to get the top leaders in Indian higher educa-tion on a common platform to initiate discussions that would transform the sector. The last two Retreats had participants clearly indicate that while

problems where abound in the higher education system, objec-tive, tangible measures for improvement remain the only way to make measurable progress. Also the increasing role of private players has raised more and more questions about how we actu-ally measure quality instead of going by popular perceptions. In the third Retreat we therefore decided to talk about “Benchmark-ing with the Best: Rankings, Accreditation and Beyond”.

Survey COVER STORY

15July-August 2013 EDUTECH


“The response to this requires

a full paper”

“Follow an approach that includes all stakeholders”

“Follow an open non-prescriptive process and output focused approach where

strategy, analysis, actions explain sustained results over time”

—Nikhil SinhaVice Chancellor,

Shiv Nadar University

—Ashok SaxenaVice Chancellor, Galgotias

University

—Chandan ChatterjeeDirector SIMC

“I would take into consideration the nature of the institution and its location. Its type-private or public, impact on community and quality

of graduates”—S Sivasubramania Dr Daniel Fernandes SJ

Principal, St Jposephs College, Bangalore

If you were to develop a ranking system for the Indian higher-ed space...

“Start with what the country needs

and what the school provides"

—Subhajyoti Ray Director, SOIL

“Segment institutes, use

fair transparent measures that

are measurable”—S Sadagopan

Director, IIIT Bangalore

Typically, EDU conducts an annual sur-vey to find and analyze what the higher education community in India thinks about the challenges and opportunities in this space. To give this study a defined focus, we relate this to the theme of our Annual Vice Chancellors’ Retreat. This

year’s survey was therefore an attempt to understand the community’s perceptions around existing measures around bench-marking, rankings and accreditation.

About the surveyWe had a two-part survey: the first part was designed to get an overview of exist-ing initiatives around benchmarking, rankings and accreditation. The second part was designed to deep-dive into the measures widely used in rankings of higher educational institutions.

The survey was divided into three sections:1. Benchmarking: Evaluating quality with

reference to competition or a set of criteria

2. Accreditation: Being granted recogni-tion of maintaining basic quality stan-dards by an external body

3. Rankings: Evaluating where an institu-tion is with respect to its competition

The first part of the survey consisted of 13 basic questions which were multiple choice in nature. Depending on their responses to certain questions, partici-pants were asked to provide more detailed subjective answers explaining their choice.

Three questions asked the respondents to rate the importance of certain issues/parameters on a r e l a t i ve s ca l e of importance.

The remaining 10 questions had respondents choose one or multiple responses as appropriate.

The survey was rolled out on the 3rd of August and kept open til l the 3rd September.

This survey was shared with EDU’s core community. We received over 427 responses with a completion rate of 42%.

The second part of the survey was opened up to those who had completed the first part. We received 131 complete responses for this part of the survey.

This consisted of 10 questions where respondents had to evaluate different ele-ments of given parameters on a relative scale of importance.


Survey COVER STORY

Do you think performance metrics should be

BENCHMARKING, RANKINGS AND ACCREDITATION

What's happening, what's going wrong and what needs to happen with respect to Indian higher-ed

We wanted to see what practi-cal, real measures institu-tions in India are taking to

improve quality. There is a lot of talk around theory and best practices but what practical measures actually develop from these? We also wanted to see what the community thinks is actually useful. Is benchmarking just a fashionable term? Do educational institutions have the luxu-ry of creating and acting on a vision state-ment whi l e dea l ing w i th the i r everyday challenges?

What does the survey tell us?We collected the responses to both the surveys and analyzed the responses. Some of the responses reaffirmed our hypotheses but there were quite a few

15%

61%

17%

7%

None of the above

Varying according to discipline (Arts, Com-merce, Engg., MBA etc.) Varying according

to source of funding (Govt., Pvt., Autonomous)

Standard across all institutions

| |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Benchmarking Rankings and Accreditation

EDU’ssurvey on


COVER STORY Survey

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Very

Im

port

ant

Impo

rtan

t

Mod

erat

ely

Impo

rtan

t

Som

ewha

t Im

port

ant

Not

at a

ll Im

port

ant

Public institutions

Private institutions

Overall responses

surprises, particularly around existing measures around each of these three areas. We look at the results sectionwise.

Benchmarking: We commonly use the term "benchmarking" to see where we stand with respect to our competition. Usually there are standard criteria in any industry to evaluate the quality of an orga-nization. Given the unique nature of the higher education space, and the challeng-es specific to India, benchmarking for institutions of higher education remains sporadic and non-standardized.

Is benchmarking important? While we felt benchmarking was an important exercise for any organization, irrespective of the space it occupied, we were also wondering if it is too lofty and theoretical an exercise for institutions which are actually battling the every-day challenges of this space.n An overwhelming 92% say bench-

marking is an important exercise For respondents with administrative responsibilities, and experience, this exercise is seen as being even more critical: 97% of the Vice Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors, Directors and Deans say benchmarking is an

important exercisen When asked about how performance

metrics, the audience said:n Only 64% of the respondents indicat-

ed that there are initiatives associated with benchmarking practiced at their institutions

n There is no marked difference in the

proportion of private and public colleges which use benchmarking measures

n Rankings of educational institutions are the most popular benchmarking measure: 77% of the people whose institutions practiced benchmarking used rankings as a measure

n 57% of the private colleges which use

“It would have people who can inform institutions about international best practices”

“All stakeholders including, Vice Chancellors, Faculty, Researchers,

Industry , Students,Parents, Employers and Entrepreneurs”

—Parag Shah, Founder, FLAME

—Malabika Sarkar, VC Presidency University

“HEI's play a dual role of preparing students to get into the real work places

and generatinge new knowledge. Members of

an accreditation body should thus be a mix of industry practitioners

from diverse fields and eminent educators and

researcher”—Prabhat Jain,

Founder Pathways

According to the community, how important is accreditation to maintain quality in higher education in India?

If you were to choose the members of an accreditation body...


Survey COVER STORY

benchmarking measures uses mea-sures other than rankings

n 47% of the public colleges which use benchmarking measures uses mea-sures other than rankings

Accreditation:Accreditation is seen as the most basic indicator of an institution's quality. However, there are often questions around how good a measure it is. There is also an increasing trend, particularly among engineering and MBA colleges, to opt for international accreditations.

In India, the main bodies associated with the accreditation process are:

The National Assessment and Accredi-tation Council (NAAC): The NAAC was born out of the National Policy in Educa-tion in 1986 which defined concrete plans and action steps to control quality in high-er education. The NAAC assesses and provides accreditation based on the fol-lowing criteria:n Curricular aspectsn Teaching-learning and evaluationn Research, consultancy and extensionn Infrastructure and learning resourcesn Student support and progressionn Governance and leadership n Innovative practices as the basis for its

assessment procedureNAAC’s grading provides an idea of the

relative quality of an institution rather than its absolute quality. In 2010, the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institu-tions Bill was introduced to make accredi-tation mandatory for all higher-ed institu-tions in India.

The National Board of Accreditation (NBA): The NBA was established in 1987 by the AICTE specifically for assessment of technical institutions and programs. While it has been declared an autono-mous body effective 7th January, 2010, the perception that it is a body associated with the AICTE seems to persist. There is also an increasing trend among engineer-ing colleges and business schools to opt for international accreditations like the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the Euro-pean Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the American AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business)

1. For what kind of institutions is

institution for accreditation is clearly a bigger concern among the private institu-tions (67%) compared to the public insti-tutions (57%). This possibly explains the increasing popularity of international accreditations particularly among the private institutions.3. The reasons for opting for international accreditations (in order of importance) are:n Credibilityn Tie-ups with foreign universities

Do current rankings provide a fair picture of an institution's quality?

Which rankings in the higher-education system do you use as a reference (select all option which are applicable)

Which international rankings do you trust?(select all options which are applicable)

46% Times Higher Education

26% US News and World Report

33% QS Rankings

16% Shanghai Jiao Tong

31% None

34% No

53% Somewhat

10% YES

3% Only certain rankings (Please specify)

37%

27%

24%16%

37%

17%

accreditation most important?Across institutions, disciplines and posi-tions, the order of importance for institu-tion types to be accredited isn Medicaln Engineeringn MBAn General Streams

2. What are the issues with accredita-tion in India?The lack of an autonomous, objective

India Today

Outlook

Business world

Careers360

None

Others(please specify)


COVER STORY Survey

n International studentsn International faculty

86% of private institution respondents have said credibility is the biggest reason for opting for international accreditation

4. Is there a need for an independent body to provide accreditation in India?

87% say yes!

RankingsRankings are seen as contentious but convenient measure of evaluating an edu-cational institution. A relative listing of this kind always provokes debate.

In India particularly, a number of exist-ing rankings place an overwhelming emphasis on perception and in this pro-cess the entire purpose of ranking is lost. Even otherwise, the different parameters used to rank an institution and the weightage assigned to these are not always matched by the importance the community members themselves assign to them. This section of the survey att-mepted to find out what the community thinks are the important factors to evalu-ate an institution.

What are the most popular rankings in higher education?We created a list of parameters used pop-ularly used in Indian and international rankings and asked the respondents to rate them as

n Very importantn Importantn Moderately importantn Somewhat importantn Not at all important

Calculating the weighted average, the relative order of importance assigned to these parameters is:1. Faculty2. Curriculum3. Research

4. Governance+innovative practices6. Infrastructure7. Industry tie-ups8. Student profile9. I n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h e x t e r n a l stakeholders10. Placements

Not surprisingly, the community rates faculty as the most important criteria to measure the quality of an institution.

Industry tie-ups, placements, student profile and external stakeholder engage-ment rank low in terms of priority. This might be a slightly worrying trend since output measures are a critical measure of quality internationally and play the most important part in shaping perceptions among students, potential students, par-ents and recruiters.

Do international ranking criteria apply to the Indian scenario?n Across different sub-sets (public, private,

Deans and above etc.) between 32% -36% think that international ranking criteria are also applicable to the Indian sector. n Surprisingly 28% of the private

institutions which have responded to the survey have said that these criteria are NOT applicable to the Indian sector, this is the HIGHEST proportion of any sub-set of the respondents to have selected this option.

What are the issues with

accreditation in India?

Public Colleges Private Colleges Overall responses

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Lack of an autonomous, credible accretitian agnecy

Lack of resource in accreditation body

Criteria not objective

Process not netrual and unbiased

of Directors, VCs, Pro-VCs and Deans think performance

measures should be on the basis on discipline Arts,

Science

of non-govt institutions feel metrics should be

on the basis of source of funding source (varying

for public, private and autonomous institutions)

70% 25%


Survey cover story

Rankings: the paRameteRs that count

A closer look at what the community thinks are good measures for evaluating institutions

We designed a second part to the survey to deep-dive into the parameters commonly

used to rank educational institutions. Why did we choose to specifically focus on rankings? The initial results from the first part of the survey validated our hypothesis: rankings are the most common measure of benchmarking despite the questions the community has around their credibility.

Some of the responses also seemed contradictory and we wanted to understand what the community thinks about each of these elements in detail. Accreditation provides an indication about the basic quality of an institution but the parameters used in rankings provide a better perspective on the focus areas of the community.

We created a list of sub-parameters for each of the parameters listed in the

“Rankings” Section of the first survey from existing Indian and international rankings as well as the feedback we had received from the community. We then asked the respondents to rate them on a

scale ranging from “Very important” to “Not at all important”. Calculating the weighted average for each of these sub-parameters, we were able to identify the priority areas for the community.

FacultyThe community is unequivocal in asserting that Faculty is the most important factor in deciding the quality of an institution, regardless of their institution type and designation. A closer look reveals that the proportion of full-time faculty is seen as being the most critical. The proportion of faculty with PhDs and/or consulting projects is seen as being less important: the challenges around faculty in India are therefore, still at the fundamental level.

InfrastructureInfrastructure is often an important

“Build a simple model which will give scores for faculty

quality, research output, and education related measures

and base it on publicly available information”

—Pankaj JaloteDirector, IIIT Delhi

Benchmarking Rankings and Accreditation

EDU’ssurvey on


cover story Survey

orientation of an institution. Despite research being a priority area, university research income got the lowest priority.

student-profile“Average cut-off marks for admission to a certain institution” is seen as the most important criteria for judging the quality of an institution. Intake of socially and economically challenged students as well as balanced gender-representation are lower priorities for the community.

Industry-linkagesThe community sees internships and research projects with students as the most important focus area in industry-campus linkages. It has assigned little importance

in extending relationships with corporates beyond placements and curriculum.

curriculumThe community assigns the most importance to developing courses r e l e v a n t t o c u r r e n t i n d u s t r y requirements and latest trends in research. The use of modern tools and technologies rank as second most important. The community is still hesitant about using technology in pedagogy extensively though they recognise its importance.

PlacementsAs expected, the community does not regard salary figures as an important

parameter to measure quality in international rankings. The most

i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t s o f infrastructure are Labs, followed by Libraries and IT i n f r a s t r u c t u r e . Fa c u l t y accommodation is not seen as a priority although faculty is seen as the most important factor in determining the quality of an institution. Does this indicate a need to give more thought to incentivising faculty to

ensure quality?

researchInternational citations are seen as the most important metric in deciding the research

What matters to the community of leaders in higher-ed

The relative importance of the elements of each parameter as rated in the survey

4.66

4.62

4.01

3.89

3.88

4.45

4.6

infrastructure

Labs

Maintenance

Sports facilities

Faculty accommodation

Hostels and canteens

Libraries

IT infrastrucutre

3.98

4.27

4.54

Faculty

Proportion of full-time faculty

Proportion of faculty involved in industry consultancy projects

Proportion of full-time faculty with PhDs or equivalent degrees

Research3.874.3

4.19 4.54

International publications and citation

Citations per faculty member, per year

Papers published per faculty member

University research income

student profile

3.85

3.45

3.54

4

Work experience

Average cut-off marks for entrance

Gender representation

Inclusiveness (intake of socially and economically

challenged students)

industry linkage

4.484.46

4.233.92

Corporates involved as faculty (full-time or part-time)

Other associations on campus

(research centers, sponsored

infrastructure)

Internships and research projects with students

Co-created curriculum and inclusion of live case studies


indicator of how good an institution’s placements are. "Roles offered to gradu-ating students" is the most important indicator of an institutions’ placements while the number of top recruiters who recruit from a campus is seen as the sec-ond most important indicator.

Governance and administrationThe autonomy of the governing body of an educational institution is the most important decider of how strong its governance and administration are. However, the community has assigned almost equal importance to strategies and planning around sourcing funding and faculty appraisal. Despite the

importance assigned to governance and administration, little importance is assigned to a formal mission statement.

external-stakeholderThe community thinks it is most important to have interactions with international insti-tutions. Interactions with Indian higher-ed institutions and social initiatives rank lower.

InnovationThe importance the community places on governance and administration is reaffirmed when the survey finds out what factors related to innovation are most important. Funding is the second most important focus area. Following earlier patterns, the community assigns

the least importance to placements.

What do the results tell us all in all?It is encouraging to see the awareness and importance around benchmarking and associated measures. However, the actual practice needs to spread across more insti-tutions. While expressing the need for an objective, autonomous accreditation body, the community needs to align its priorities and ensure it takes the steps necessary to address the issues it thinks are important. The interest and awareness of the commu-nity is a clear indicator that it is determined to take concrete steps to improve quality and even measure itself on international parameters if appropriate.

curriculum & pedagogy

4.71

4.454.6

4.4Developing new courses relevant to industry needs and latest reasearch trends

Industry linkages and orientation in curriculum

Developing inter-disciplinary courses

Use of modern tools and

technologies

external-stakeholder

4.13

4.25

4.05

Interactions with other Indian educational instituions

Interactions with internation-al educational institutions

Initiatives related to

social responsibility

governance & adminis-

tration

4.59

4.32

4.59

4.6

Faculty appraisal

Financial strategies (fund sourcing, fund allocation etc.)

Autonomy (structure and

composition) of governing body

Mission statement

placement

3.77

3.994.45

4.36

Highest salary

Average salaryKinds of roles being offered

Number of top recruiters

coming to campus

innovation

4.41

4.12

3.96

Differentiation in governance/administration structure and policies

New methods of sourcing funds

Differentiation in placement format and methods

*Each parameter is marked on a scale of importance between the values of 5 and 1.


PhiliP’s PickPhilip picked this

piece as it is focused on faculty issues

From International Higher Education the quarterly publication of CIHE

PhiliP G. AltbAchDr. Altbach is director of the Center for International Higher Education and Research Professor at Boston College, USA. He has extensive experience in the field of comparative and international higher education. Professor Altbach holds a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago, and has been Distinguished Scholar Leader of the Fulbright New Century Scholars program. His most recent book is A Half-Century of Indian Higher Education: Essays by Philip G. Altbach, edited by Pawan Agarwal. (Sage, 2012).

Does Anyone Care About Developing Countries: Brain Drain or Brain Exchange?bY PhiliP G. AltbAch

The rich world is worrying about skills shortages, especially at the upper levels of their economies. The causes are many—such as a “demographic cliff” in Japan and in some European countries, significantly reducing the numbers of university-age young people,

especially too few students enrolling in STEM fields, a leveling off of access, and low degree completion rates. What is a solution of these problems? Increasingly, it is to boost the “stay rates” of international students—in other words, to convince international students, mainly from developing and mid-

dle-income countries, to remain after they com-plete their degrees. To oversimplify, the rich are robbing the brains of the developing countries—or for that matter any qualified brains who can be lured. Although the brain drain has been part of academia for a century or more, the situation is increasingly acute for all sides. For developing and emerging countries, the danger is that they

International Higher Education PhiliP’s Pick


International Higher Education PhiliP’s Pick

25

these students remain after earning their degrees, and many join the local professoriate. Using UNESCO statistics, a rough estimate is that it costs the Indian taxpayer around US$7,600 in purchasing power parity (PPP) to educate a stu-dent from primary schooling through a bachelor’s degree. It can be estimated that an Indian family may invest a similar amount in the education of a child—particularly since many of the young peo-ple who qualify for admission to overseas univer-sities have been educated in private English-medi-um schools in India—for a total estimate of US$15,000. Thus, the approximate Indian invest-ment in America, by paying for the education of 100,000 young people through the bachelor’s degree is approximately US$1.5 billion annually. The China figures are likely even higher. Although public expenditures on education are not avail-able, research shows the average Chinese family invests US$39,000 PPP dollars to educate a stu-dent from primary through the completion of a bachelor’s degree. There were 194,000 students from China studying in the United States in 2012. One can estimate that Chinese families were investing US$7.6 billion in brainpower in the United States. Significant additional funding from Chinese state sources were also being invested, although figures are unavailable.

It seems possible to approximate the educa-tional contributions of the various, mostly devel-oping, countries—whose young people are study-ing abroad—to the economies of the host countries. While not all of these students will remain after completing their studies, the sums are significant.

In addition to direct costs, the host countries benefit from an immense amount of intellectual capital from some of the brightest young people from the developing world. At the same time, the losses for developing countries are huge—for aca-deme in particular, in research and teaching tal-ent, new and innovative ideas that might have been cultivated from overseas experience, prac-tices in university management, and many others.

Rich country strategiesHans de Wit and Nannette Ripmeester provide an excellent summary of some of the policies aimed at increasing “stay rates” through changes in immigration policy, the provision of scholarships, closer links between universities and employers, and others (University World News, February 17, 2013). There is wide agreement in Europe and North America that new initiatives to entice the “best and brightest” of professionals from other

will be left behind in the global knowledge econo-my, thus permanently damaging their futures.

current realitiesIn the era of globalisation, it may be a bit of an exaggeration to call this a deliberate policy to encourage brain drain, but only slightly. Stay rates are already quite high. For example, 80 percent or more of Chinese and Indians who have obtained their advanced degrees in the United States over almost a half-century have remained in the coun-try. It is hardly an exaggeration to point out that a significant part of Silicon Valley has been built with Indian brainpower. A recent analysis of data from the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates shows that the large majority of doctoral recipients from developing countries plan to remain in the United States, contributing to the academic labor force, particularly in the STEM fields. While data are seldom available, other European countries and Australia no doubt show similar trends. However, return rates are modestly increasing globally as developing coun-try economies improve, and some of the rich world remains mired in recession.

subsidies from the poor benefit the richEmerging and developing economies are actually contributing significantly to the academic sys-tems of wealthier countries. International stu-dents contribute significantly to the economies of Europe, North America, and Australia while they are studying as well as if they remain there. Data from 2011 indicate that the 764,000 international students studying in the United States contribute more than US$22 billion to the American econo-my annually. Similar statistics can be cited for the other major host countries. Indeed, Australia, earns US$17 billion from international scholars, and the United Kingdom, where higher education is a US$21 billion earner, both have clearly stated national policies to increase income from over-seas students.

Perhaps of greater concern are the subsidies provided by emerging and developing econo-mies—through their doctoral graduates—who remain and join the academic profession in the rich countries. Here are examples from India and China—the two largest “brain exporters” in the world. It should be noted that these statistics are suggestive since details are unavailable and data points vary. In 2012, 100,000 Indian students were studying in the United States, mostly at the postbaccalaureate level. The large majority of

intRoduction

The traditional “brain drain” is,

unfortunately, alive and well globally,

and India is greatly affected by it. A large

proportion of IIT and IIM graduates leave India never to return. Graduates

of other top schools also leave. Yes,

there is some “brain exchange” and

NRIs contribute to India’s economy in significant ways, but overall India is

on the losing end of the global migration

of talent. There is probably not much

that can be done about it, but Indians and those benefiting

from Indian brains and talent in the rich

countries at least need to be aware of the issues involved.

PhiliP’s Pick International Higher Education

26

PhiliP’s Pick International Higher Education


countries, whom they educate, to stay and join the local labor force are a good idea. Efforts to liber-alise visa regulations; open employment opportu-nities; permit postgraduate work, easier degree recognition; improvement of cooperation between the universities, governments, and industry; and many other initiatives are being implemented.

Countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, that recently implemented more strin-gent immigration limits, are rethinking their policies. The US National Academy of Sciences as well as universities advocate liberalising visa regimes, in order to make it easier for foreign graduates to remain and work in the United States. There is absolutely no recognition of any contradiction between, for example, Millennium Development Goals, which stress the necessity for educational development in the emerging nations and policies aimed at attracting the best brains from developing countries.

African countries as South Africa and Botswa-na, which have relatively advanced higher educa-tion systems and pay more attractive salaries, also lure talent from elsewhere in Africa. Further, the academic brain drain operates between the major “academic powers,” as well. Germany tries hard to attract back its postdocs and doctoral graduates, working in the United States, back to Germany, with only limited success. The attraction of a more stable academic career structure and some-what higher salaries in the United States are attractive, and American universities try to keep the brightest international graduates, whatever their nationality.

the complexities of a Globalised WorldWhile location still matters and the world is by no means flat when it comes to academic excellence and power, globalisation has certainly impacted universities and academic systems worldwide. The Internet has made communication and col-laboration much easier. The proportion of research and publication conducted jointly by aca-demics in more than one country has grown dra-matically at the top of the system. Distance educa-tion, joint-degree programmes, and branch campuses exhibit another aspect of a globalised academic world. None of this, however, makes up for losses in personnel.

China, as a country with large numbers of its academics working overseas, has instituted a number of programmes to lure top Chinese researchers back to China. Joint appointments have also been offered for academics in key fields,

so that Chinese universities can benefit from top scholars who wish to remain abroad. Other devel-oping and middle-income countries also seek to leverage the academic diaspora through encour-aging joint research projects, attracting invest-ment, sponsoring academic organisations, and others. Successful programmes have at least ensured that top local talent can benefit from expertise from compatriots who live abroad. Countries such as South Korea, Turkey, Scotland and others have implemented programmes.

In all of these cases, however, the advantage remains with the major global academic centers for obvious reasons. Also, location matters a great deal; being part of an academic community is a much more powerful draw, even than Internet-based communication or sabbaticals or summers abroad. Stable academic careers, attractive salaries, academic freedom, unfettered access to the latest scientific and intellectual ideas, among other things, are a tremendous attraction. Few pro-grammes to bring back researchers and academics or efforts to limit academic mobility have been very successful. The fact is that until universities in developing countries offer the academic culture and facilities that top academics expect—including academic freedom, unrestricted information access, and laboratories—they will be unable to attract and retain top academic talent, but the poli-cies of the rich countries certain do not help.

Academic justice?Do the “academic powers” have any responsibility to developing academic systems? A sense of responsibility for encouraging doctoral graduates from the developing world to return home, to build universities, and to improve the quality of emerging academic systems is entirely absent from the current discussion. The only concern is to improve “stay rates” and liberalise immigration rules to ensure that the maximum number of the best and brightest from the developing world remains. Should the rich world at the least, in the context of Millennium Development Goals, remit to the developing world the costs incurred, by developing countries, in educating their nonre-turning young people? There are many ways to at least ameliorate the situation—for example, joint doctoral degrees that provide young developing country scholars an opportunity to study abroad for part of their PhD work, while retaining a link to their home university and at the same time building research capacity. Then, at least, the developing countries would not be directly subsi-dising the academic systems of the rich.

Until univer-sities in

developing countries offer the

academic culture and

facilities that top

academics expect they

will be unable to

attract and retain top

talent

Stay ahead of your peers.Grab this unfair advantage

GET IT NOW!

SESSIONS WILL COVER Contemporary trends in a current technology area Delivering innovation or improving business outcomes through IT solutions Best practices for installing, operating and improving enterprise

services/infrastructure Thinking strategically about IT Leadership in the corporate context

Platinum Partner

technologyPartner

PrinciPalPartner

PremierPartner

neXt100 BookPartner

Download the NEXT100 app on your phone or tablet, and register for Pocket CIO program. Access the latest white papers and case studies, and watch videos

REGISTER THROUGH MOBILE APP

City&Date

delhi ncr 20th–21st

sePtemBer

MUMBAi 4th – 5th

octoBer

BenGAlUrU25th – 26thoctoBer

APPLY NOW !www.itneXt.in/neXt100

The CIOs of tomorrow are expected to be outstanding business leaders, not just good technical experts, who can collaborate and communicate in their professional environment ITNEXT invites you to participate in the 2-day Pocket CIO programme to equip yourself with strategic, technical and soft-skills needed for senior management roles. The training sessions will be hosted by experts, and will feature eminent CIOs.

eVeNt By

INDIA’s FUTURE CIOs

in association with

p r e s e n t s


How the campus lowered resource consumption and raised student experience through its green initiativesby charu bahri

Great Lakes goes green

Institute of Management

for all-round benefits


But Dr Balachandran was as focused on creating a campus that the villagers in the vicinity would be proud of and relate to, and that meant going green. An energy-guzzling concrete mass would stand out in stark contrast to the gentle rural environs—a definite no-no for this educationist who walks his talk: “I am a firm believer in doing the right thing. It’s even higher than ‘doing things right.’ Possibly no citizen’s rights are abused in India as much as democracy and freedom. I wanted the campus to echo ‘responsible free-dom,’ that is, sustainability in every facet of its design.”

Dr Balachandran is also the JL Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Account-ing and Information Management at the Kellogg School of Management and Executive Professor and Strategy Advisor to the Dean at Bauer College, Uni-versity of Houston. Among other things, he has taught students about Car-bon Credits as an incentive to be responsible and accountable to the environ-ment. Investing in a green campus was thus very much in sync with his c

ou

rtes

y: G

reat

La

kes

Inst

Itu

te o

f m

an

aG

emen

t

Valuable lessons in sustainabilityGoing green increased the cost of construction by 15% but the manage-ment decided to go ahead in order to send the right message

In harmony with rural environsAn energy-guzzling concrete mass was not something that would have fit-in to the surroundings

Going Green campus

Sixty kilometres south of Chennai, near the medieval temple town and port of Mahabalipuram, straddling the old and the new, is the Great Lakes Institute of Management. It is

the brainchild of Dr Bala V Balachandran, an edu-cationist whose cross-continent experience is reflected in the institution’s motto—Global Mind-set, Indian Roots. The colours that bring this credo to life are green (symbolising earth), blue (for water), white (for air) and black (for fire/coal energy). But obviously, celebrating the elements goes beyond mere words: it is simply a way of life at Great Lakes, where “green” is literally a big part of the campus design, built into it so that it con-serves resources in operations.

it started with a vision of keeping the evirons pastoral When the founder and dean of Great Lakes Insti-tute Dr Balachandran set about envisioning the campus, his inspiration came from rural India. “I come from a humble rural background. Creating an education facility in a village—far from the madding crowd but not too far from the city—is my way of giving back,” he says.


campus Going Green

expertise and with the times—even though it meant higher initial project costs (approxi-mately 8% higher) and a delay in completing the extensive compliance processes.

Jamshyd Godrej, an advocate of the Indian green building movement and Board member of Great Lakes, backed this long-term vision.

Needless to say, Dr Balachan-dran was thinking as much for students. A green campus can impart valuable lessons in sus-tainability. With increasing urbanisation and a growing population putting greater pressure on resources, a result-ing corporate trend is prefer-ence for managers with a prac-tical exposure to conservation measures and who are willing to take proactive steps to make a difference to the environ-ment. Managers are no more evaluated for their impact on bottom-lines but also for their impact on the triple bottom-line: people, planet, profits.

Dr Balachandran expounds this management lesson—“It is a matter of great pride that at Great Lakes, the art of leadership blends with the science of management. Going in for the highest possible green rating, Platinum, for the campus is leadership at its best. Managements must think holistically about the welfare of the surrounding villages. We cannot be “optimisers” at the expense of the environment.”

Still, it takes great courage to walk the road less travelled. “When we started out, it would have been only too easy to construct the campus at the lowest possible cost. We struggled financially in the early days but were committed to doing the

right thing,” reminisc-es Dr Balachandran.

The vision led to the decision of building a platinum certified LEED campusConstruction of the Great Lakes campus started in 2008, in Manamai, about 60 km out of central Chennai. “Propelled by Intellect but Steered by Values” is the campus motto, which re f l ec t s Dr Balachandran’s com-mitment to make the right choices--in this case, to construct the campus to meet Indian Green Building Coun-

cil specifications for Platinum certified LEED buildings.

DESIGN: Building green starts with intelligent design. Great Lakes campus is arranged around legible axes for clari-ty in circulation; this encourages people to get around on foot and on cycle.

The salient building features include air corridors which lower the indoor temperature and reduce power con-sumed for cooling purposes. The build-ing orientation ensures that the areas in heavy use are sun-lit with overhangs and shadings to reduce solar gains. Rain water harvesting has been incorporated in the design to harvest 4130 cu.m. per day of rainwater. As a result, the post-construction runoff is less than the pre-construction runoff.

Savings from solarSolar powered street lighting use about 15% less power consumption than regular street lights

“When we started out, it would have been only too easy to construct the campus at the lowest possible cost. We struggled financially in the early days but were committed to doing the right thing ” –bala V balachandran, Founder and Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management


Going Green campus

LOCAL PROCUREMENT: Sourcing materials locally is an important green building tenet. About 45% of the materi-als and products for Great Lakes, by cost, were extracted, harvested and recovered within 800 km of project site. About 60% of the total material by cost was manu-factured locally/regionally, helping to minimise pollution arising from mate-rial transportation. Salvaged material such as broken china mosaic tiles and bricks was used for the roof and to create sculptures and artifacts. Overall, the project has achieved a combined recy-clable content value of 12.63%, thus reducing exploitation of virgin materials. Up to 95.87% of the total construction waste has been recycled or reused, there-by diverting them from landfills.

CHOICE OF MATERIALS: Great Lakes’ uses environment-friendly fix-tures and materials such as low flow dual-flush toilets, sensor based urinals and low flow faucets to conserve water; and insulation and reflective materials on the entire roof to reduce heat ingress and to minimise impact on the sur-rounding microclimate. To help cut power consumption, an energy-efficient glazing boasting of optimum shading coefficient and an intelligent air-condi-tioning design incorporating high per-forming variable refrigerant volume sys-tems were used. Environment-friendly refrigerants help avoid global warming

and ozone depletion. Aerocon block walls provide excellent insulation and bring down energy costs. Efficient lighting fixtures and occupancy controls optimise energy con-sumed for lighting.

In Great Lakes’ experience, building green increased the overall cost of construction by 15%. It will take 12 to 15 years to pay back the extra investment.

The green campus helped in saving water and power consumptionGreat Lakes’ May 2009 batch was the first to enjoy the new campus. Since 2009, the campus has doubled in size from 14 acres to about 28 acres. The additional infrastruc-ture is yet to be certified by LEED. Meanwhile, the results have been encouraging:

Water efficient fixtures reduced water consumption by over 32.52%. Only wastewater which has been treated on site to tertiary standards is used

for landscaping.Over 75% of the areas in regular use get sufficient daylight and hardly need any

artificial lighting.Over 90% of the areas in regular use get an outdoor view. Solar powered street lighting use about 15% less power consumption than regular

street lights.The efficient Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) air-conditioning system cuts power

consumption by approximately 20% whereas the efficient lighting reduces the overall consumption by almost 50%. Solar water heaters further reduce power consumption by another 10%. All told, different power saving materials help to save 25% power that would have been consumed in a traditionally built environment.

About this, Dr Balachandran says “It is to be expected. Doing the right thing always pays dividends in time. In our case, it helped us achieve high levels of efficiency. Addi-tionally, carbon credits are helping to offset the cost difference as evidenced by the Electricity Board reducing our tariffs. Also, we will soon be installing more solar ener-gy panels.”

In the meantime, let’s not forget the bonus. Green environs help to reduce students’ stress levels and provide the right ambience for studies. Open spaces encourage students to interact with their peers outdoors. Students can be seen outdoors working on group assignments. All of these will pay dividends in the long run, as they promote communication skills and team work, much sought after at the workplace.

Global mindset, Indian roots Great Lakes’ campus has been built to encourage students to live up to its motto


A case study on the launch of a tailored “ladies only” course for women from business families by SP Jain Institute of Management and Researchby charu bahri

SP JainWhy

manager programmestarted a women


The idea was triggered when...in 2011, Professor Parimal Merchant, Director of the Centre for Family Managed Business at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, received an email from an entrepreneur’s wife.

Prof Merchant had spent the previous evening discussing the opportunities for family business-es with first generation entrepreneur Rajesh Dadu. Dadu’s wife Deepa, a silent spectator to that interaction, later sent him a message expressing an interest in studying management to “become a strong pillar” of the business empire her husband had founded. In just a year of joining the family business, she was feeling the need to do more to “make her presence felt.” Deepa appealed to Pro-fessor Merchant to guide her.

Prof Merchant was struck by her eagerness to learn and the ability to muster the courage to write to him. “It showed determination to get ahead. Although the language lacked polish, her ambition came through very clearly.” She wrote:

“I also wanted to make it so clear that we should not fear anything and start opening branches all over India.” She was thinking of a pan India presence for her family’s business!

Reading between the lines of the message, Professor Merchant became aware of a major unaddressed societal need. “Close to 90 per cent of the wheels of the Indian economy lie in the hands of small and medium family businesses,” he explains. “These businesses make an invaluable contribu-tion to the economy and are rapidly growing. But salary is a major constraint for the small and medium scale sector, as a result of which they hire indi-viduals with limited competencies and face talent shortages. Hence, there is a pressing need for owners to get involved with the business. Confidentiality is another pre-requisite for family businesses facing intense competition, and the best way to keep their business strategy under wraps and hidden from their competitors is to share it only with family. Women from business families understand these intricacies and aspire to contribute to the busi-ness. But are they up to the challenge?”

Professor Merchant took the email as a call to action: “There is a need to educate responsible women who can be appointed to senior positions in family businesses by virtue of their familial ties and the inherent trust that comes with the territory. But who clearly need grooming to positively impact the business.”

Launching a “ladies only course” made sense because...Professor Merchant came up against many hurdles that were unique with women helping run family businesses. “Language is a big barrier for many women from traditional business families,” he explains. “They aren’t well versed in English.”

Time is another challenge. “How much time do you expect women aged anywhere between thirty and sixty, with families to care for and some also with small roles in business, to spare for studies? Many such aspirants live in joint families, and must fulfil the expectations of elders in the family before indulging their own needs,” he observes.

Professor Merchant also questioned the suitability of the content of the Family Managed Business Programme for women aspirants. “Women with less exposure need more than management lessons. Modules on finance, operations, marketing, human resources and general management aren’t c

ou

rtes

y: s

P Ja

in in

stit

ute

of

Ma

na

geM

ent

an

d r

esea

rch

Course Launch academics

case report

Challenge: Catering to the needs of women who want to study management to contribute to their family businesses but feel inadequate to join mainstream management courses.

Solution: Launch a Women Manager Certificate Programme, a one year certificate course specially designed to improve the competencies of women from business families.

ReSultS: A growing stream of women is coming forward to learn management, the annual intake is up to 50 from 35 just two years ago.


academics Course Launch

enough to bring them up to speed. They need assistance in personality development and in acquiring communication skills,” he explains.

All these factors strengthened the case for a “ladies only” course in management. Not to mention that allowing women from similar backgrounds to interact with each other would strengthen their business networking skills.

Professor Parimal merchant saw merit in going this route and developed it by... drawing insights from SP Jain’s family managed business programmes. The team relied on their interactions with 2000 business families to understand the unique posi-tion of women in the family, their capacities and skills and their current occupations. “We found many to be confined to the kitchen and busy raising children. Some were involved with the business but felt their skills were wanting. We wanted to change the situation and make them as competent as the men,” shares the Professor.

This became the basis for their value proposition—“Pricing was a major concern for this course because many women would be dependant on their husbands for funds and would have to justify the spend to their families. Too high a price would put off candidates. It was important to show the value being delivered and correlate that with the price,” he adds.Highlights of the programme are:TEACHING PEDAGOGY: Teaching happens in a blend of English and Hindi. Since the candidates are raw in management theory, teachers clarify the fundamentals of each subject and sensitise students to different business scenarios. Role playing is a key part of the pedagogy.COURSE DEVELOPMENT: Women Manager Programme is being gradually devel-oped. A broad framework was laid out at the outset. The content was not frozen. This flexibility allows for adding and subtracting concepts and modules as they improve their understanding of evolving needs of the candidates. Industrial visits and personal growth lab were added at a later stage after verifying their suitability for the group.COURSE CONTENT: The curriculum exposes participants to functional subjects, such as finance, marketing, human resources and operations. Also, they are trained to develop public speaking, computer operations and leadership skills. Participants are additionally taught attitude development. The idea is to teach skills that prepare women to face life better, not just for business.CLASS TIMINGS: Daily classes would be a burden. Instead, the programme is spread over 12 months, three consecutive days per month.PUBLICITY: Women Manager Programme was introduced in 2011. It helped that the Economic Times, a paper whose main readership is business people, got wind of the course soon after its launch and covered the initiative.

NOVEL MARKETING: Since Women Manager Programme is a new concept, the programme is offered free of cost for the first two months. “A trial period helps candidates who aren’t sure if the programme is for them, to ascertain its value. Those who see benefit formally enrol for the programme and pay the fees,” explains the Professor.

The idea is now...gradually gaining acceptance. In 2013, the intake of the programme was 50, a promising achievement considering that the only ongoing publicity is word of mouth. It is attracting participants from all over India. The participant pro-file includes women who are thickly involved in their own or family business as well as women who are busy running households but who aspire to do so.

Candidates express quali tat ive improvement in their skills and compe-tencies. They gain confidence to contrib-ute to discussions about the family busi-ness. Over 50% of the participants have got more involved with operations of their family businesses. About 15% of the candidates have even started their own ventures.

Prof Merchant expects the pro-gramme to become as big as their Fam-ily Managed Business programme by 2015—with an intake of 300 partici-pants a year.

—Parimal merchantDirector, Centre for Family Managed Business, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research

“The idea is to teach skills that prepare women to face life better, not just to do business”

TECHNOLOGYPARTNER

BANKINGPARTNER

INNOVATIONPARTNER

KNOWLEDGEPARTNER

VIRTuALISATION & CLOuD

COmPuTING PARTNER

RISK mANAGEmENT

PARTNER

BuSINESSDISCOVERY

PARTNER

TECH GALLERY PARTNER

PARTNER

CFOs and senior finance professionals representing

top, influential companies

of India

75+

•Imaginepossibilitiesandideasforthefuturewithdynamicspeakersandlike-mindedpeers•Createthefutureandproblemsolvewithseniormembersofthecommunity•Engageinconversationsandmeaningfulexchange,notmonologues•Learn,challengeandbechallengedinaninformal,interactiveandfriendlysetting•Experiencetheperfectmixofworkandfun!

5compelling reasons to join us in Goa...

Meet and connect with:• Mr Jamling Norgay, Everest Mountaineer• Shri Shakti Sinha, IAS, Principal Secretary, Govt. Of Delhi • Dr Subir Gokarn, Former Deputy Governor, RBI• Dr Ajay Shah, Professor, NIPFP• Shri Vinod Rai, Former CAG• Dr Shubhro Sen, Director, Tata Management Training Centre & Founder,

Conscious Capitalism Institute• Mr Joy Bhattacharjya, Advisor, Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL Auction)• Dr Pramath Raj Sinha, CEO & Group MD, 9.9 Media

FinThinkersA pioneering

initiative to identify and

recognise the leading ‘thinkers’

in finance.

Highlights:Tech Gallery

Gain exposure to cutting-edge technology

solutions that impact your business and function!

‘Unconference’IPL Mock AuctionCFO Policy Forum

Innovation Workshop

For CFOsWith CFOs By

THOuGHT LEADER

presents

“Where Finance meets Innovation”September 13 - 15, 2013 I Marriott Resort & Spa, Goa

For more details on registration, please write to Nisha Anand on [email protected] or call +91 98117 99248

Advertisement One Pager CIO v Final.indd 1 28/08/13 2:45 PM


dialogue Amelia Whitelaw

Designing a global exposure programme for Business students

co

ur

te

sy

Pr

Pu

ND

It

AmeliA WhitelAW

Present engagement: Director for Global Business Experiences, London Business School

work: Amelia Whitelaw has been associated with the London Business School for over two years and has been actively involved with the programme to ensure provision of an unique learning experience for MBA students. She has also worked with the Australian National University & International Alliance of Research Universities in the past

edu: What is the global Business experience (gBe) programme? amelia Whitelaw : The Global Business Experiences (GBEs) are a new and exciting addition to the MBA curriculum. This is the first academic year we are running the programme. The GBE is a perfect opportunity to blend the ideas of an academic context with contact of luminaries of the region. They aim to provide our students with a unique opportunity to learn about global business through a week-long immersion in one of five international locations.

Taking place in the students’ second year of study, the GBEs are led by two senior faculty members from different subject areas. Importantly, they are designed to allow students to build on the tools and frameworks learnt in the first year of study, as the second year of the MBA is about allowing student to make individual choices and tailor their MBA experience.

The GBEs are academically focused and are designed to be fast-paced, engaging and demanding. Each GBE is tailored to its location, offering a rare opportunity to gain insight from local industry, governmental leaders and the regional and national culture.

Students are pushed outside their comfort zone, working with classmates they have not yet worked with before in an unfamiliar environment. The five GBE locations are Boston & New York City (United States of America), Johan-nesburg (South Africa), Mumbai (India), Hong Kong, (Special Administrative Region of China) Istanbul (Turkey).

The GBE week consists of faculty lectures, guest speakers, site visits, work-shops, panels, company visits as well as opportunity to engage with local London Business School alumni in the region.

For more information about the GBEs please visit: http://www.london.edu/programmes/mba/programmedetails/globalbusinessexperiences.html.

eDu spoke to Amelia Whitelaw, Director, Global Business experiences, London Business school to find out what it takes to launch a successful global experience programmeBy smita polite


Amelia Whitelaw dialogue


dialogue Amelia Whitelaw

ness School has existing global programmes that have been running for over 15 years.

There are many options available for students wanting a global experience: Student Exchange, Career Treks, Social Immersion Programmes, and Interna-tional Business Forums etc. these are all options available for students and not every student takes up these offerings. By making the GBE a programme requirement, for us it is another level of commitment to ensuring our students are global citizens and are prepared for a global market.

There is a clear shift in business educa-tion from being only about location-specif-ic topics and activities to becoming a more global experience-oriented field. On our campus in London they have international faculty and have international classmates, we have 146 faculty from more than 30 countries and this year’s MBA class has over 60 nationalities represented. The GBE gives global exposure and allows stu-dents to learn about macro concepts and then apply and gain insight at a micro-lev-el. Students are learning from their own hands-on experience, Faculty, business leaders and importantly their colleagues. This allows students to have a more holis-tic and informed learning week. You have to allow students to interact with different cultures and draw on those experiences and learning’s post-MBA.

miliar environment. We also aim to have their ideas (and their preconceptions about the country) challenged. We create an envi-ronment that puts them under pressure.

Taking place in the students’ second year of study, the GBEs are designed to allow students to build on the tools and frame-works learnt in the first year of study. First you read, then you think, then you do and finally you learn.

London Business School prides itself on its global student, faculty and the con-tent of its programme. We are also based in London, one of the World’s greatest glob-al cities. While London will always be our hub we still need to connect in many differ-ent ways with alumni, companies, influen-tial figures and potential students around the world.

The GBE is a cross-school initiative— tying together all aspects and departments of the School. The GBE enables us to regu-larly visit our alumni and top corporates and build up a consistent and deeper rela-tionship of benefit to both.

a few other schools have also introduced such global exposure programmes. What according to you is the reason for this trend?

Business Schools have been undertaking versions of th ese global exposure pro-grammes for over 15 -20 years. In fact, our Executive MBA programme at London Busi-

There is a clear shift in business education from

being only about location-specific topics

and activities to becoming a more global experience-

oriented field

Why did you feel a need to launch such a programme?

Our students come from across the globe and will therefore increasingly seek employment around the world. We need to prepare them to think and operate glob-ally and help them prepare a network. We seek to help graduates be able to conduct business in any part of the world. As part of the last Full time MBA review we intro-duced GBEs into the curriculum. All of our degree programmes have four key characteristicsi) Academic groundingii) Global focusiii) Experiential contentiv) Links with business The GBEs include all four characteristics but particularly focus on ‘global focus’, ‘experiential content’ and ‘links with busi-ness’. They are a key way of fulfilling our pledge to create global citizens.

What do you want to achieve through this?

We want to create an experience students can’t have in London and have them meet with people they wouldn’t have the opportu-nity to hear from in London. The GBE cur-riculum at London Business School is designed to be fast-paced, engaging and demanding. The students are expected to deliver a group project, with individuals they may not know and operate in an unfa-

– amelia Whitelaw, Director, Global experiences, London Business school

Amelia Whitelaw dialogue

What are the components of a successful global exposure programme?

There are so many successful pro-grammes out there—I will not claim to know the best formula. But what has worked for us is:Clear vision: Senior faculty determine the learning objectives for the week, this then becomes the framework for the week and helps us focus every session we include.Clear expectations: When individuals and companies are generous enough to spend time with students, it is really help-ful to be honest about what it is you are hoping to get out of their session. Is it corporate knowledge? Personal insights? Conversation about something happen-ing in the industry?access to networks: Our programme is a cross-school initiative. This means that we are accessing a breadth of con-tacts which makes a programme a lot stronger. We aren’t relying on just one source to deliver. Importantly for us, all

of the individuals involved in our week have a connection to the School or some-one at the School. This makes our inter-actions genuine and allows for some very candid exchanges.uniqueness: Creating a learning experi-ence that feels genuine. You want students to feel that they are having a unique jour-ney that isn’t readily available to everyone; or one that isn’t evolving with time.excellent operations/logistic sup-port: The best preparations and con-cepts can be undermined by poor support on the ground. We have found that it is vital spend time finding partners who understand what you want to deliver. It is important that they support you deliver-ing something exceptional. What works for one client doesn’t necessarily mean it is right for us. X-factor: Creating a session and experi-ence that defines your location and your week.accepting each location and week is different: While we have 3-4 things we want to embed in each programme,

how we approach this varies greatly on each location. We have tried to ensure that each week is tailored to its location, learning objectives and faculty – what works in NYC doesn’t necessarily work in Johannesburg. This approach has kept us creative.Commit to the week for a set period of time: With our GBE we are commit-ted to involving the same faculty and going to same location for three years. This allows us to develop relationships and evolve our weeks.Be ambitious: You need to do your research and risk analysis but aim high. Don’t be happy with status quo.

The role of passive versus active learn-ing: Both delivery models have a place in such weeks. Experiment with format - does a panel, guest speaker, field work or smaller company visit, work best when learning about a particular idea.

Subscribe to a daily electronic newsletter from EDU at http://edu-leaders.com/content/newsletters

strategY Hiring industry experts

All-pervasive technology is here to stay. Today, it has made forays into the field of education, too. Prof S Sadagopan, Director, IIIT-B, picks 10 of his favourite tech tools which will benefit both students and faculty in higher educationbY Professor sowmYanaraYanan sadagoPan

10 tech tools: must-haves for higher education


Must haves for higher-ed technologY

Every student and teacher in a univer-sity setting – be it science, engineer-ing, medicine, business, law, architec-ture or music – must master some key tools. Here are my Top 10 must-

have tools.Higher education is all about 3Ls: Lectures,

Laboratories and Library; along with the fourth L, namely Life, they make up the 4Ls of Learning. I choose to focus on nine tools for the first three and one tool for Life.

1 learning management system (lms)

LMS provides electronic support to the entire learn-ing environment outside the classroom. This includes electronic delivery of slides and other lec-ture notes, reading materials and case studies, dis-tribution and collection of home work, projects, assignments and examinations; feedback to stu-dents by way of corrected answer scripts and optionally, online polls, surveys and feedback to teachers from students, typically, at the end of the term. Of the many LMS tools, Moodle (Moodle.org) is the most widely used across institutes of higher learning in the world; it is free, open source, easy to customise, and, enjoys a large base of developers / volunteers to help in customising and bug-fixing. Blackboard (www.blackboard.com) is another widely used commercial LMS tool. LMS tools have been around for more than a decade.

2massive open online course (mooc)

MOOC represents a new trend in higher educa-tion. It is an effort to democratise higher education

by

pho

tos.

co

m


technologY Must haves for higher-ed

and take the best learning experience available in some of the best institutions in the world (Stanford and MIT, for exam-ple), to anyone, using the power of the Internet. MOOCs go beyond mere lecture materials and videos (MIT’s Open course-ware or IIT’s NPTEL). MOOC provides lectures and assessment. Coursera (www.coursera.org), started in 2012, is perhaps the best known among several MOOCs today. Pioneered by Professor Daphne Koller of Stanford University, Coursera has courses in Computer Science, Busi-ness, Engineering, Medicine and Social Sciences from 70 universities including Stanford, Princeton and University of Michigan. Interestingly, Professor Koller was the first recipient of the ACM Infosys Prize in 2007.

3 Inspiring online talksInspiring teachers are small in num-

ber, students who would like to benefit from them are very large in number. Making their inspiring talks available to everyone has been the motive behind many experiments including Khan Acad-emy (www.Khanacademy.org), which makes more than 5,000 videos on many subjects accessible to school children. For university students, the best source of

side of your own. You can ask questions, connect with other students across the globe and get help. Starting at Georgia Tech, OpenStudy has grown today and benefits 150,000 students in 180 countries. Interestingly, the co-founder o f OpenStudy is Chennai -born Preetha Ram.

5Virtual labsIn addition to lectures, lab experi-

ments form a key component of learning. Much lab equipment is very expensive; they need technicians who can be expen-sive too. Many attempts have been made in the past decade to make some of the lab equipment available for students out-side the laboratories (often only found in rich universities and research labs). iLab from MIT (ilab.mit.edu) is the best known among such experiments current-ly underway at many institutions, includ-ing some IITs and IIITs in India. Using sophisticated software to schedule and interface with a variety of equipment like spectrometers, signal analysers, heat exchangers and robots, iLab makes costly sophisticated equipment available even to poor students in remote rural areas.

6cloud storageA key requirement of a learning

environment in a university is to keep track of a variety of instructional materials (lecture notes, slides, exam copies, project presentation, lab reports, field visit reports, photos, audio / video recordings of interviews etc.,). In today’s online world, you need a storage piece that is not tied to a specific piece of hardware (PC, Server, and Mainframe), software (Unix, Windows. Mac, iOS and Android), or even an organisation (department, col-lege, university). This is where cloud stor-age comes in handy. Though Google (Google Drive) and Microsoft (SkyDrive) offer their own versions of cloud storage, my favorite is Dropbox, a free service that lets you store documents (reports, spread-sheets, databases, PDF files), photos, songs, audio / video recordings effort-lessly across multiple devices. Create a “DropBox” folder on every device that you use and the files stored on this folder are available on every device. Dropbox magi-

inspiring talks is undoubtedly the TED Talks (www.ted.com); these are 18-minute long, very high quality videos of inspiring talks from the world’s best known experts (Nobel Prize winners, outstanding profes-sors from Ivy League universities and other leading thinkers). More than 1,500 TED talks are available for free viewing online and they have been watched more than one billion times.

4studying togetherStudents everywhere, and more

so in India, like to study together. It is one thing to communicate - talk on the phone, SMS, Chat, email and Facebook, but another to seriously collaborate and learn from each other. LMS helps to collaborate with the teacher; but a lot of learning hap-pens when students collaborate with other students (seek clarifications, clear doubts, share common ideas, work on a project etc.). With the Internet being available everywhere (at least for Univer-sity students), what can be better than to use it as a key collaborative platform. While there are general purpose tools (SharePoint from Microsoft or Acrobat from Adobe), OpenStudy (www.openstudy.com) is perhaps best suited for studying together with students in institutions out-

“MOOCs go beyond mere lecture

materials and videos. (MIT’s Open

courseware or IIT’s NPTEL). MOOCs

provide lectures and assessment ”

—sowmyanarayanan sadagopan, Director

IIIT-Bangalore


Must haves for higher-ed technologY

cally syncs the content automatically when the devices are connected; in addi-tion, you can access them from anywhere using a web-browser.

7scholarly searchIn any university, you need to read up

a lot of research papers on a daily basis; you also need to organise the papers you read /referenced and finally, the papers you author. You need to organise bibliog-raphy too; there are specific ways in which specific journals expect the author to cite references, including web refer-ences. So, formatting and re-formatting for submission across multiple journals can be quite a task. Later, when you meet other colleagues at conferences or apply for jobs, you need a count of citations of your papers (a first-level indicator of the quality of the paper) as well as the impact factor of the journals (a first-level indica-tor of the quality of the journal) you pub-lish or plan to publish. Though there are tools from IEEE and ACM to help you with some of these tasks, Google Scholar is perhaps the best for your scholarly search. As a source, it indexes the full text of scholarly research (both free and paid sources) across many disciplines. Unlike expensive options like Scopus (from Else-vier) or Web of Science (from Thomson), which only rich universities can afford, Google Scholar is free. Interestingly, one of the two architects of Google Scholar is IIT-Kharagpur alumnus Anurag Acharya.

8Personal library of research articles

Today’s students and faculty members in universities have access to a good library that subscribes to hundreds of journals. As a growing researcher, one starts build-ing up a personal library of scholarly lit-erature which includes “must read” papers. Till 2000, when many journals embraced the digital world, most univer-sity libraries (except those part of rich uni-versities) could not subscribe to scholarly research journals. Things have improved in the past decade, thanks to Consortium-based subscriptions like INDEST. Google Scholar type services provide good index-ing and abstract services, but access to full text is still limited to Libraries. There

Access to e-book reader is a must; the reading experience must be great, the collection must be rich and the interface must be intuitive

business models that are being fought out in the courts, but as “a budding tomorrow’s professional,” you should start getting used to one or the other e-Book Reader.

10data-based decision tools

Students and faculty members in univer-sities should start looking at ways of get-ting the facts right about many events, things and organisations around us. Search engines like Google and Bing give us pointers to data, but not often data itself; also the data is inaccurate, not from reliable sources or dated; in fact, the data is not good enough for any meaningful decision making. As tomorrow’s decision makers, it is important that university students cultivate the habit of data-based decisions. In this direction, Wolfram Alpha, from the same people who gave us Mathematica, is something that you must watch. Wolfram Alpha calls itself “a com-putational knowledge engine;” it provides data about a town, an institute, a country or about a phenomenon in a meaningful way using “curated” data and not mere pointers to websites that have informa-tion. Try “MIT”, “New Delhi”, “United Kingdom” and “Bangalore Weather” on Wolfram Alpha to get a feel for computa-tion knowledge engine. It uses extensive computation and uses a very sophisticat-ed knowledge engine. Such services will evolve over the years but it is high time you start getting used to such a service that goes beyond lecture, laboratory and library into a life skill.

Professor Sowmyanarayanan Sadago-pan is the Director of IIIT-Bangalore. These are his personal views. He can be reached at [email protected]

are many attempts to create a “personal library” of full-text papers including ser-vices from IEEE and ACM, but JSTOR (www.jstor.org) is my favorite particularly for those outside of Computer Science area. JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization, has, over the years, digitised and indexed a very large number of journal articles and makes the full text accessible to even libraries with limited budgets. Current issues of many paid journals, too, are available after a “moving wall” (a specified period after the journal is published).

9e-book readerAs Gen Next moves to an all digital

world, students and faculty members need access to scholarly search and per-sonal library of research articles as well as full texts and technical reports (often embellished with multimedia, hyper-text references to websites and even lab equip-ment (as in MIT iLab). In short, access to e-Book Reader is a must; the reading experience must be great, the collection must be rich, there must be a way to book mark, there must be a provision for reso-nantly large collection (dozens, if not hundreds of books) and the interface must be intuitive. While there are a large number of formats including open for-mats like ePub from IDPF (idpf.org), my favourite is Apple iBooks and Amazon Kindle. Apple iBooks is an application that is extremely good to read, annotate, share and search eBooks (from multiple publishing formats), though only avail-able on Apple products (Mac, iPad, iPhone). Amazon Kindle is a hardware device as well as an application that can be used over multiple OS (Windows, Apple Mac and iOS). Amazon has launched an India-store as well. There are still several issues on the formats and the


perspectiveINSIDE

F r o m o F h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n

the global 47 | Rise of International Rankings May Heighten Inequalities Between and Within Institutions

California’s online-education bill has been on hold sending indications that MOOCs may not be that revolutionary By Steve Kolowich

The MOOC ‘Revolution’ May Not Be as Disruptive as Some Had Imagined

In California, the MOOC revolution came to a halt unceremoniously.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the leader of the State Senate, quietly decided to put his online-education bill on the back burner last month. The bill, introduced with fan-

fare in March, originally aimed to push public universities to award academic credit to students who succeeded in some mas-sive open online courses offered by outside providers. But now that the universities have promised to expand their own online courses, the senator sees no immediate need to let outside pro-viders through the door, says his spokesman, Rhys Williams.

The fate of the California bill, SB 520, is the latest indication that MOOCs might not be the revolutionary force that many had imagined. They’re not bound for extinction, nor are the companies that rose to prominence on the strength of the MOOC hype doomed. But political, regulatory, administrative, and faculty barriers to the kind of unfettered online education that MOOC promoters originally envisioned have proved quite high, and it’s starting to look as if what they have to offer to universities may be technology tools and services that are more helpful than revolutionary.

Mr. Steinberg’s decision to shelve the bill was voluntary, but by the time he made it, SB 520 had already been defanged a series of revisions had returned control over college credits to university faculties.

In Florida the Legislature considered a bill with similar

by

pho

tos.

co

m

Just helpful?: Latest developments indicate that MOOCs may be offering tools and services that are more helpful than revolutionary

Global.ChroniCle.Com


Sign up for a free weekly electronic newsletter from The

Chronicle of Higher Education at Chronicle.Com/Globalnewsletter

The Chronicle of Higher Education is a US-based company with a weekly newspaper and a website updated daily, at Global.Chronicle.com, that cover all aspects of university life. With over 90 writers, editors, and correspondents stationed around the globe, The Chronicle provides

timely news and analysis of academ-ic ideas, developments and trends.

aims—circumventing the higher-education bureaucracy and giving nonuniversity players, including MOOC providers, a chance to have certain courses count for credit. That measure became law, but not before it, too, had been blunted by negotiation and compromise.

Meanwhile, several projects aimed at helping MOOC students navigate existing pathways to college credit have attracted little or no interest. Colorado State University- Global Campus has seen no takers since offering last fall to award credit to students who performed well in a computer-science MOOC offered through Udacity. Likewise, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, which helps students translate nontraditional learning into college credit through its LearningCounts program, has not seen any students attempt to redeem MOOC certificates for credit.

Those stalled efforts to push MOOCs through the institutional membrane that surrounds higher-education credentialing have cast doubt on whether large-scale free courses will end up disrupting anything.

“As you go in the belly of the beast, you will run into this brick wall every single time,” says Michael B. Horn, a co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.

As the efforts to legislate MOOCs into mainstream higher education petered out, Coursera, edX, and Udacity—the trium-virate of major MOOC providers—have continued to grow, offering new courses while attracting additional collaborators and investment money.

Coursera, which recently raised $43-million, plans to double in size by the end of the calendar year, according to Andrew Ng, one of the company’s founders. The company has collected close to $1-million in revenue from its “Signature Track” program, which offers users the chance to take a proctored examination and earn a “verified” certificate of achievement for their work in MOOCs.

All three providers have indicated that they are not satisfied to operate at the fringes of the higher-education system. They

want to be a part of online education in the main. But given the institutional monopoly on credit-granting privileges, that means catering to colleges rather than attempting to undermine them.

“Credits are the coin of the academic realm,” says Russell Poulin, deputy director for research and analysis at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Coopera-tive for Educational Technologies. “And if that’s where the coins are, these companies are going to drive there.”

To that end, the products and services those providers could supply colleges in the future have little to do with MOOCs. Rather, they resemble products and services that technol-ogy vendors like Blackboard and Pearson have been selling to colleges for years—”many of which,” says Mr. Horn, “are not dis-ruptive at all.”

82 students who matteredRonald F. Rogers, chair of the psychology department at San Jose State University, co-taught an introductory statistics course on the Udacity platform this past spring. Nearly 20,000 people from around the globe signed up for the MOOC ver-sion of the course. By June about 3,000 of them had completed the course and earned a certificate from Udacity, according to the professor.

But Mr. Rogers was more interested in the 82 students who were taking the online course for credit through San Jose State.

For those students, the course was not a MOOC. It was a conven-tional online course, just taught on the Udacity platform. Their written assignments were graded by hand by a live human being, and they could contact the professor for help. In turn, Mr. Rogers could log in to the platform, see whether individual students seemed to be stuck—and if so, where—and reach out to them.

“My life has been turned into a stream of e-mails,” he says, adding that his experience as an instructor has been a positive one. This is how Udacity now expects to make inroads in higher education: not with MOOCs but with technology and support services aimed at propping up credit-bearing online courses at traditional universities.

Rather than relying on 100,000-student MOOCs in which only the fittest survive, the company wants to “leverage the best of MOOC technology”—namely, the Udacity platform—with “services that are known to the industry,” such as instructional support, says Sebastian Thrun, Udacity’s founder.

“A medium where only self-motivated, Web-savvy people sign up, and the success rate is 10 percent, doesn’t strike me quite yet as a solution to the problems of higher education,” says Mr. Thrun.

“Are we going a step backwards? Perhaps,” he says. “But, then again, we really want to solve the problem.”

The closest Udacity has come to bringing MOOC-like econo-

Several projects aimed at helping MOOC students navigate existing pathways to college credit have attracted little or no interest

THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE


Subscribe to a free weekly electronic newsletter from the Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/globalnewsletter

mies of scale to the credit world is a proposed partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology on a master’s degree in computer science. Over the next three years, the program aims to enroll 10,000 students, each of whom will have the opportu-nity to earn a degree for less than $7,000—a fraction of the cost of a traditional master’s program. To save on faculty costs, Udacity would hire “course assistants” to help Georgia Tech instructors with “academic and nonacademic tasks,” according to a contract between the company and the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.

But that plan, too, could encounter institutional challenges. Benjamin Flowers, chair of the university’s graduate curricu-lum committee, says he and his colleagues have “at no point been given, to review, any written proposal for any new gradu-ate degree program.”

Officials seem to have circumvented the committee by casting the Udacity partnership as a “modification” of an existing com-puter-science master’s program, says Mr. Flowers. He says his committee is not done with the Udacity proposal, and may raise the issue in the university’s faculty senate when the body recon-venes this fall.

conventional course ProviderCoursera, like Udacity, has no intention of discontinuing its MOOCs. But the company has also begun positioning itself as a provider of more-conventional online courses.

In its latest round of partnerships, the company invited 10 public universities to use its online-teaching platform for non-MOOC online courses for a fee—a $3,000 charge for “develop-ment” plus an additional per-student fee. The contracts also lay out a framework for universities to license course content from one another, with a percentage going to Coursera.

The terms apply to what the contracts call “guided” or “adopt-ed” courses, which are taught for credit to registered students—those who are enrolled at the university and pay tuition. MOOCs, by contrast, are classified in the contract as “open access” courses that are broadcast to “end users,” who may or may not be students.

While casual observers tend to conflate MOOCs and the pro-viders that offer them, Coursera has moved into new territory. Says Mr. Horn: “They’re really just trying to compete to be the education platform of the future”—not just for MOOCs, but also for credit-bearing online programs.

That puts the MOOC providers in the ring with some heavy-weight content providers and education-technology companies that have been duking it out for years, says Phil Hill, a co-found-er of MindWires, an education-technology consulting firm.

“They’re essentially going to be competing, directly or indi-rectly, with Blackboard and Desire2Learn and Instructure,” says Mr. Hill, referring to well-established companies that sell tech-nology- and online-support services to colleges.

The MOOC providers may soon also find themselves compet-ing with publishers, says Mr. Hill. Textbook giants like Pearson and McGraw-Hill in recent years have expanded their product

lines to include automated coaching and grading software, as well as pre-assembled course modules. Those products resem-ble the goods that Coursera and Udacity might sell to colleges for use in their credit-bearing courses, says Mr. Hill. The MOOC providers are, as he puts it, “skating to where the puck is going to be.”

Will they be able to win control of that puck once it arrives? Nobody knows. Right now, Coursera and Udacity are riding high on hype and pedigree. Neither company is planning to hawk its wares at Educause, the annual higher-education-tech-nology conference, alongside almost every other company that sells technology to colleges: Both say they have more suitors than they can handle already.

In the long term, the fate of Coursera and Udacity’s ambi-tions may depend on how well their platforms and content work in a non-MOOC context. The early returns, though hardly definitive, do not reflect the makings of a revolution. This spring, only half of the San Jose State students taking Mr. Rog-ers’s statistics course on the Udacity platform earned a passing grade—a lower pass rate than the face-to-face version of the course, according to a preliminary analysis by the university. Other courses in the spring pilot produced similarly under-whelming outcomes. The university has since decided to pause its experiment with Udacity.

The students who earned San Jose State credit in the small-format Udacity courses will, of course, get to count those credits toward their degrees.

But the students who earned a Udacity certificate for passing the MOOC version? “You can’t take that and get a cup of coffee with it,” says Mr. Rogers.

Coursera, like Udacity, has no intention of discontinuing its MOOCs. But the company has also begun positioning itself as a provider of more-conventional online courses

Global.ChroniCle.Com


The rise of global higher-education rankings may exacerbate inequalities b e t w e e n a n d w i t h i n institutions, according to a

new paper published in the research journal Minerva.

That’s because rankings may influence policy makers to direct money to a small number of select research institutions competing for “world class” status and, within those universities, disproportion-ately to programs in science and technolo-gy. Major global rankings—in particular the Academic Ranking of World Universi-ties, whose latest version was released recently by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi-ty—tend to heavily weight scientific research output, including top internation-al prizes and publications in premier scientific journals.

“Because of what they measure, rank-ings can encourage countries or higher-education systems to channel money to particular universities and to channel

resources into specific fields,” said Bren-dan Cantwell, an assistant professor of educational administration at Michigan State University and the paper’s lead author.

Mr. Cantwell and his co-author, Barrett Taylor, an assistant professor of counseling

Research journal Minerva says that rankings may encourage selective flow of resources to limited institutions and fields By Karin FiScher

Rise of International Rankings May Heighten Inequalities Between and Within Institutions

and higher education at the University of North Texas, examined data over a six-year period, 2003 to 2008, for American univer-sities that are designated as research inten-sive by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and for which data were available.

Rankings may influence policy makers to direct money to a small number of select research institutions competing for “world class” status and, within those universities, disproportionately to programs in science and technology

THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE


Using regression analysis, they identi-fied a handful of variables that predicted whether a university placed highly on the Shanghai ranking or whether it was unranked. Among the factors that signifi-cantly predicted a higher score on the Shanghai rankings: the amount of federal research dollars an institution received and the share of its doctorates awarded in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Wealthier private universities were also more likely to be top ranked than their public counterparts.

These distinctions may be self-reinforc-

ing, in that governments and other research-supporting organizations often reward institutions that do well on such measures by directing additional resources to them, widening the gap between these universities and the rest.

Rankings, Mr. Cantwell and Mr. Taylor write, “encourage competition along the lines that are measured by them and tacitly discourage activities not valorized by these metrics.”

However, Mr. Cantwell was quick to add that their model does not prove causality. That is, it’s not possible to say definitively that if an extra $10-million is spent on a

By

pH

Ot

Os

.CO

M

university, or if it increases its number of Ph.D.’s in the STEM disciplines, it will rise a certain number of positions on the Shanghai ranking. After all, the rankings have a finite number of spots, Mr. Cantwell noted, so, mathematically, “not every uni-versity can move up two places.”

Even so, that has not stopped countries and institutions from spending more in an effort to climb the rankings tables. Coun-tries as varied as China and Germany have undertaken plans to improve the quality of certain designated universities and have invested more in science and technology. Earlier this month, the Japanese govern-ment said that over the next decade, it would spend about $100-million apiece each year to help 10 of its universities break into the top 100.

In fact, the United States is somewhat unusual in that it has no systemic effort to improve the international standing of its universities and because universities here have historically paid greater attention to domestic rankings, like those compiled by U.S. News & World Report, than global ones. Nonetheless, Mr. Cantwell said fed-eral policy does acknowledge the impor-tance of global academic competition, such as in President Obama’s pledge to increase spending on university research.

Mr. Cantwell said it also was appropriate to focus on American universities in this study because institutions from this coun-try dominate global rankings—indeed, the American research university largely is the model embraced by international rankers. On a practical level, limiting the analysis to a single country ensured that the research-ers had access to comparable and extensive data for many institutions.

all for the race: Countries as varied as China and Germany have undertaken plans to improve the quality of certain designated universities and have invested more in science and technology

Subscribe to a free weekly electronic newsletter from the Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/globalnewsletter

Faster HigHer - Fujitsu Global€¦ · Henri Martin Didon, the Principal of a College in France, a...

Documents

Transcript of Faster HigHer - Fujitsu Global€¦ · Henri Martin Didon, the Principal of a College in France, a...