EDU December 2009 Issue by Smita Polite

Volume 01

Issue 02

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A 9.9 Media Publication DECember 2009 www.edu-leaders.com

FOR

Leaders

higher

educ ation

out

of the

NIIT University: Rajendra Pawar on his latest innovation in education P14 dialogue:

Michael gibbons on what makes wharton unique P40

Profile:

L.k. Maheshwari

â&#x20AC;&#x153;destiny makes the best plansâ&#x20AC;? P56

campus:

Going green is the new mantra P44

Contents EDU December 2009 Volume 01 | Issue 02

UPDATES 06 07 08 09

collaboration AT A GLANCE strategy technology knowledge Event regulation voices awarded

viewpoints

10 Dheeraj Sanghi Engineering curriculum should aim for long-term benefits 12 Ganesh Natarajan Industry and academia partnerships need to be structured and formalised 54 Rishikesha T. Krishnan Terman’s strategic moves to change Stanford’s trajectory are worth emulating

PROFILE

56 L.K. Maheshwari He believes that God makes the best plans By Smita Polite

TECHNOLOGY

Cover Story

At one time, I had toyed with the idea of joining as the CEO of the (Birla) sugar businesses”

30 Computers Institutions need to plan well, in order to save costs from the recurring purchase of PCs and Laptops By Pragya Madan

Edu Tech December 2009

By Chitra Narayanan attract quality professionals to administer and run institutions By Adite Banerjie & Prakash Nanda

Case Study

38 Networking PEC University of Technology sets up a wireless mesh network for secure wireless connectivity

Campus

44 environment Adopting eco-friendly practices is the latest mantra for campuses to be future-ready By Indu Prasad

Administration

34 operations Educational institutions must work towards changing perceptions to

14 groundbreaking gurukul Setting up a private university is no mean feat. NIIT University’s campus experiment is a story filled with learnings from trials and tribulations

academicS

50 Distance learning Adopting distance programmes can increase the revenue

FOR LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

DIALOGuE

26 the Ideas Man

Rajendra Pawar talks about his latest innovation— The NIIT University By Chitra Narayanan

Managing Director: Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha publishing director: Vikas Gupta Printer & Publisher: Kanak Ghosh Group Editor: R Giridhar Consulting Editor: Aman Singh Assistant Editor: Smita Polite editorial advisor: Dr RK Suri international contributor: Vinita Belani DEsign Sr Creative Director: Jayan K Narayanan Art Director: Binesh Sreedharan Associate Art Director: Anil VK Manager Design: Chander Shekhar Sr Visualisers: PC Anoop, Santosh Kushwaha Sr Designers: TR Prasanth & Anil T

Michael Gibbons believes that independence of departments drives Wharton to innovate

salEs & MarkEting VP Sales & Marketing: Naveen Chand Singh Brand Manager: Siddhant Raizada National Manager-Events & Special Projects: Mahantesh Godi National Manager Online: Nitin Walia ( 09811772466) Assistant Brand Manager: Arpita Ganguli Co-ordinator Ad Sales, MIS, Scheduling: Deepak Sharma GM South: Vinodh Kaliappan(09740714817) GM North: Pranav Saran(09312685289) GM West: Sachin N Mhashilkar(09920348755)

and reach of institutions By Nupur Chaturvedi

Production & logistics Sr. GM Operations: Shivshankar M Hiremath Production Executive: Vilas Mhatre Logistics: MP Singh, Mohamed Ansari, Shashi Shekhar Singh

DIALOGuE

40 the Spirit of wharton

By Aman Singh

ADVERTISER INDEX MICROSOFT COVER FLAP

TIMEOUT

SAMSUNG

58 Books Review: n The Opposable Mind New Releases: n Wasted n Understanding Education

IFC & 1

consumer mate

netgear

Tata

35, 39, & 43

communications SoC

IBC

Epson BC

59 Products n Kindle n PaperShow Kit

ISSUE 02

A 9.9 MEDIA PUBLICATION DECEMBER 2009 WWW.EDU-LEADERS.COM

for

lEaDErs

HigHEr

EDuc ation

OuT

OF THE

VOLUME 01 | ISSUE 02

NIIT University: Rajendra Pawar on his latest innovation in education P14 DIalogUe:

MicHaEl giBBons on WHat MakEs WHarton uniQuE P40

ProFIle:

l.k. MaHEsHWari

“DEstinY MakEs tHE BEst Plans” P56

caMPUS:

going grEEn is tHE nEW

Mantra P44

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FOR LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

60 N.K. Uberoi Business education has to be reoriented for social good

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PERSPECTIVE

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December 2009 Edu Tech

FOREWORD Creating the “nextpractice”

“We are privileged to share with you an approach and thinking that could very well become a model for highquality Indian higher education”

t was almost 20 years ago that Rajendra Pawar first thought about building a university. But regulations and unforeseen hurdles kept getting in the way. Moreover, he had high aspirations and didn’t want to cut corners. His patience has finally paid off— NIIT University (NU) was officially launched on November 15, 2009. Along the way, Raji and the NIIT leadership used the time to gather a high-quality group of advisors and mentors to translate their audacious vision to reality. The story of their patient and inspiring journey is the subject of our cover feature this month. NU is not just another university. It is a bold new experiment that aims to address the gaps in our current ways of teaching and learning, and also prepare our youth for the challenges of the future. We are privileged to share with you an approach and thinking that could very well become a model for high-quality Indian higher education. Indeed, we are also excited that this is the first story in EDU’s mission to chronicle the successes and frustrations of our higher education leaders as they build India’s institutions for the future. We are overwhelmed by your response to our launch issue. Thank you for your positive comments and encouragement. The one concern we have heard frequently is whether we can sustain the quality of our launch issue going forward. We appreciate your concern and acknowledge the need and effort required to sustain and maintain EDU’s standard. We can only assure you that we will not let you down. Hopefully, this second issue will build some confidence in our abilities! We have a great set of writers and contributors and with continued feedback and support from you, our readers, we are confident of fulfilling your expectations. But, please do continue to push us with your criticisms and suggestions. We would like EDU to reach as many higher education leaders as possible. Do spread the word about us and feel free to email us contact details of colleagues and friends who you think should receive the magazine. Our website http://www.edu-leaders.com is also active. Please send us your updates for our daily coverage online. Soon, we will be launching our e-newsletters as well. Best wishes for a wonderful New Year ahead— 2010 promises to be a critical year for Indian higher education if our HRD Minister’s pronouncements are anything to go by!

Dr Pramath Raj Sinha editor@edu-leaders.com

Edu Tech December 2009

letters

November 2009

EDU looks great! Congratulations on putting out such an important and high quality magazine. It’s very impressive indeed. All the best.

Varun Soni Dean of Religious Life University of Southern California

EDU was needed. I have just had the opportunity to go through the introductory issue of EDU and I wanted to write to you to congratulate you on this wonderful publication. This magazine is surely needed in the Indian Higher Education scenario. I wish you all the best in the endeavour. With warm regards,

EDU values your feedback. We want to know what you think about the magazine and ways and means to make it a better read for you. Our endeavour continues to be a work in progress and your comments will go a long way in making EDU the preferred publication of the Education Community.

Send your comments, compliments, complaints or questions about the magazine to editor@edu-leaders.com

Rahul Choudaha Associate Director World Education Services New York

Dr Giri Dua Chairman & Managing Director TASMAC (Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communications Ltd.) Pune Campus and Head Office

Congratulations on putting together a world-class magazine! WRITE TO US

zine and I must say it is an excellent work. It definitely addresses the needs of higher education professionals. Congratulations and best wishes! Best Regards,

I really like the format as well as the objectives that you have set for yourselves - specifically the one of connecting theory to practice and showcasing successful projects. Indian education (like most other public institutions) is largely driven by “precedences” and showcasing successful pilots/ programs will help unshackle mindsets! Warm Regards

Madan Padaki Co-Founder & CEO MeritTrac Services Pvt.Ltd

Excellent Work. I reviewed the online version of the maga-

Impressive. EDU looks great! Congratulations on put-

ting out such an important and high quality magazine. It’s very impressive indeed. All the best

Varun Soni Dean of Religious Life University of Southern California

Search has ended. The search for a magazine with high quality on higher education has ended with EDU. The articles, interviews, notes and even ads are noteworthy and informative. Since our country has to focus a lot on higher education to meet its developmental requirements, a magazine with high quality of this kind is the need of the hour. Expecting more enlightening articles from you.

Rasheed Ampazhathinal Principal M E S College Nedumkandom. Idukki (DT), Kerala December 2009 Edu Tech

at a glance 07 Strategy 07 Technology 08 knowledge 08 event

0 9 VO I CE S 0 9 r e g u l at i o n

09 Awarded & More

Union Human Resource Development Minister, speaking at the FICCI Higher Education Summit

collaboration

“US Visit Was A Success”– Sibal On his recent visit to the US, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal found that American universities are keen to partner with India

peaking at the FICCI higher education summit, where US was the partner country, Union Human Resources Development Minister, Kapil Sibal said that on his recent trip to the US, he found that the American universities were looking forward to the possibility of opening up of the education sector in India. A delegation led by the Minister, had gone to the US in early November to meet policymakers and academicians of leading US universities like Harvard, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sibal also revealed that a taskforce was being set up, to take the MIT dialogue forward. However, other types of collaboration would take shape only once the Foreign Education Provider’s bill was passed. Some universities like Yale, which represented US at the FICCI summit, are still in talks with the minister, and are very keen to enter into partnerships. Sibal also said that the government is keen to introduce the bill in parliament.

Edu Tech December 2009

Animal Welfare Amity Institute of Training and Development (AITD) Noida, in association with the National Institute of Animal Welfare, will conduct programmes to spread awareness on Animal Welfare among concerned organisations, professionals, scientists, veterinary doctors and students. The programme will be held over the next one year and its duration shall be of one to four weeks. Twenty-two training programmes spread over forty weeks will be conducted at National Institute of Animal Welfare, Ballabhgarh. The major subjects that will be covered during the course will include Animal Welfare and Rights, under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, Animal Birth Control and Immunisation, Human Animal Relationship, and statutory provisions with particular reference to animal ethics and experiments on animals.

VIT Gets ABET VIT University, Vellore recently got accreditation through the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). It is the first university in India to get ABET accreditation. In the first phase of the accreditation process, two of its programmes, BTech in Mechanical Engineering and BTech in Civil Engineering have got the highest grade “Next General Review”. The accreditation is awarded retroactively from 1st October 2007. It is valid for six years till 30th September 2015. VIT is planning to apply for ABET accreditation for the other degree programmes in subsequent phases.

NYU Campus in Abu Dhabi NYU Abu Dhabi, the first comprehensive liberal arts campus established by a major U.S. research university, has officially opened the doors to its Downtown Campus. The school’s first batch will arrive in August 2010. Located in the city center of Abu Dhabi, the Downtown Campus will house all major academic and cultural activities, until construction of the residential campus on Saadiyat Island is completed in 2014. Construction of the Saadiyat campus is expected to begin next year.

updates strategy

AIM, Manila to Start a Programme in Pune The Executive Management programme launched by AIM, Manila is for professionals who want to pursue their career while studying

sian Institute of Management (AIM) , Manila has tied up with the education company Edvance Learning, to start an executive management programme in Pune. The one-year course is scheduled to start in February 2010. It will involve 16 weeks of classroom work, and will be conducted at Edvance Learning’s centre in Pune. Dr Grace S. Ugut, associate dean of Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Centre, AIM, said, “The Executive Diploma is part of our flagship one-year courses, and will be delivered entirely by our own faculty which will be flown in from Manila.” The Executive Diploma on Business Management programme is targeted specifically at people with at least three years of supervisory or managerial experience.

It is designed with the intention of enabling organisations to retain their employees while increasing their value for the company. It also benefits the employees as they do not have to interrupt their careers while attending the programme. “AIM enjoys immense respect worldwide as a pioneer institution that has modelled Asia’s business development and entrepreneurial leaders and managers for more than 40 years. The diploma will fulfill a long-standing need of working supervisors and managers to avail of the most contemporary, relevant and empowering management education in India itself, without having to travel abroad.” said Arun Arora, group chairman, Edvance Learning. Edvance Group was set up by Arun Arora, former President of the Times of

technology

Oracle’s CRM Solution for Higher Education Business software company, Oracle recently launched its PeopleSoft Enterprise Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 9.1 for higher education. According to a company release, this product has new and enhanced capabilities to help manage the various relationships of higher education institutions. This new product combines Oracle’s enterprise CRM system with higher education-specific functionality to provide institutions with tools to establish contact, generate interest and strengthen relationships. “Even as the number of returning students and lifelong learners grows, global competition for

600

million is being cut back from UK’s higher education and science and research budgets

AIM’ Manila’s one-year executive management programme at Pune will be conducted at Edvance Learning Centre

India Group to address the gaps in education and training. The group currently has interests in early childhood education through its vertical Edvance Pre-Schools comprising Vivero International and Serra International. It also works in training and skill development of professionals.

students has also increased, making the recruiting and retention of students all the more important. Oracle has designed this product to help institutions meet those challenges by delivering a 360-degree view of the constituent throughout the entire lifecycle, all through solid, out-of-the-box integration with PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions,” said Curtiss Barnes, vice president, Industry Strategy, Oracle Higher Education. “It can be challenging to provide academic support in a large, decentralised campus with a burgeoning student population. We expect that using PeopleSoft Enterprise CRM for Higher Education 9.1 will assist Ryerson University to provide a virtual one-stop academic support solution that will reduce the anxiety, frustration and stress levels of students,” said Ryerson University Associate University Registrar, Ken Scullion.

Global Update

25%

of UK’s higher education funding goes to student support, so cuts will increase tuition fees December 2009 Edu Tech

Updates knowledge

Conference On Digital Libraries

TERI and IGNOU are coming together to host an international conference that will explore the future of information dissemination The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in partnership with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is organising the third Intern a t i o n a l Co n f e r e n c e o n “ D i g i t a l Libraries” from February 23 to 26, 2010. The theme for the conference is “Shaping the Information Paradigm.” The conference will also focus on webbased methodologies in teaching and learning, multimedia content, digital library standards, knowledge management, copyright and digital rights management . Digital libraries are increasingly playing a vital role in business, research and education, and facilitating ‘anytime, anywhere access’ to knowledge resources. They are emerging as a crucial component of global information infrastructure

and resources that bring the physical library and information resources to users in digital form. The Embassies of Austria and the Netherlands, and renowned organisations such as Goethe Institute, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Indian National Science Academy, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, are lending support to the conference. Around 46 international luminaries from the field of digital library sciences, are expected to share their views on themes related to disseminating information in the digital age. For more details on the conference and participation please visit— www.teriin.org/events/icdl.

event

IGNOU Celebrates Silver Jubilee The university launched several new initiatives to mark the completion of 25 years in education On November 19, Indira Gandhi National Open University, completed 25 years. To commemorate the Silver Jubilee, President Pratibha Patil announced the institution of “Rajiv Gandhi International Prize for Education and Technology,” by IGNOU . The prize will be given to an individual or institution that has made significant contributions to educational technology, in the developing world. The award will be decided by an international jury and will also comprise a cash prize of Rs. 500,000. The award ceremony will be held on the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, every year. The occasion also marked the inauguration of several initiatives like the launch of the Flexible-Learning Platform, the new Gyan Vani stations in IGNOU regional centres of

Edu Tech December 2009

Xxxxx Minister Manmohan Singh is focused on making India a knowledge powerhouse

Cochin, Cuttack , Pune and Tirunavelli, and the launch of Gyandeep, the IGNOUIndian Army Community College scheme. The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, also released a calendar of IGNOU events for the Silver Jubilee year. The Flexi-learning platform will provide open access to IGNOU Programmes. It will give prospective learners access to IGNOU learning materials. Under Gyandeep, 47 Regimental Army Centres have already been registered as Army Community colleges in the country. Speaking about some other initiatives, Professor and Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said, “IGNOU is instituting ISRO Chair for Satellite Education, Raman Chair for Science Education. On the anvil are also several international initiatives for rural development.”

updates regulation

Accreditation Might Become Mandatory A proposed law could make it mandatory for all education institutes to get accreditation from NAAC

ccreditation is to be made mandatory for all institutes of higher education regardless of whether they get government grants. “The law has been drafted and we are engaged in inter-ministerial discussions. We will soon bring it before the cabinet and hope to introduce it in the Budget Session of parliament (beginning February 2010),” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said dur-

ing question hour in Rajya Sabha. Once the law comes into effect, all institutions of higher learning, regardless of whether they award degrees, diplomas or other certificates, and regardless of whether they receive aid from the University Grants Commission (UGC), will have to get themselves registered with the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), the Minister said.

awarded

Professor Decodes Prime Number Puzzle

Voices “Building a world-class university is far more than a construction project. It is building of a community of knowledge, far more than building a campus.” —Richard C. Levin President, Yale University

“Today 220 million children are able to go to school and out of them only 26 million reach college, which is just 12%. Our aim in the nearest future is to bring this percentage to 30%. Today is the time that can be a good starting point for India.” — Kapil Sibal Union Human Resources Development Minister

IIT Kanpur professor has been awarded for devising the fastest algorithm for detecting prime numbers

orty-three year old Dr Manindra Agarwal was recently conferred the 2009 G.D. Birla Award for scientific research for his work on algorithms.“I feel honored to receive the award as it is one of the most prestigious awards in the country for science,” said Agarwal. The award honours scientific accomplishments of Indian scientists, and carries a cash prize of Rs 150 000. Agarwal has been credited with designing the first polynomial time algorithm for determining the primality of even large numbers. Several mathematicians, including Gauss, have looked for an efficient system of determining an algorithm in polynomial time, that was always correct. Agarwal, who is the N. Rama Rao chair professor of the department of computer science and engineering at IIT Kanpur, worked first with Somenath Biswas in 1999 and then with two students in 2002 to arrive at the algorithm.

“Higher education in the country should be made accessible, affordable and of quality, as it is the need of the hour.” — H.S. Ballal Pro Chancellor, Manipal University

“The importance of good teachers cannot be overemphasised. Good teachers not only educate, they also inspire. Good teachers make good students. Good teachers make good citizens. We must therefore find ways and means of improving the quality of our teachers.” —Manmohan Singh Prime Minister, India

December 2009 Edu Tech

Viewpoint

Dheeraj Sanghi

Curriculum Design for Engineering

n my previous column, we looked at issues related to curriculum design for university programmes. Some of the suggestions were hard to implement, considering the typical process by which the curriculum gets decided. This time, we will look at engineering disciplines and discuss the process that has been successfully used at the Laxmi Narayan Mittal Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT) to redesign the curriculum. The main problem in designing curriculum, is that it tends to get bloated. This overloads students and faculty, and brings down the quality of education. The strategy that was adopted at LNMIT, was to divide the task into steps, and to involve different sets of people in each step.

Decide the Goals The curriculum will often depend on the mission of the university. The first step is to decide the goals of an undergraduate programme. Is the university preparing students for immediate absorption in core industry? Does it want its students to go for higher technical education, and eventually get into academics research, or at least very high-end technical careers? Or, does it expect them to also opt for careers which may not need a strong engineering background like management, finance, and administrative services? It may be possible to have several different programmes, for different goals. At this juncture, one should also decide any special distinguishing feature

Edu Tech December 2009

of the university. For instance, some universities may want all its students to be ready for the Information Technology (IT) revolution, and even nonIT students will be exposed to more IT content than what is the norm. In such cases, they must not only have additional IT courses, but should also weave IT into courses of all disciplines. Similarly, if a university wants students to be aware of their surroundings and the society, it should make mini-projects involving problems faced by people in their neighbourhood compulsory in regular courses. If the goal is to prepare students for immediate absorption in industry, then it might be a good idea to have industry exposure as a compulsory component of the curriculumâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; not just a short internship in the summer, which is largely a waste of time for both students and industry, but perhaps a one-semester project in the industry (like the Practice School of BITS Pilani). If the goal is to prepare them for academics or research career, the final year project must have substantial credits, and it must be directed towards gaining a research experience.

Determine Importance of Components Once the overall goal is decided, the next step should be to divide the curriculum into various components and decide the percentage for each. For an engineering discipline, the components

Dheeraj Sanghi

could be basic sciences (physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology), humanities, social sciences, and soft skills (economics, sociology, psychology, literature, arts, communication, etc), engineering sciences and technical arts (computing, basic electronics, workshop, engineering drawing, thermodynamics, etc), discipline courses (courses in the specific discipline in which the degree is to be granted), and open electives. While each component would have compulsory and elective courses, it is good to have a few open elective credits so that students can do different elective credits of a particular component.

Select Number of Credits Once the relative importance of each component has been decided, an independent group should look at the number of credits (or courses) a student should be doing. As we have discussed previously, in a semester system, five courses of 40-lecture duration (or equivalent credits through labs, short courses, etc) appear to be a fine balance. If all these steps have been systematically followed then none of the departments should have

Viewpoint

engineering student that a lot can be learnt about engineering design from biological systems, and biology related problems could be solved through an engineering approach. In terms of engineering science and technical arts courses, the main challenge is to fit in the new (computer programming, digital electronics and IT workshop) and stay with the traditional (thermodynamics, material science, fluid mechanics, mechanical workshop, etc).

Aim for Long-Term Benefits One has to realise that everything cannot be learnt and taught during the time the student spends in the university. Thus, a larger set of courses should be short listed and some of them should be chosen for each discipline. Humanities (social sciences and soft skills) should include courses that help students in the long-term and not just to get their first job. It is also important for students to understand basics of sociology, economics and ethics. When it comes to allowing students to choose a discipline, one should not look at what is useful,

ne has to realise that everything cannot be learnt and taught during the time the student spends in the university

any issues regarding the credits granted to their individual components. Now let us look at each component separately. When it comes to basic sciences, the 20th century engineering was largely based on mathematics and physics. But 21st century engineering seems to be borrowing a lot from chemistry and biology, and is indeed blurring the distinction between natural sciences. While chemistry has been a compulsory part of the curriculum of most engineering colleges in India, people are still reluctant to embrace biology. To overcome this reluctance, the concept of â&#x20AC;&#x153;flexible creditsâ&#x20AC;? could be of help. One could design a 20-lecture (half ) course for biology to begin with, and review it after a couple of years. What is extremely important here is that the courses on biology should not be the same as what they teach a science student in a traditional university. It should be designed to show to an

but what is critically important to that discipline. For instance in computer science, data structures and algorithms are absolutely critical, but heavens are not going to fall if some students graduate without a course in databases. In most disciplines, there are professional societies who have done a lot of work on curriculum, and their recommendations could be useful. Once all the courses have been designed, one must carefully decide the pre-requisites for each course. A course should be a pre-requisite only if there is substantial part of the course that is assumed while teaching the second course. Finally, the courses need to be placed in different semesters. It is recommended that except for the first year compulsory courses, the university allows students to complete courses in any order. A curriculum designed in this way can help the students plan and personalise programmes to suit their interests and needs.

Dheeraj Sanghi Dr Sanghi is the director of Laxmi Narayan Mittal Institute of Information Technology, Jaipur. He is currently on leave from IIT Kanpur, where he is a professor of computer science. He has a BTech in computer science from IIT Kanpur and an MS and PhD from University of Maryland, USA

December 2009 Edu Tech

Viewpoint

Ganesh Natarajan

Industry-Academia Collaborations

ndia has one of the largest and most complex higher education systems in the world. There is a distinct social preference for higher education and professional educationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; driven, of course, by the myriad opportunities in the job market. While students are willing to pay for education, there is a considerable gap between the quality of students graduating and the kind of talent that industry needs. As businesses propose to double and treble their workforce and Indian companies strive to maintain their position in the global marketplace, it has become imperative to prepare and plan for a world-class, skilled, competent, and innovative workforce. The current state of affairs presents a compelling case for private-public partnership through industry-academia alliances to enhance talent development amongst youth. The common interaction model between academia and industry is that of producer-consumer. This relationship necessitates collaboration as the consumer has to ensure that the output of the producer satisfies the needs to a large extent. Hence, one form of collaboration, which is more in the nature of a feedback loop, is for the industry to provide inputs back to the academic institutions regarding their perception or evaluation of their output. This could be anything from implementing assessment mechanisms for

Edu Tech December 2009

educational institutes from the industry perspective, to actual participation in the form of seminars or conferences. Unfortunately, this rather obvious kind of interaction does not occur in a structured manner, due to the scarcity of suitable forums and platforms. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has now started addressing the need to foster industry-academia collaboration by structuring the alliance areas between industry and academic institutions. These can be broadly categorised into four areas.

Joint Research Product

Though the goal of research is to create new knowledge, research in a company is typically not a business or a profit center, but a long term investment, which helps a company generate more revenue and profits. A technology player, whose business depends on pushing technology advances, needs research simply to develop new technologies that it can then use to bring out newer products in the market place. Academic institutions have both, basic as well as applied research, and here there is a convergence of interests. Joint research programs would ensure that the best of the latest research findings can be used by the academia, and the industry would benefit from skilled academicians contributing to the research.

Ganesh Natarajan

Faculty Upgradation

Faculty members in academic institutions need to update their knowledge on a regular basis so that they can impart relevant and useful teaching to students. They should be aware of the happenings and the trends prevalent in the industry. Only if the faculty members keep themselves abreast of the latest happenings and the ever-changing demands of a dynamic world, will they be able to contribute to the creation of an enterprising workforce. There is a strong need for periodic sabbaticals for faculty members where they update their knowledge and skills, preferably in an industry environment. This type of partnership will also ensure reduction in the skill-gap.

Centres of Excellence

Centres of Excellence for graduating students in their last semesters would make the students industry-ready and would also save the industry a significant amount of on-the-job training. Products of these finishing schools would blend into the industry environment very rapidly, and become productive faster. These finishing schools would provide all the appropriate additional training which would make graduates completely industry-ready.

Viewpoint

ICT in Higher Education

The woeful lack of technology in the academic processes and pedagogies of colleges and universities in India has led to an overwhelming dependence on the capability and sincerity of the faculty member for the success of any educational system. The use of technology in a blended learning format of education, can shift the responsibility for delivering pre requisite reinforcement and remedial learning from the teacher to a good content management and dissemination system. Teachers can become facilitators of learning rather than teaching all the time. In addition to reorienting the mind-set towards learning, technology can also completely automate the Enquiry-to-Alumni cycle within academic institutions, and ensure that the enormous administrative workload that takes time away from learning and research for faculty members is handled by technology. Additional collaboration methods are also being formulated and discussed by industry associations and academic bodies. The results are already evident in many states, and CII and private sector experiments in states as diverse as Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam are likely to herald an era of true transformation in higher education in our country.

Ganesh Natarajan Dr Natarajan is vice chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies. He is an MBA from Harvard Business school and also has a PhD in Knowledge Management from IIT Bombay. The column has been co-authored by Jui Mehendaley who works with Zensar

December 2009 Edu Tech

COVER STORY

Groundbrea

Guruk The not-for-profit NIIT University is a lesson in innovation, a sustainable campus that provides seamless learning and provokes original thinking By Chitra Narayanan

by DR LOHIA

Imaging anoop pc

t looks more like a horticulture experiment in progress than a computer science class. What are BTech students doing digging away at terra-cotta pots with young marigold plants? They have been told to remove the plant from the soil without damaging its fibrous root, and then transplant it into a bigger pot making sure that every last bit of the old soil is removed. Even as the students efficiently complete the task, one boy flatly refuses to comply. He says the plant will die without the old soil. Arun Kapur, the dynamic director of Vasant Valley School, who has set the students this strange task, appears pleased at this contrary response. He promptly instructs all the others to put in a bit of the old soil in their new pots. Edu Tech December 2009

cover story

king

December 2009 Edu Tech

cover story Kapur is taking a session called “Unlearning 101 – Unlocking the World” at the newly opened NIIT University (NU) in Neemrana, Rajasthan. Once the marigold experiment is over, he points out the symbolism of the exercise. The

Be it the campus design and architecture or course curriculum and delivery, its faculty profile or the students admission process, NU has innovated all the way. As NU Founder Rajendra Pawar says, “We were clear that we would not

The Innovative...

...Campus In a challenging landscape has broken many stereotypes. The entire university was built without cutting even a single tree

root of the marigold represents the brain of the students, filled with past experiences and learnings. To chart a new path, they need to shake off the old ways. “But, in the new way, it helps if you take a bit of the old values,” he says. “The ability to unlearn is the most critical skill in the 21st century,” he adds. The session, aimed at re-kindling curiosity, is just one of the unconventional experiments happening at NU. Nestled on the foothills of the Aravalis, in a picturesque but challenging landscape, the university, promoted by NIIT Limited, breaks many stereotypes. Its path breaking cooling system using a network of earth tunnels brings down indoor temperatures in this hot, scorching land to a comfortable 27 degrees, without using airconditioning. For its first vice chancellor, it has consciously chosen a youthful 45-yearold researcher from IBM, eschewing conventional academic graybeards.

Edu Tech December 2009

get constrained by existing concepts.” A walk around the campus, where every brick and blade of grass appears to have a story behind it, shows the enormous detailing and planning that has

“Just the second day into our course, we got a chance to participate in an international research project” —Nishant saini Undergraduate Student, NU

gone into this student-centred and sustainable university. Casting a proud paternal eye on the campus and its surroundings, where the brown hillocks are gradually being transformed into verdant greens, Pawar is already visualising how the place will look a few years from now. “Imagine a cultural programme on a moonlit evening in this place,” he says pointing to the area where using a natural dip in the earth, an open air amphitheatre is taking shape. A water body is also being created close to it by constructing a drain that will capture, and store rain water. Pointing to another stretch of land, Pawar says that it has been left for Incubators. Out of the total 100 acres on which the campus is located, 25 acres are reserved for an incubation centre, where the research by students and faculty will find a business outlet. If Pawar reminds you of a proud father, then 75-year-old Founding Vice Chancellor and Project Director Professor M.P. Kapoor (ex IIT Kanpur) behaves equally like an anxious parent. Unmindful of the fact that he is due for a knee operation, he bustles around the sprawling campus, fussing over little things, making sure that the first batch of students are settling in comfortably. Pawar and Kapoor’s pride and anxiety is understandable— from concept to creation, the campus experiment has been a very long journey. It has been a journey filled with learnings, reflecting the trials and tribulations that a private sector player faces when venturing into this turf in India. Given the challenging cusp at which higher education in India is at today, where there is raging discontent over the one-size-fits-all model of curricula and syllabi, and demands for radical changes, the NU story of innovating within the regulatory constraints of the system, is a fascinating one.

The Mind at the Centre As Pawar points out, most universities in the country today are products of the industrial era. In the Industrial society, machines were the focal point, and the

cover story accent was on systems and processes, on defined boundaries and limits. With educational institutions running in this automated mode, only a small proportion of the millions of students graduating out of the system are employable. The NU scheme of education is radically different. Based in the postindustrial knowledge era, the focus here is entirely on the human mind. “The leaders of tomorrow will be the ones who can harness the potential of the mind, and deal in ideas and emotions with equal ease,” says Pawar. Thus, at NU, the intent from the beginning has been to create a campus that would spawn ideas and original thinking. To make learning researchdriven is one of the four principles (see Box ‘The Four Core Principles’) of the university, but as Pawar points out, “You don’t need billion dollar labs to do research, since thought experiments can once again happen under a tree in this century of the mind.” Of course, there are state-of-the-art classrooms and cutting-edge technology connecting the students to the world. At the Wi-Fi enabled campus, the students are equipped with all the gadgets and gizmos essential to 21st century living and learning. But these are external accessories, and the faculty’s full focus is on seeding new ideas, thoughts and feelings into the students. Clearly, the excitement and passion flowing from the

The Mobius ring and the motto As you round a curve and approach the NU buildings, a sculpture of the Mobius ring, proudly greets you from its perch on a hillock. This is the emblem of the university. There is deep-rooted symbolism to the emblem, which connotes eternity as well as unity. The sides of a Mobius ring merge in and out, back and forth to create the most graceful, seamless and complete structure imaginable to the human mind. The ring is engraved with Anadi-Anant, the motto of the University chosen by the first Chairperson of the University Dr Karan Singh, MP, noted scholar and philosopher and former cabinet minister. It is an ancient Indian concept implying that the Universe is eternal – without beginning and without end. The significance is that the knowledge that NIIT University will create and impart will be the foundation for multifaceted careers, endless in their potential. Capturing the free-flowing, flexible and limitless nature of the learning process, the spirit of the emblem and the motto seems to exhort the learner - “Learn What You Want, How You Want, Where and When You Want, But Learn You Must!” teachers to students is infectious. As Nishant Saini, an undergraduate at the institute, excitedly says, “Just the second day into our course, we got a chance to participate in an international research project!” He is referring to behavioural scientist Dr Ritu Dangwal’s Hole-in-the-Wall experiment in the neighbouring village, in which the BTech students have been asked to help out. Even computer science students are exposed to botany, history, culture, arts, anthropology, music— the accent is on holistic learning. There are no compartments, the learning is free flowing and seamless, living up to the university’s

“At that time, we were talking of creating something truly world class, but in a broader sphere of work” —Kiran Karnik Former President, NASSCOM

motto of Anadi Anant (without beginning or end), a motto that was chosen by Chancellor Karan Singh. Ultimately, as Pawar points out, “this model of learning is not just about creating engineers or scientists but about helping students uncover their true potential, and equiping them to maximise their contribution to society.”

Laying the Foundations While the university started taking shape only in 2005, the dream began as far back as the early 1990s. As Pawar recalls, the germ of the idea can be traced to the time Professor C.R. Mitra got associated with NIIT. The former BITS Pilani director, known for his educational innovations helped create the Higher Education wing in NIIT. Through the late 90s, Pawar along with NIIT co-founder Vijay Thadani held many intense brainstorming sessions in Delhi with a vast range of intellectuals, academics and government officials including the likes of Professor Amrik Singh and Professor Arun Nigavekar of UGC. But it was only in 2002, that NIIT gave a serious turn to these talks, by creating the first advisory board that comprised well known academicians, professionals and scientists. The board had luminaries like Professor December 2009 Edu Tech

cover story P. V. Indiresan, former director of IIT Madras, the late Professor C. S. Jha, former director of IIT Kharagpur, Dr Kiran Karnik, then president, NASSCOM, Professor R.C. Malhotra, former director of IIT Kanpur, Dr R.A. Mashelkar, then

unfortunately we have failed to do so. At NIIT University we emphasised on bridging the gap.” Soon Kapoor, who had managed to propel Thapar University into one of the top 25 institutions in the country after a

The students are...

...encouraged to be curious and sensitive. The latest facilities are just accessories to aid in learning. Innovation happens from within

director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Professor Ashok Misra, who later became director of IIT Mumbai, Professor J. R. Isaac of IIT Mumbai and Professor M.P. Kapoor, former vice chancellor of Thapar University. Recalling those intense talks, Karnik says, “At that time, we were talking of creating something truly world class, but in a broader sphere of work. The IITs spell quality in engineering education, but we wanted to emulate that range of quality in a broader range of disciplines.” Adds Mashelkar, “The emphasis right from the beginning was to promote innovation and take a concept and idea to commercialisation so that wealth can be created.” He points out, “In India, unfortunately, there is disconnect between Saraswati and Laxmi… in the advanced world they have found the link, that it is knowledge that creates wealth,

Edu Tech December 2009

long stint at IIT Kanpur, got the onerous task of getting the NU project moving. In November 2005, he joined full time, taking up responsibility as project director to get the university on the road. In his task, he was assisted by Dr Parimal Mandke, leader of the higher education wing of NIIT, and earlier Dean at BITS Pilani, and eminent biotech researcher Professor Sunil Khanna.

The Learning Curve Despite a marquee advisory board, it was a tough going for a corporate group— even one with a 25-year history of education delivery—to venture into the formal higher education domain. Privatisation was a taboo word for most people in government education circles. While a few states had passed bills to allow private universities, the Centre’s stand on the issue remained clouded. As Kapoor recounts, there were two

paths open to NIIT— either go the central university route, by applying for a deemed university status, or opt for state university route. Initially, everyone was keen on going the central university route, especially since in 2001, the “de novo” clause had been introduced by UGC to benefit exceptional new institutes (in those days deemed universities could be granted only to institutions older than 25 years). But even as the “de novo” path was being explored, a fortuitous chance offer came from Rajasthan, where Pawar was an advisor. At a meeting with state government officials, he had suggested that they should make the Delhi-Jaipur highway India’s Route 128 (the Massachusetts beltway that is the first home to hi-tech with schools like Harvard and MIT, and big industries on it), and create a similar knowledge corridor on it. The state government promptly invited him to do his bit, and the idea of setting up a university in Neemrana, about half way between Delhi and Jaipur was born. However, those were agonising days— of waiting for files to move, of delays, of bureaucratic regulations and inordinate

“In India, unfortunately, there is disconnect between Saraswati and Laxmi… ” —R. A. Mashelkar Former Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

cover story amounts of paperwork, particularly during the phase of planning a university through the central government route. This path was later set aside in favour of setting up a university via the Rajasthan state government route. But, in hindsight, it was also a great learning experience. Call it also a test of patience and contingency planning— tests that the NIIT team scaled successfully. “Even when I would be getting disheartened, not once did I see Rajendra Pawar’s or Vijay Thadani’s (NIIT CEO) motivation flag,” says Kapoor.

Building for the Future The years spent waiting for approvals were not idly spent— ever since the acquisition of the Neemrana land, the NU team was busy creating the concept, getting the architectural team in place, working on the masterplan (see “A taste of the future in a medieval setting”) and launching a search for faculty. In April 2008, the formal Bhoomi Pujan was done at Neemrana. As if to make up for all the delays before, the actual construction happened in record time to meet the target of September 2009 opening. The university’s construction is planned over several phases, and the size and extent of these will depend on the speed of growth of student numbers and resource availability. The first phase that is currently being created at a cost of Rs 1 billion is also divided into three sub-phases. At the end of this, a capacity of 1000 students will be created. Over the next decade, the total capacity envisaged is around 7,500 students mainly keeping the water availability in mind. A total investment of Rs 10 billion is estimated for the university.

Innovating at Every Step On paper, NU may offer what appear conventional subjects like BTech in Computer Science and Bioinformatics, MTech in Computer Science, but the course content and curriculum is out of the ordinary. As Pawar sees it, the campus and its surroundings are a living experiment zone— the students could be set projects on the cooling system, the

The four core principles During the planning stages, when the idea of the university was taking shape in the minds of its founders, several aims and objectives were discussed. Finally, after much thought, consensus was reached that the university would be founded on four core principles, where learning would be industrylinked, technology- based, research-driven and seamless. Industry-linked: To ensure that curriculum always stays relevant and current, visiting faculty from industry will constantly be interacting with students at the campus. More importantly, an Incubation Centre is planned to be set up so that R&D projects can find commercial application and patenting, licensing and technology transfer become easy. Technology-based: From the admission process (where interviews were conducted long distance over webcam and other digital media) to content development and teaching-learning pedagogies, NU is ahead of the curve in its use of technology. Every student has a new-generation notebook and there are extensive computing facilities all across the campus. Synchronous learning technology will bring students in every classroom face-toface with professors and industry leaders from across the world. Research-driven: It all begins with the strong desire to revive the abundant natural curiosity lying dormant among students. The focus is on training the mind to take a fresh look at and solve any problem. Every student, irrespective of discipline, will be given hands-on experience applying research methodology to a variety of problems. Seamless: Just as today’s globalised world encourages mobility, students here are given occupational, spatial and temporal freedom. Seamlessness is about maximizing students’ choices and ensuring that they receive all-round holistic education with no artificial constraints. An example of the seamlessness is that an MTech student majoring in Educational Technology would be encouraged to enroll for elective in apparently unrelated subjects – entrepreneurship, managerial economics, bioinformatics or history.

hydrology of the area, the illegal mining activity taking place. For the first batch of students who have enrolled for the BTech and MTech courses at the University, each new day on campus brings new surprises. For instance, on a Saturday, a sudden breakout session on the Aravalis is planned, with the students trekking up a hill and camping overnight. For the NU faculty, the curriculum is not just a rule book for a particular course. It is the sum total of measures undertaken to develop responsible and caring individuals for a future of lifelong learning. Apart from the conventional computer science course, NU is also offering a pioneering new programme— an MTech and PhD in Educational Technology, among the first such degree courses in the country. Much of the course content for this originated in the

1990’s in NIIT’s incubation lab— the Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems (CRCS)— which was then located at the IIT Delhi campus. Currently all students who have enrolled for MTech in Educational Technology have been sponsored by their companies— these include employees of Wipro, NIIT, Liqvid and Knowledge Platform. Professor Vijay Mandke, who is leading the area, feels that Educational Technology has immense application in every sphere of business. As he says, it can teach people how to retail better, how to make better movies. It is about learning how to learn, analysing the impediments to growth, and communicating effectively and adapting fast to change. Says Vijay Mandke, “Look at the wireless business, where technology is changing every six months— educational technology prepares you for the mobility of content,” he says. December 2009 Edu Tech

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Launching Seamless Education The mind and heart came together as NIIT University (NU) was formally launched on Sunday, November 15, 2009. Karan Singh, Chancellor of NU, was the Chief Guest. And as Vijay Thadani, cofounder of NIIT University, so eloquently put it, I will boast one day when an NU student wins a Nobel that I was there! Rajendra Pawar, Chairman of NIIT Ltd. and the founding force behind NU, spoke from the mind when he talked about the genesis of the idea and how he was inspired by the likes of the late Professor C.R. Mitra, Professor Indiresan, and Professor R.C. Malhotra to create a distinctive instiDr Karan Singh tution. At every step of the way and Chancellor, NIIT University despite all odds, the NIIT Group’s attempt is to create an institution that is innovative, different and relevant. But Raji, as he is popularly known, really spoke from the heart when he talked about seamless learning (one of the four core principles of NU— see box). While he expects newly minted Vice Chancellor Rajiv Shorey

If Vijay Mandke’s passion for his subject comes through in a single session, then it’s similar for the Bio-informatics or Computer Science professors, each one handpicked due to their “demonstrated love of their subject” more than anything else. To ensure quality teaching, innovations like mentoring, area leaders (See Interview with Pawar) are being tried. Unlike most institutions that offer more undergraduate courses, NU has chosen to focus more on the higher end of the spectrum. In fact, Karnik points out that during initial deliberations, the concept was of a research-oriented university, partly to address the need gap and partly to differentiate from NIIT Limited which imparts skills-oriented learning. “However, many people, including me, thought that although the idea of a research university is good, you still need an undergrad course as well.” So now, NU offers PhDs in Computer Science & Engineering, Educational Technology, and Bioinformatics & Biotechnology. MTech courses are open in

Edu Tech December 2009

to bring the other three principles (industry-linked, technologybased, research-driven learning) to life at NU, he is really looking to learn from his Chancellor Dr Karan Singh, how seamless learning should be realised at NU. And did Dr Singh show the way! His speech was inspiring, intelligent, relevant and witty. Interspersed with Vedic shlokas, recitations from the Gita, and some great jokes, he likened the four principles of NU to the Four Pillars of Education described in Learning: the Treasure Within, the report (http://www.unesco.org/delors/index.html) to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century of which Dr Singh was a member. He explained each of the pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and the most important of them all, learning to be. It was this fourth pillar, Dr Singh argued, that was about seamlessness, about bringing together the heart and mind, about developing the whole person that NU will focus on. The event was attended by several members of NU’s Boards of Management and Advisors. It was heartening to see a great gathering of academics, researchers and academic administrators, suggesting tremendous support for this innovative new university and also the high expectations everyone has from it. —Pramath Raj Sinha

Computer Science & Engineering and Educational Technology, while at the undergraduate level, currently there is only Computer Science & Engineering — though there will be more subjects available in the coming years. Going forward, for Pawar, there is no limit as far as the university’s growth is

“It is about learning all kinds of things 24/7 , even as you maintain the focus on studies” —Rajendra Pawar Founder, NIIT University

concerned. Right now it might have a technology bias, but this will change. “We will be offering courses in liberal arts, in anthropology, in psychology…,” he says. Perhaps that’s why the Board of Advisors of the University is an eclectic one, with people like Bharatnatyam dancer Leela Samson and cardiac surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan figuring on it. At the induction programme, even the computer science students were being encouraged to give expression to cultural talent. One of the professors here, Dr Snigdha Biswas, who is a trained classical singer, has been asked to hone the students’ vocal skills. “The course may be on a specialised area like computer science, but the learning is 360 degrees, encompassing all the aspects of life. It is about finding your relevance in society. It is about learning all kinds of things 24/7 , even as you maintain the focus on studies,” sums up Pawar. Seamless, sustainable and student-centred, NU’s larger vision is to become the leading centre of innovation and learning in the emerging areas of the knowledge society.

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The Masterplan

A taste of

The Future

in a medieval setting NIIT University (NU) is a case study in green learning, and maximising the knowledge potential By Chitra Narayanan

Edu Tech December 2009

The Masterplan

As you cross Shahajanpur on the National Highway-8 connecting Delhi to Jaipur, the landscape begins changing— the billion-year old Aravali range becomes visible on the horizon, infusing the highway with a romantic charm. Turn into Neemrana, enter the gates of the NIIT University, and it seems like you have walked into a picture book. Ringed by hillocks, framed against azure blue skies broken by white wispy clouds, the campus building set in a natural bowl looks more like a resort than a university. While it may look unbelievably picturesque now— when NIIT first got this

land, it got commiserations galore from everyone. Even the Rajasthan state government was somewhat apologetic. For this was an extremely tough, sandy terrain for construction— the land is uncultivable, deeply fissured in places, temperatures in summers can soar beyond 45 degrees plus, water is hard to come by, and on rare occasions there are occurrences of mini flash floods. And yet, as he stood and surveyed the 100-acres of expanse that was available, the drama in the setting and the challenge of constructing here appealed to NU’s founder Rajendra Pawar. “Flat land would have been boring,” he says with a hint of a smile. Pawar then decided to make the tough task even more arduous by issuing a few diktats— “not a tractor load of earth should enter the campus or go out,” “no tree should be cut” and “don’t flatten any of the land, but try to integrate the natural contours in the building plan.” Clearly, this would need a very clever architect indeed. Professor Vinod Gupta of Space Design Consultants, who is the creator of India’s first intelligent building— the CMC office in Mumbai, picked the gauntlet. But there was a rider attached— he would have to work with a Master Planner. As Pawar explains, “Most university campuses have just happened with buildings added whenever needed, leading to haphazard growth.” However, since universities are self-sufficient ecosystems they need to be masterplanned just like an urban city, keeping in mind the core concepts. “The Masterplan of a university is very vital,” says Vinod Gupta, the pony tailed, soft-spoken architect, a former professor at the School of Planning and Architecture. “It defines the growth of university as the student strength grows.” So, the campus has been established on a comprehensive long-term masterplan. London-based masterplanning firm YRM Consultants created a blueprint over two and half years. Together, the architects, designers, and landscapists (Shaheer Associates from Delhi), along with the Deans and project management team at NU led by Air Commodore (retired) Kamal Singh discussed, argued and debated on how to create the

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While it may look unbelievably picturesque now—when NIIT first got this land, it got commiserations galore from everyone zoning, indicative footprints, and phasing strategy, all the while ensuring that it stuck to the university’s core principles. The brief given was to create a Master Plan for a campus that could eventually accommodate 7,500 full time students of whom two-thirds would be resident on site, 600 academic staff and around 175 administrative staff. These estimates were based on the water availability at the campus. The first round of hydrological testing had suggested that far fewer numbers could be accommodated. But this would not have made the University financially viable. Finally, this challenge was overcome by coming up with a plan to recycle and harvest water, and green the surrounding areas. This as Professor M.P. Kapoor, the founding VC explains, would help in modifying the hydrology of the place. A walk around the campus reveals how the principles of seamlessness, student centredness and sustainability underlay all aspects of the Masterplan.

Seamlessness From the abstract to the physical, this is the one pervading theme at the NU campus. Be it the Mobius ring emblem, the concept of Anadi Anant, the whole ethos of learning is woven around the notion of seamlessness. At the academic level, if the boundaries and limits of education have been removed by unifying curricula, allowing students to pick up strands from any branch they wish, then in architectural terms, very interesting interpretations have been given to seamDecember 2009 Edu Tech

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The Masterplan

lessness. For instance, while the campus is a gated one, with limited access, yet there are no boundary walls visible to the naked eye if you are sitting in the classrooms. The view is unrestricted and free. The sense of enclosure has been clev-

chance talk on the corridor or dining hall between student and teacher sometimes leads to more learning than in the classroom,” says Pawar. By adapting structures to the surface contours (basements have been fitted

Terrain was tough...

...For construction, with deep fissures. Yet, the plan was to convert the dry and barren land into a green haven of learning

erly removed by using landscaping innovations like ‘Ha-Ha’ (this is a way of concealing barrier with nature, a sort of trench, the inner side of which is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer face sloped making it like a retaining wall). Even the building blocks are planned in a seamless fashion. Unlike other universities, at NU the academic facilities are not split into departments; rather they are run as a single entity. Much thought has been given to the location of the buildings themselves. Since the learning is envisaged to be 24/7, architect Gupta has tried to ensure maximum access and interaction between faculty and students. For instance, the student hostel and the staff residences are apart giving each privacy. Yet they are deliberately located in such a way that students and teachers will surely run into each other several times a day in areas like the Spine. “That

Edu Tech December 2009

into the deep fissures and amphitheatres planned in natural bowls), the impact of construction on local geology has been significantly reduced. Gupta has created many interesting spaces in the outdoors where classes can be easily held. “This is Shantiniketan,” says Gupta pointing to the central multi-level courtyard, where there is an interesting play of light and shade and seating zones.

The Central Spine Every university has one happening zone— here the Spine, so to say, is a long lane between the academic and residential blocks. Each building, even in future phases will connect to this spine. This is where the ATM, the gym, the pool table, and other ‘must access’ points for the university residents are located. As Gupta says, this is where all

the hub of activity will be, where students will rub shoulders with each other and members of the faculty.

Sustainability The campus has been planned so that it will be financially, ecologically and intellectually self-sustaining. After an initial push from NIIT, it will venture forth on the voyage of educational discovery on its own steam. Keeping in mind climate change concerns and fears, it is being constructed in a manner to minimise the use of electricity and the carbon footprint. Nothing exemplifies this feature of the campus more than its geothermal cooling system for which help was sought from experts with experience at The Energy Resource Institute (TERI). This draws upon the geological fact that 12 feet beneath the earth, temperatures remain a constant 24 degrees. So, all along the campus you will see little towers sticking out. These are where air enters the intricate network of earth tunnels (on completion there will be 16 kilometres of tunnel, perhaps the largest project of its kind) and is cleaned and circulated. Very little electricity is thus required to cool or heat the rooms within the campus. Gupta has also used clever architectural features in his design to ensure that the dust stays out of the buildings— the large glass windows are all EastWest oriented to harness maximum sunlight. Ventilation comes through from L-shaped shafts that bring in fresh air, keeping out the dust. Drawing from local traditions, there are jharokhas, verandahs, water bodies, shading fins and ventilation chimneys. Fossil fuel consumption is also going to be minimised in this “pedestrian only” campus, where cars will be restricted to the parking bay at the entrance. From there the campus can be comfortably explored on foot through a promenade that meanders through various building blocks, and seamlessly unifies the campus. The deep connect with nature is embodied by the two trees right at the entrance to the campus, where, the road is built around them. Jaal Pilu, as the 80-year-old trees are named, have a pro-

tective retaining wall built around them. “Anyone who cuts even a branch of a tree will have to donate a thumb!” says Pawar jokingly, but the underlying seriousness is not lost on anyone on the campus. Kapoor describes how each student has been asked to plant a tree and tend to it. Work is also afoot to conserve water. Eight to ten bunds are being created to harvest and store the water from the neighbouring hillocks. Extensive tree planting measures are also being undertaken on the surrounding hills. NIIT University may own just 100 acres but the greening opportunity exists on the surrounding 750 acres of so-called protected areas as well. Faculty, staff and students of the future will also be involved in the conservation efforts.

Student-Centredness The founding batch of students who have joined the BTech course at the university say that they feel privileged and honoured to be the first batch. “The kind of special attention we are getting is unimaginable,” says Yajur a BTech student from Chandigarh. The student-centred approach is visible in small details like the way each of the hostel rooms are designed to give the students a personal view of the scenery. All the buildings are oriented towards the bordering hillocks. By careful planning and placement of the rooms at different elevations, most rooms enjoy an unobstructed view of the beautiful scenery, enjoying “the panorama of nature” as Kapoor puts it. The design of the campus fosters closeness between teachers and students. The effort is to maximise knowledge and minimise stress— so modules on time management, preparation for life in the corporate lane are all part of the curriculum. Every student is expected to participate in Astachal, a moment of meditation, in the evening at Sunset Theatre, an open air step structure atop the first theatre in the campus, a spot where the setting sun is beautifully seen. Created with a rare passion and vision, NU is a blend of the future and the past, and a case study in green learning.

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Dialogue

We want to nurture learners who can search new problems

Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s known to be an ideas man, constantly innovating. In an interview with EDU Rajendra Pawar talks about his latest Out of the Box ideaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the NIIT University(NU) By Chitra narayanan 26

Edu Tech December 2009

Dialogue

EDU: How is NU different? Rajendra Pawar:

From the beginning we were clear that NU would not be constrained within the mould of existing higher-education programmes. NU’s purpose is to teach students to be more curious, more driven, to be sensitive to nature and their surroundings. The need of the hour for India is more research-driven institutions. Unfortunately, curiosity has become the biggest casualty of our overburdened education system. We want to bring back inquisitiveness in students. Inculcating the research mind-set is not about just setting up labs but about creating an environment that will provoke thinking. It is the ability to convert the abstract into reality. We want students to solve real problems that affect the masses in the country. So, the whole campus is a research lab, so to speak. We are very fortunate to be located alongside the Aravalis, which are not only the oldest fold mountain ranges in the world but also need protection and rejuvenation— that could be an area of research, for instance. In the post-industrial, knowledge era, Indians are regaining their self confidence. As the wisdom of the past becomes relevant once again, India is set to lead in the Century of the Mind. And we want to make NU a leading centre of innovation in this century of the mind. Based on our experience of over 25 years in delivering education, we have articulated four core principles on which the university will function. These are to make learning industrylinked, technology based, research-driven and seamless.

Any special reason why you chose Rajasthan as the setting for the university? We wanted the university to be located near Delhi, which is the hub of our operations. We were very clear that it should be a fully residential university, yet be near enough to Delhi to be

accessible. It could not be in Delhi, because we envisaged a fully residential campus, the purpose being that learning should happen 24/7— through day and night. But the choice of Neemrana as the location was fortuitous. I was involved in a think-tank of the Rajasthan government. During one meeting, I had suggested to them (the state government) that the Delhi-Jaipur highway

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setting to be in— a fascinating blend of the ancient, historic and the modern.

The biggest challenge that the Indian education system faces today is the lack of quality faculty. How are you going to meet it? To add to the country’s limited pool of experienced faculty in the country, the vast majority of faculty will be fresh PhDs. To build institutions you need

his vision is...

...to create an environment that will provoke thinking, and enable free-flowing, flexible and limitless learning just as its emblem proclaims

should be developed as India’s ‘Route 128’. Since more than half of this route is in Rajasthan, we suggested that the state should think of a proactive programme to build up this route as a knowledge corridor and articulate a vision for it. So, the state government promptly challenged us to take the initiative and do something here, in the wilderness. Already, you can see a lot of action taking place— there is the Japanese industrial township next door. The Neemrana Fort is just 10 minutes from the campus. With the billion-year-old Aravali ranges around, it’s an exciting

young energetic, vibrant people. They will be guided and developed by mentor professors and area leaders. To build quality, we are starting a tradition of founding professors, mentor professors and area leaders. The founding professors are intellectual greats, passionate about their subjects — people like Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Dr Dinesh Singh (renowned mathematics professor), Dr Arun Nigavekar, Dr Rajaraman and Dr Kasturirangan. They will interact with the students and the young faculty a few times every year, both on campus and remotely through technology. December 2009 Edu Tech

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Dialogue

The single biggest criterion that is determining the choice of faculty is their demonstrated love of the subject. While it is definite that they are brilliant academics, what matters more to NU is their passion for their subject. Visiting faculty will be critical to the university. We already have educational innovators interacting with the students. Top CEOs and entrepreneurs will be sharing their experiences with the students.

Given that so many institutions are opening up, how are you going to attract quality students? We have taken a conscious decision to limit advertisement. Instead, we will build deep and long-lasting relationships with schools directly. This will be through seminars, workshops and an ongoing interaction using technology. We want to create an aspiration in the minds of students when they are in class 10 that this is the university they would want to study at. The way our education system functions today, there is enormous social pressure on students to gain admission

“As I see it, the university will always be a “work in progress” that is being co-created by the students” —Rajendra Pawar Founder, NIIT University

in one of the few good institutions the country has. That’s part of the reason many students peak too early. For example, their concentration is on getting into IIT, but once they are in, the pressure wears off. That is not the way the system should work. So, we are evolving a selection process that does not rely on a single exam.

Instead, we are giving weightage to academic performance in schools, and to in-depth interviews to judge areas like passion, potential and social sensitivity. There’s more emphasis on what they aspire to become and are capable of becoming, than just how they have done in the past in one exam. So, it’s potential that we are gauging, not just past exam skills.

What is the long term plan for the university? The vision is to be the leading centre of innovation and learning in the emerging areas of the knowledge society. The university has started with a technology bias, but going forward, we will be imparting learning in a vast range of subjects including anthropology, and behavioural sciences, etc. As I see it, the university will always be a “work in progress” that is being cocreated by the students. Nothing is complete today and nothing, I hope, will be complete a 100 years from now. It will be in development mode always and have to evolve constantly to stay relevant.

“it’s potential That we are gauging” The NIIT University campus is conceived as a seamless learning experience, and founder Rajendra Pawar wants to extend the concept of seamlessness to the admissions process as well. The vision is that when students are in Class 10, they should start interacting with the university and start a long conversation physically as well as on the Web with the university which may culminate in their admission, he says. Pawar holds strong views about admissions processes based on one exam, which most colleges currently follow. “Determining a young child’s life on one exam can be lethal for a child,” he says. Of course, it is an efficient process, given that millions of students apply and an elimination process is required. “But, it’s not about rejecting students but selecting the right one by uncovering the matching qualities and wavelength. And the matching process which is a process of discovery cannot be left to just one exam,” he feels. So, members of the Board Harpal Singh, Arun Kapoor and Prof R.C. Malhotra along with the Deans have spent time designing the selection process for NIIT University. A big change from other existing models is the amount of weightage given to class 10th and 12th standard results as well as an in-depth interview.

Edu Tech December 2009

This year being the first year of admissions, weightage has also been given to Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) and AIEEE performance, but going forward Pawar feels more importance will be given to a long drawn interview and discussion process, where the students will not just be quizzed on their academic knowledge but also social awareness, passion and aspiration. NU has used technology intensively for the admission process. Candidates from all across the country were tested right in their home towns, with interviews conducted over webcam. Interestingly, the interviews of the shortlisted candidates who applied this year were videotaped and then the tapes were reviewed by four different categories of people— the faculty, some board members, industry people, and professionals from NIIT. The verdicts of these four groups were then pieced together to select the successful candidates. But obviously this method will not work easily in future. “This year there were only 400-odd videos, but going forward when we get tens of thousands of applications, we will need to find a smarter method,” says Pawar. With its record of innovation, and mastery over technology-based solutions, it will be interesting to watch what NU does next year!

Rajeev Shorey

cover story

A Suitable VC

NU’s first vice chancellor is among the youngest in the country and lives the four core principles of the university

“I don’t think I expended so much effort in finding a groom for my daughter as I did in finding NU’s first vicechancellor”, exclaims Professor M. P. Kapoor, founding VC and project director. The demands made by the university founder Rajendra Pawar were tough. Not only would the first vice chancellor have to live the four principles of the university, but he also needed to be under 45-years of age. The last condition had Kapoor protesting. His view was that it would be impossible to find anybody who met all the requirements in that age bracket. And, if he was a professional, he would be unaffordable. But Pawar was adamant. He kept quoting Mark Twain to Kapoor. “The man who is a pessimist before forty-eight knows too much; if he is an optimist after it he knows too

“I don’t think I expended so much effort in finding a groom for my daughter as I did in finding NU’s first vC” —M.P. Kapoor Founding VC, Project Director, NU

little”. Pawar explains,“I didn’t want someone who would be obsessed with the belief that he knows it all— I wanted a crazy optimist. When creating a new institution, you need an optimist otherwise you cannot do it.” Not surprisingly, the search took two and a half years before Kapoor could zero in on gold medallist Rajiv Shorey— after over 55 resumes had been reviewed. A PhD in Electrical Communication Engineering from IISc, Bangalore, Shorey was the Lab Group Manager of the Vehicle Communications and Information Management Group at General Motors Research. His areas of interest were communication networks, computer and communication systems. Now, it was Pawar who had his fingers crossed. Here was somebody with more

than 10 US patents, who had worked in places like IBM Research Labs for seven years, even as he was visiting faculty at IIT Delhi and at the National University of Singapore. Why would he want to chuck it all to come to Neemrana? To cut a long story short, it took a few more months before NU approached Shorey. But the very first meeting with Pawar which characteristically started in the evening and went on into the wee hours of the next morning, was enough to find that wavelengths perfectly matched. Ask Shorey, what tilted the scale in favour of the job and he says he was intrigued by the university’s approach and its unique eco-system. “The concept of NU is so exciting. It’s not like any other institution. In fact, compared to other universities, its like open land and sea— it’s so radically refreshing,” he exclaims. He adds, “If you look at the passion going into it, look at the people backing it... there’s quality and vision, which is the need of the hour. The match was total.” As VC, especially one on whom such high expectations are riding, what is his focus going to be? “In the next 10 years, we want to build a system that is a beacon of reform and innovation,” says Shorey. He is already travelling extensively, trying to get the best and brightest brains in the world to become students and faculty at NU. And, of course, the other facet of his job is to ensure that there is feverish research going on all the time, and that the curriculum stays relevant. Shorey says he is planning to create a new programme in ICT— “It will be a very different programme integrating development issues with communication, computing, networking and wireless technology,” he promises. December 2009 Edu Tech

TECHNOLOGY

Computers

Getting the

Best Deal

on Computers Purchasing desktops and laptops for use in an institute is often a recurring decision, and requires regular investment. EDU presents ways to improve decision making and make purchases more costeffective and useful

photos.com

By Pragya Madan

very new academic year is marked by the placing of orders for laptops and PCs for incoming students. Armed with budgets and requirements campuses around the country look for deals as vendors try to pitch for more and more business. How prepared is your institution for what has nearly become an annual ritual? Is your research sufficient; and your vendor selection process adequate? Is the configuration you’ve chosen suitable for your needs and budget; or could you have got more? We survey the landscape and seek answers to some of these questions. Edu Tech December 2009

eye stopper PC Shipments to the education sector increased YoY by 15% in 2008 according to IDC’s India Quarterly PC Tracker’s September 2009 report. Laptop budget at Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) is currently Rs 10o to 12o million for its 4,000 odd students.

Computers

Survey the Market “Having laptops has made the classroom environment more engaging and – with immediate access to the Internet – more real-time,” says Professor Prasoon Majumdar, dean – academics, Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM). “Today, technology is the bedrock for facilitating any management initiative; so, strong integration of technology into our courses was felt to be compulsory. Laptops and Wi-Fi networking became integral to that,” he adds. Like IIPM, most higher education institutes have today made a definitive shift towards bulk purchases. The market today offers a wide range of laptops and desktops, to meet all requirements and budgets. At the lowest end are Netbooks (Internet + notebooks) and Nettops (Internet + desktops), which are small-sized, cost-effective computers, primarily used for accessing the Internet. Their computing power, memory, and storage capacity are designed for this specific usage. While you can do basic tasks like word processing on these devices, running more than one application – for instance, a word processor and the Internet browser— at the same time, could result in slow performance. Laptops are generally of two kinds— consumer and business. Consumer laptops are designed for use at home. They are heavier, are available in snazzy designs and have processing power and other specifications customized for applications such as gaming. Business laptops, on the other hand, are relatively lightweight and rugged in design. They are designed for heavy use and may have additional security features to protect data and the hard drive. Anand Karapurkar, director and founder of Infobahn Technologies, whose focus is the education segment, has this to say on choosing between laptops and Netbooks. “Students use laptops for six to seven hours a day and travel with it in crowded buses and trains. So, the laptop has to be rugged and lightweight hence business laptops designed for rugged use are ideal for them. Consumer laptops, could end up with cracked screens if used roughly. Netbooks are not recommended for students, since they are pure Internet browsing devices and are more suited for sales-force automation.” Also available in the market are tablet PCs, with slate-like or book-like displays that enable users to write on the screen with a stylus to input text. While these are very lightweight, and well suited for users on the go they can also be prohibitively expensive for most institutions. When it comes to desktops, there isn’t much difference between consumer and business models, as far as basic configuration is concerned. Desktops with specialized configurations and applications are available for specific applications, such as CAD/CAM or graphics-intensive work. In desktops, you also have the choice of opting for branded desktops or assembled models; and also, whether you’d want to use licensed, proprietary software like Microsoft Windows (which can be expensive), or open source (more cost-effective and highly customisable) software such as Linux. At IIT Bombay (IIT B), for instance, assembled desktops and open source software rule the day. Professor Abhay Karandikar, head – Computer Centre and Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, says that assembled machines are “easy to upgrade, and any problems are easy to fix.” IIT B uses machines of four to six standard configurations, which, according to Karandikar, “are sufficient for our requirements, and can be replaced or upgraded after three to four years.” The machines in the institute run Linux, and “95 per cent of the applications we run are open source. Our mail server, proxy server, and even ERP are open-source applications. We find that it is much easier to provide support and service,” Karandikar adds.

TECHNOLOGY

what’s new Print Perfect Hewlett-Packard has launched a sleek new Photosmart Premium 309G allin-one printer promising to make printing much more Rs 13,350 fun. Its 3.45 inch touchscreen allows you to view photos, edit them and print them even without a PC. It has wireless support, thus allowing for more flexible placement, and Bluetooth support for printing straight from Bluetooth enabled devices such as camera phones. It has automatic two-sided printing, to save paper, and uses individual ink tanks so only the used-up color need be replaced. The HP Auto Sense technology ensures that you don’t accidentally print on the wrong side of your expensive paper.

Fast and Furious If you still don’t know what fast cars and technology have in common then you need to take a good look at Acer’s latest Ferrari One net$ 599.99 book. The 11.6-inch display, dual-core 64 X2 AMD Athlon processor, 4GB of RAM and an ATI HD 3200 graphics chip come wrapped in the signature red colour of ferrari with the logo on top. A 250GB hard drive, twin-built in speakers and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS ensure that it performs quite like a Ferrari.

Small and Stylish If you find your desktop bulky and boring then its time you looked for an alternative like the ultra-portable and stylish desktops from Dell. Inspiron Zino and Inspiron Zino HD come in 4 colours Piano Black, Plum Purple, Spring Green and True Blue to give your room an immediate makeover. These mini desktops are 7.8 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall with an Intel AtomTM 230 processor. Intel’s 950 GMA graphics, 160GB - 250GB hard drive, a media card reader, 4 USB ports and 8X DVD-ROM drive or DVD+/-RW drive make it complete value for money.

Rs. 17,500

December 2009 Edu Tech

TECHNOLOGY

Computers

Notebooks are a tool for better learning Worldwide, HP has worked in the education segment for more than three decades. Himanshu Seth, country manager, Education and Mid-Market, HP India, gives his views on the future of IT in education. Leading IT companies are focusing on the needs of the education sector. Is this a recent phenomenon? HP has targeted education as a focused segment in India since 2002. We seek to provide a ‘campus on the move’ to students through our initiatives – bring technology closer to colleges and bring the corporate world closer to students who get theoretical knowledge. Our offerings have now evolved into HP Learning Solutions (HPLS).

How do colleges and universities view the role of IT in education? Colleges have started to understand that notebooks are a tool for better learning. But at least 40 per cent of the time that students spend on their notebooks should be productive time, where they collaborate, access and compare lectures and so on. Colleges are very receptive to solutions such as Educenter which can help in this.

What are the services and support you offer to higher-education institutions? Desktops usually have a three to four year lifecycle, so we have models with three-year warranties. For notebooks, different colleges Himanshu Seth Country Manager, Education and require different services, so we are flexible Mid-Market, HP India there. We can provide one-year warranty, remote support, a resident engineer on campus and other such services through our partners. For ProCurve equipment, we provide a lifetime replacement warranty.

Do you think that different institutions and universities would need different configurations, based on the curriculum they offer? When it comes to desktops, the AICTE sets the norm for the configuration of machines bought in engineering colleges, such as P4 and above processor, etc. Apart from that, TFT screens have become default. The lowest configuration available in the market today is higher than what is specified in the AICTE norms. But there are no norms for notebooks. I would say that for management and engineering colleges, the lower-end configurations available on notebooks are sufficient and more cost-effective too. Technology moves at a fast pace, but we don’t have to go with the latest. Yes, engineering colleges also need to invest in high-end machines for CAD/ CAM and similar work. For this, the workstation type of machines is more suitable, and they should definitely not cut costs in providing these. Colleges that offer courses in multimedia and animation should also look at setting up Workstation Labs.

Edu Tech December 2009

Karapurkar explains that while assembled desktops do have the advantage of “lower cost and faster delivery, support for them is too dependent on the assembler, who is typically not backed by a good, established company.” He adds that low product quality is another risk with assembled desktops. So, unless the institution has an experienced in-house technical group, assembled machines can become a bane rather than a boon.

Check Requirements Most low-end or mid-range laptops today are equipped with dual-core processors – this means that there are two processors within one chip. An Intel or AMD dual-core processor, with a speed of about 2 GHz, is adequate for tasks such as word processing, e-mail, Internet browsing, using spreadsheets or presentation software, watching movies, and even working with video or image files. Faster CPU speeds are required if the user is involved in intensive multimedia work or high-end gaming. For this, you could also consider quad processors (four processors in one chip). As important as the processor speed, is the RAM (random access memory); because together, they determine system performance. For the common tasks about 2 GB RAM is sufficient. More RAM is required for intensive multimedia or engineering work. Hard disk size is important, because the hard disk stores all the data – operating system, programs, drivers, and usergenerated data. Today, 160 GB is often the default size for hard disks in laptops, which is sufficient for most purposes. For more intensive engineering, graphics, or multimedia work, 250 GB or larger hard disks may be needed. When it comes to screen size, a 14-inch screen is sufficient. Most laptops today come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and a DVD/RW or similar drive to watch and create DVDs and CDs. Usually, a new laptop would have an operating system (Microsoft Windows Vista is the default for most vendors) and other productivity software, such as Microsoft Office. This is the basic minimum you should settle for.

Computers

Laptops bundled with goodies like a webcam, are not essential as Webcam usage not only hogs network bandwidth, but can also pose security issues. Low-end or mid-range laptops can meet the requirements of most management and engineering institutes, which are among the biggest customers of laptops. “Management students aren’t doing rocket science on their laptops. They use it mainly to run Office software, project management software, our Web-based ERP and some statistical tools,” observes Professor Basav Roychoudhury, IT head at IIM Shillong. Architecture, design and animation and some engineering courses require high-end machines with advanced graphics and processing capabilities. Colleges that offer these courses, therefore, need to invest accordingly. Karapurkar says that such institutions need the workstations, but due to budget constraints, often settle for laptops with lower graphics capabilities. “With bulk deals, they are able to get a decent configuration in laptops at Rs 30,000 to 35,000. Though laptops are slower in rendering, etc, they don’t mind that during their learning days,” he explains. Neeraj Gupta, general manager at Dell states, “Each course type would need a specific configuration, basis the applications they plan to run. Our solutions experts assess the requirement of these institutes and will propose the best possible configuration. We believe that there is no standard solution; and would rather give our customer the choice of building their own product, so that they get the best value for money.”

Plan and Negotiate The first step is to be aware about the options available in the market. Majumdar states that market intelligence is a critical part of the buying process. At IIPM, the tech support department researches vendors and the products and services they offer. It also collects feedback from students on the performance of the existing vendor. Based on this, it prepares a feature-price-service matrix, and submits a report to the ven-

TECHNOLOGY

Sourcing Checklist A nalyse your requirements. For most applications, the standard configurations available in the market are adequate. Prefer business-series laptops over consumer-series ones or special requirements – courses that require CAD/CAM, multimedia, or F animation work – workstations are better. Laptops and PCs are much slower, though they cost much less too esearch models available in the market and the offerings from various vendors, R including after-sales support and warranties Compare what individual vendors are offering for shortlisting the best deals For large volume purchases conduct direct negotiations or a tender process egotiate not just on the price and configuration, but also on additional features N for security and manageability, and support and after-sales services or students to be able to use the laptops productively, create an enabling F ecosystem which includes an efficient network, adequate bandwidth, subscription to inter-university research networks and internal resources

dor engagement committee. This committee then meets vendors, gathers more information through market intelligence, and then the final call is taken by the dean – administration. IIPM currently has a budget of Rs 100 to 120 million to buy laptops for its 4,000-odd students. In contrast, at the IIMs, students spearhead the process of buying laptops. “There is an IT committee of students in each IIM. These committees get together and negotiate with vendors at the national level. Because the numbers are huge, they get good bulk deals,” says Roychoudhury. For the institute’s own usage of IT products, a tender process is followed. “We are very price-sensitive – if we find that all the parties during a tender have quoted prices higher than the market prices, we even scrap the tender and start afresh,” he adds. Besides considering configuration and price colleges should also look for features that provide enhanced security and easier manageability. Support and after-sales commitment is a critical area and should be a part of the negotiation. For instance when Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research got Infobahn to provide laptops five years ago it also got a commitment from Infobahn to creates a service help desk within the campus,

where a service engineer would be available on all working days. Sumanta Mukherjee, lead PC analyst, IDC India feels that educational institutions should also focus on getting an IT infrastructure that has multi-user facilities and multi-year software licensing to reduce total cost of ownership. Moreover, as Professor M.P. Kapoor, founding vice chancellor, NIIT University, Neemrana points out, there are also other points to ponder like, “Can students access the course material and recorded lectures from any location, within and outside the campus? Can they access these on a variety of portable devices (PDAs, netbooks and notebooks)? What is the uptime and availability of desktops already there in the campus?” While buying desktops and laptops is routine now, it is definitely not a small decision. The machines you buy have to be useful, cost-effective, and should empower students to get more from their course curriculum.

What’s Online Read the full interview of Himanshu Seth on what HP offers to the education sector on the EDU Website www.edu-leaders.com. Write in your views and opinions about the stories in this magazine or on any other issues relating to higher education. Send them to the Editor, EDU at editor@edu-leaders.com

December 2009 Edu Tech

Administration

Operations

Learning to

pL A Y A Y L p Management Game The

Educational institutes will need to attract professional managers to administer and run operations. However, perception problems about the sector are proving to be a big stumbling block in getting the right people

By Adite Banerjie & Prakash Nanda

eye stoppers 50,000 to 200,000 professional managers will be needed to keep pace with the growing number of higher education institutes rs 6.5 billion is the estimated size of the education sector with an annual growth rate of 12%, and yet it is not recognised as an industry

Edu Tech December 2009

hen Professor Mahendra Lama took charge as vice chancellor at the newly set-up Central University in Sikkim last year, he had visions of setting up a university that would achieve the heights of academic excellence. Little did he know about the constraints that he would face. To start with, there were very few quality professionals willing to join the education sector. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To compete with the best universities abroad not only do we need to have competent teaching staff but also managers in core areas like administrative management, finance, academic and professional programmes, infrastructure development and mobilisation of resources,â&#x20AC;? says Lama. While the problem of faculty crunch is often discussed, little attention has been paid to an equally important area: the lack of management bandwidth and the inability to offer a consistent quality of service by most educational institutes.

Administration

Operations

It’s a perception problem Ajit Rangnekar, dean of Indian School of Business talks about the challenge that HEIs face in attracting talent from industry What are the major challenges in attracting professionals to manage educational institutions? There are three categories of people who are involved in setting up institutions in this sector. Those who are focused on making money even through unethical and illegal means. Then there are those who want their names in big bold letters in front of a school or college. And in the third category are those who have a genuine desire to build high quality education institutes. There is a major perception problem of how the sector is viewed. The challenge then is not just how to attract the right people but to retain talent. For most industry people, teaching or being associated with the education sector is like taking time off from one’s career. Salaries are also not at par with those in the corporate sector. Ajit Rangnekar Dean, Indian School of Business

How can we address this problem?

Institutes have to offer different ‘excitement’ levels and look for people who want to be part of a dream to build a great institute. The way forward is to offer reasonably competitive salaries and combine it with other attractions. It is also necessary for people who have crossed over to go out and tell people what an exciting career this is. If we make a clear differentiation, for some people it could appear much more exciting than a job in an investment bank.

This lack of professional management could seriously hinder Indian higher education sector’s global image and growth prospects.

Challenge of Scarcity To visualise the extent of the problem let’s look at the sectoral growth trends. The CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets’ “Indian Education Sector Outlook” reports: “As of July 2007, there were 1,617 recognised engineering colleges of which nearly 1,200 were private. The total number of colleges is expanding at a rate of about 100 per year…India has more than 300 private colleges offering MBAs and 140 private medical colleges, most operating as stand-alone institutions. A few chains have emerged such as Amity University with 38 colleges and Manipal University with 20 colleges.” While it is difficult to estimate the number of management professionals

that are needed by these institutions, the growth trends indicate that the number could be anywhere between 50,000 to 200,000. The engineering, management and medical institutes are the ones that have been hardest hit. Says Bharat Gupta of Ernst & Young, “These institutes require well-developed systems, robust administration and strong leadership. Given the scale and complexity of these colleges, the need for professional managers is being felt acutely.” Meeting this demand is proving to be a huge challenge. The greatest need is for managers and executives in the marketing, administration, logistics, finance, corporate relations and IT disciplines. Market positioning, building relationships with alumni, donors, students and society are some of the major marketing and communication challenges that could use professional help. December 2009 Edu Tech

administration

Operations

Cause and Effect There are a number of barriers that Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) face in attracting the management talent. The most significant one is the ‘not-forprofit’ nature of the education sector. This limits the ability of institutes to offer remuneration packages that are on par with corporate salaries. Says Raghav Gupta, president, Technopak, “HEIs need to be set up and managed as forprofit institutions to ensure high quality of education and provide incentives for private players to participate proactively.” Many believe that true professionalism and high standards of education will continue to elude Indian higher education, unless it becomes an organised industry. Until then, professional managers will continue to give the sector a wide berth. Once it has acquired an industry status, it will become more practical to develop education management as a discipline under the larger umbrella of management studies. This would then help in growing a pool of talented managers who would be trained to meet the unique needs of the education sector. Yashpal Committee Report points out that there is a need “to encourage universities to start programmes in management of educational institutions. A separation between academic administration and overall management (including

“Higher Education Institutes need to be set up and managed as for-profit institutions to ensure high quality of education and provide incentives for private players to participate proactively” —Raghav Gupta President, Technopak

fund-raising) may be desirable.” However, the lines between academic administration and overall management continue to be blurred as most institutions still deploy their academic faculty for administation. Many institutions have perhaps not even considered hiring professionals. But, the problem is that when faculty doubles up as

Demand For Professionals The rapid growth in the number of private institutions is boosting demand for professional educational managers 100

Percentage share

80 60 40 20 0

Private

Engineering

Pharmacy

Public

Edu Tech December 2009

Hotel Management

Architechture

Teacher Education

MCA

MBA

Medicine

Source: IDFC -SSKI Research, January 2009

administrators the focus shifts away from teaching and research. By leaving administration to academics, these institutes run the risk of lowering their competitiveness in the global as well as domestic markets. Adds Shashi Gulhati, retired IIT Delhi professor, who is now an education consultant, “Seniority, experience and academic worth are thought to be sufficient to handle managerial functions as well. In most institutions once an individual is appointed to any administrative position, he or she occupies that post until retirement.” Such a system does not allow for any learning of management skills or introduction of fresh ideas. To some extent, the IITs and IIMs have handled administration issues a little more innovatively. Says Gulhati, “IITs experimented with the rotation system and the academicians held administrative positions for a period of 3 to 5 years. Then the baton was passed on to someone else. This enabled a large number of faculty to get experience. Each person who came along added his or her own input and brought a new perspective to the job.” Despite this, such a practice can hardly be adequate in a competitive environment where Indian HEIs are being benchmarked against the top-notch institutes in the world. The other barrier is that higher education sector does not offer a career path equivalent to that of corporate sector. “Most people in industry do not understand what the academic world is all about. Besides, a management job in the education sector isn’t very glamorous,” points out Ajit Rangnekar the dean of Indian School of Business (ISB). Rangnekar was earlier at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is one of the rare people who have crossed over. Those who do join the sector often find it difficult to return to industry jobs as their stint in education renders them out-dated or irrelevant. Clearly, there is a case for making the education sector a more attractive option for youngsters who are pursuing a career in management. As Gautam Khungar, director of ISB says, “The big context needs to be made more visible to youngsters. There is a

Operations

Education Management Needs To Be Developed As A Separate Stream Bharat Gulia, Manager at Ernst & Young talks about addressing the shortage of management professionals in the sector. How do you view the talent crunch in the higher education sector? The Indian higher education segment has witnessed significant growth over the last six decades. As this surge in capacity continues, there is a growing demand for professional administrators and managers. As education institutes increase in scale and size, they need skills in administration, facility and project management. With increasing competition amongst institutes, brand building has emerged as an important area for differentiation and marketing skills are at a premium. ICT has emerged as one of the key game-changers in higher education with the induction of ERPs and Learning Management Systems in higher education as well as the growing popularity of e-libraries and digital content. Skilled professionals can substantially upgrade the use of IT in institutes and improve academic as well as management systems.

Bharat Gulia, Manager, Ernst & Young

How is the demand for professional managers being addressed?

Till now attempts to induct professional managers into higher education have been limited. Academicians have usually been burdened with administrative functions. Low salaries are also a constraint in attracting professionals from the corporate sector. In the short run, it may be practical to tap into the huge reservoir of resources which the corporate sector commands. This would quickly bring in highly skilled personnel and lead to the adoption of well developed management techniques, as well as cross-pollination of best practices. Indian players are also looking at partnering with international institutes that have well developed systems, with the aim of inducting those systems and upgrading skill levels of their employees. In the long run, it is important for the sector to develop ‘education management’ as a separate stream and have courses that equip professionals with strong functional and management skills as well as a deep understanding of the unique requirements of the education sector. This can unleash the potential of the sector and help India emerge as a training ground for leaders of the next generation.

need to design and deliver products for these professionals keeping in mind their core competencies.” Moreover, there are also differences in the way institutes and business entities are run. The processes needed for running business projects and those for successful management of an institute’s programmes are different. As Rangnek-

ar says, “Getting industry people to be effective in the academic world is the challenge. It’s not so much about finding the right people from industry but getting them to adapt.”

The Way Forward There is no doubt that investors see a huge potential in education. According

administration

to the CLSA Report, “there have been at least nine private-equity deals in education in the past 12 months, with total investment of more than US $90 million compared with three deals in the whole of 2006 and investment of US $17.5 million.” However, as the competition in the sector increases, investors will start looking for professionally managed ventures that can deal with the challenges and complexities of the sector. So far there has been no attempt to codify knowledge in management of educational institutes in India. Vineet Gupta of Jamboree Education, who is involved in setting up a university says, “The education environment in India is unique and we need not exactly go the western way of managing and running our educational institutes. Institutions can learn from each other and look for solutions to find competent management teams to set up and administer these institutes.” Established institutions could also look at leveraging their alumni network to invite industry professionals to join in administrative roles. While the alumni of IITs and IIMs have been known to contribute funds for their alma mater, few institutes have leveraged their alumni to recruit professional managers. However, while looking for professional help from the industry, HEIs have to look for a good match. Management skill sets have to be balanced with the unique requirements of academia. As the industry-academia grows, it is likely to be a win-win situation for both. As Rangnekar puts it: “Being the Dean of a business school is not the same as being a CEO. It is more like the job of a conductor in a philharmonic orchestra; to ensure that all the musicians will play together and make great music.”

What’s Online Read the entire interview with Ajit Rangnekar and Bharat Gulia on the EDU website www.edu-leaders.com Write in your views and opinions about the stories in this magazine or on any other issues relating to higher education. Send them to the Editor, EDU at editor@edu-leaders.com

December 2009 Edu Tech

case study

Networking

Attached No wires

PEC University of Technology sets up a wireless mesh network for secure wireless connectivity

photos.com

T 38

he PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh was established in 1921 as Mugalpura Engineering College at Lahore (now in Pakistan). Since then it has not only changed names but also changed location several times.The college shifted to its present campus in Chandigarh, in 1953. In 2003, it got the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deemed Universityâ&#x20AC;? status and in 2009 it got renamed as PEC University of Technology. In 1994 the National Foundation of Engineers adjudged it as the best technical college in India. Spread over an area of 146 acres, the campus is divided into zones like hostels, main college building, administration block, residential complex for staff and faculty, and a shopping centre. The institute had marginal network connectivity to the faculty residences. The only choice available was ADSL connectivity. As most of the faculty members used laptops at home, wireless connectivity was required. The institute wanted to provide a secure Wi-Fi service inside the campus and to perform experiments on advanced security features like TKIP, AES, WEP, 802.1x , WPA, 802.11i, WPA-PSK and 802.11i-PSK. Edu Tech December 2009

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Institution PEC University of Technology TYPE Engineering degree college Business Challenge Providing wireless connectivity for the faculty residential area, and to perform experiments on advanced security features like TKIP, AES, WEP, 802.1x, WPA, 802.11i, WPA-PSK and 802.11i-PSK Solution Secure, cost effective, wireless mesh network Benefits Secure, scalable, reliable, better connectivity, could be replicated for solutions such as wireless video surveillance in nearby cities, WISPs, and city-wide wireless networks

Networking

Business Challenge

raditional wireless connectivity through Access Points (APs) required a wired backbone and placement of switches and laying down cables. This was not possible and desirable, as the buildings of the institute are spread over a wide area. It was thus challenging to provide wireless connectivity which did not require laying of cables.

Solution

he university decided to set up a Wireless Mesh Network, for a robust, secure and easy connectivity. It selected Proxim for the deployment after evaluating several products and determining that adding centralised WLAN switches was cost prohibitive. The deployment was planned well in advance. The locations of the wireless mesh points were decided after conducting a site survey. The Mesh Networking was done using the Orinico Mesh APs which support structured Mesh Networking. Proxim’s Orinoco AP-4000MRLR and AP-4900MR-LR products that could provide high performance access were used in the deployment. “The installation of the Wi-Fi mesh nodes had to be done without the 24 hours power supply that is usually provided by street light poles.This technical challenge was overcome by utilising Wi-Fi mesh nodes that are powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE),” said Nishchal Batra, sales director, Asia and Middle East, Proxim Wireless. In the architecture of the deployment, a Proxim Wi-Fi Mesh device is connected to a master switch, and multiple other Proxim Wi-Fi mesh devices are connected to the initial mesh portal in first hop or maximum second hop. Multiple SSIDs mapped to different VLAN features are used to segregate students, faculty and Guest level access. Secure links to other APs are created using secure AES encryption and authentication. Orinoco Mesh Creation Protocol then determines the most efficient path through the mesh, taking into account the traffic load, link speed, signal strength, number of hops and other parameters. This solution had following benefits: In a Mesh network, APs use their wire-

case study

less interface as a backhaul to the rest of the network. Mesh networks are self-configuring and self-healing . The mesh APs can be plugged onto the electrical poles without having any need to stretch ethernet cables unlike Wi Fi APs.

Business Value

ccording to Professor Divya Bansal, chief investigator of the project, the Wireless Mesh Network was required to be deployed as a part of a sponsored project from the Indian government to perform experiments relating to the draft 802.11s standard, and conducting real time experiments. “With this mesh, we are able to deploy secure, scalable and reliable wireless connectivity, ” she said. The Rs 4.6 million research project is funded by the department of Information Technology in the Ministry of Communications & IT. “In addition to serving as an experimental testbed, the University’s wireless mesh network is also being used for providing wireless connectivity to the faculty residential areas of PEC University of Technology. Such networks can be replicated for other solutions such as wireless video surveillance in nearby cities, WISPs, and city-wide wireless networks,” said Dr Sanjeev Sofat, professor and head of the department of Computer Science and Engineering, PEC University of Technology. According to Sofat, the project shall help in identifying both design and development of secure mesh networks and will help in developing better security approaches. The scope of this project will be primarily to secure the environment of wireless mesh networks so that the city wide networks can be securely designed, deployed and used for information sharing.

What’s Online To read more case studies and whitepapers go to the EDU website www.edu-leaders.com Write in your views and opinions about the stories in this magazine or on any other issues relating to higher education. Send them to the Editor, EDU at editor@edu-leaders.com

December 2009 Edu Tech

T dialogue

Michael R. Gibbons

he Spirit

of Wharton” The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania founded in 1881 is the world’s oldest business school. In a conversation with with EDU, Wharton’s Deputy Dean Michael R. Gibbons talks about what makes Wharton unique

BY AMAN SINGH

by DR LOHIA

EDU: What differentiates Wharton from its peers? Michael R. Gibbons: Two things come to mind immediately.

First is size. We are a huge organisation by standards of our peers, and that gives students access to a huge network. There are 80,000 alumni, and every year we get around 5,000 students either as undergraduates, MBAs or PhDs. We also have 12,000 people doing executive MBAs every year. The faculty size is about 220. If a student wants to study something fairly narrow, there is a huge probability that someone in the faculty has the expertise in that area. The second is Wharton’s entrepreneurial spirit. I have been at two other institutions, Chicago and Stanford before joining Wharton, and Wharton is more entrepreneurial. When I say entrepreneurial, I mean that as an institution we are interested in trying new things. Wharton’s size makes it very decentralised. Most of the power in the school is actually not in the Dean’s office, but in the departments. There are days when I object to it, but the departments’ independence adds to its entrepreneurial character. It means that we can move faster and there is less oversight. The institution thrives on this spirit. What may also drive the entrepreneurial spirit is that Wharton’s Edu Tech December 2009

endowments are much smaller than its peers like Harvard or Stanford. These smaller endowments probably helped us through the financial crisis. It is a bit weird to say that you are better off when you are poor, but I think there is some sense to it in this particular crisis.

In view of the economic crisis, do you feel that management education should change? We probably do not need to teach new things, but may be we need to teach old things better. We must teach only the things that we can teach well. Wharton is doing a curriculum review. We had not done a significant review for 20 years, and it was time for a review. But, we would have done this independent of the crisis. In the short run our curriculum will evolve to include changes in

Michael R. Gibbons dialogue

fact file Education PhD, University of Chicago, 1980 MS, University of Chicago, 1979 BS, Butler University, 1975 Achievements Graduate Division Excellence in Teaching Award: 1996, 2001 I.W. Burnham II Professor of Investment Banking: 1989 Batterymarch Fellow: 1983-84 Academic Positions Deputy Dean, 2007-present; Chairperson, Finance Department,1994-2006 At Wharton since 1989 Previous appointments: Stanford University & University of Chicago December 2009 Edu Tech

dialogue Michael R. Gibbons

Most of the power is actually not in the Dean’s office, but in the departments the electives like incorporating courses that make sure that students get a better understanding of government policy.

Going forward, where are Wharton’s biggest challenges? In my opinion it will be technology, and how to leverage it. It is very difficult to understand how technology is going to change things. It might be as simple as changes in the publishing industry where traditional textbooks might get replaced, or it could be a change in the way we deliver lectures in classrooms. Twenty years from now, we could have faculty stand in Philadelphia and deliver material to Shanghai, if technology is able to replicate the dynamics of a live classroom.

How would you describe your association with the Indian School of Business (ISB) ? I think it is remarkable that in less than 10 years, ISB got ranked 15th on the Financial Times rankings. I worry that some day they might outrank Wharton. Starting up a new initiative like ISB is not trivial. The kind of things they have done with just around 35 faculty members is incredible. We promoted a great opportunity. When the Dean is out speaking about what we are doing globally, you can count on ISB being talked about. For us it is an opportunity to participate in a global endeavour, and a part of how we want to extend our brand. It fulfills our mission in knowledge dissemination which now includes helping an organisation start up a school in a different country. In most alliances the relationship ebbs and flows at times. Fortunately there have been more steps forward than backward with ISB.

What has been your experience with Wharton Singapore? That was our first significant involvement outside the US. It does not quite feel like our relationship with ISB, but it continues to be a partnership. Probably what made the difference was that for ISB we had a group of faculty, committed to India, and they invested their time here well beyond any institutional expectation to make it work. At the end of the day, it is not just the institution but personalities that are doing the job. If we had selected 20 other random people, it would probably not have worked as well.

Edu Tech December 2009

Recently there has been talk in India about inviting renowned international universities to set up institutions in India. Do you think it is feasible? If they are going to set up anywhere, I am sure India is going to be on top of their list. But, it’s not going to happen the way it is being talked about. I could be wrong, but the way I see it, culturally it becomes very difficult to recreate the success of a school in other societies. Wharton has another campus in San Francisco. This was a school within the country and yet it was incredibly difficult to set up. In my opinion, you are going to see more collaboration or research centres. But, I don’t think you are going to see any major US institution independently setting up shop anywhere.

What is the secret of the high quality faculty at Wharton? Money is the easy part. You have to pay at market rate. Yet, the competition will always tend to match your offer. Wharton mostly likes to attract junior faculty, who pick the institution for a lot of reasons other than compensation. They want to know who their colleagues will be? Whether their personality fits in with the school? If they can grow and thrive there? If they fail to get a tenure at your institution is there going to be some other institution that will be happy to attract them for the lessons they learn at your institution? So, as an institution you will need have incredibly high standards on these fronts. Who you hire now will have a very long run impact on the institution. They will sow the seeds for who else you get to hire.

Campus

Environment

Edu Tech December 2009

Environment

Campus

Green How

is My Campus? Educational campuses old and new initiate a transformation towards eco-friendly practices By Indu prasad ILLUSTRATION anoop pc

eye stoppers Seventeen Trees Are saved for every tonne of paper that is recycled Energy bills go down by 20% if a campus turns off lights in the evening, switches off computer screens and makes use of natural light

et in the verdant green environs of Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Institutional Area, the TERI University is a striking campus. The buildings twist and turn in unexpected ways, the walls feel different and the very light within the public spaces looks different. A closer inspection of the windows, walls and roof makes you realise that the building is different from that in any other university. Add to this the fact that natural light reaches more than 70 percent of all occupied spaces, and air inside lacks the claustrophobia-inducing feeling of conventional central airconditioning and you know that what Dr R.K. Pachauri, Nobel prize-winning Chancellor of the University and architect Sanjay Mohe have created is a novel green campus. “An educational institution is a place of learning. To that extent, educational institutes are places that help conceptualise, nurture and then cement attitudes. This is true for the green language as well. This goes for early learning preparatory schools, primary education centres, secondary schools and indeed centres of higher education. The earlier the green language begins, the better,” says brand expert, Harish Bijoor. As Dr Rajiv Seth, registrar of TERI puts it, “Just seeing a green campus, studying in it, and living in it, stimulates younger minds to not only carry the message forward, but also to research in newer methods of energy contribution.” With Kyoto and Copenhagen summits bringing a public recognition of the ills of environmental pollution, going green is increasingly becoming a necessity. Installing CFLs instead of regular bulbs, attempting rainwater harvesting or wastewater management are passe. Technology and green architecture are now making a difference to every facet of a campus, boosting energy efficiency by as much as 60 percent and water efficiency by 80 percent. December 2009 Edu Tech

Campus

Environment

New Campus Green

The Green Advantage LEED certified green buildings reduce the pressure on resources and even help in cutting costs 0

Percentage Reduction

New universities can go green right from the beginning. “One should conceive the idea of going green from the time of site selection and follow it through the entire development process. The ‘green’ concept has to be conceived in totality – not as an add-on feature,” says Mohe. The new University of California campus at Merced, is a good example of going green from conception. “Careful selection of the site, helped in conserving more than 26,000 acres of native vernal pool grasslands,” points out Donna Birch Trahan, senior public information representative UC Merced. The university was committed to getting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED— green building rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council) Gold certification. It plans to increase sustainability by producing the same amount of renewable energy it consumes, minimising the generation of solid waste, recycling and achieving carbon neutrality. In UK, University of Nottingham’s new Jubilee Campus is the only one to receive the prestigious Green Flag, usu-

Energy Usage

Water Usage

30%

35%

40%

70% Source: U.S. Green Building Council

ally awarded to public parks and spaces. One of its striking features is the carpet of low-growing alpine plants that covers its roof to maintain a steady temperature much better than traditional insulation. In Australia, which has one of the worst cases of depletion of the ozone layer, the Australian National University has implemented an award-winning green plan that includes a recyclery

Architect Sanjay Mohe explains the steps for going green Look at the topography of the site, including vegetation, rock strata, contours, natural flow of water, orientation, etc and then balance between the built and the non-built spaces. Try to preserve existing vegetation, and minimise filling of land. S tudy the sun path at the location and sun movement through the year to Sanjay Mohe arrive at the right orientation of the building. Expose larger built mass Architect towards north to take advantage of natural light. Allow least exposure to south west side to protect the building from low altitude direct solar radiation and make the structure more energy efficient. Take advantage of wind direction and air flow to generate natural air flow, by using methods like air tunnelling effect, venturi effect etc. Use pergolas or screens on the roof to reduce the load on AC. Look for locally available materials to save energy and resources involved in transportation. Use insulation materials, or double-glazing wherever needed. Use recycled materials, or materials with low-carbon footprint to reduce radiations and heat gain inside the built environment. Use efficient energy saving systems in electrical, mechanical, plumbing and cooling. Energy saving systems like earth air tunnels, terrace gardens, thermal mass storage etc involve high initial investment, but are effective in the long run.

Edu Tech December 2009

CO2 emissions

How to go green

Waste Disposal

where you can pick up a second hand bike, computer, or furniture. Closer home, the Great Lakes Institute of Management campus near the picturesque beach of Mamallapuram is the only one in the world to be completely LEED Platinum rated. Founded by Padma Shri Professor Bala V. Balachandran, the institute is 100 percent day-lit, recycles its water and waste, and uses reused and recycled products. “We are moving towards a paperless office, and educating the community about going green through our ‘Karma Yoga’ projects besides introducing courses in environment management, sustainable growth and green entrepreneurship,” says Executive Director, Professor Sriram.

Old Campus Green Older campuses not only lose out on the early advantage that newer campuses have but also need to balance the demands between preserving old architecture and the need to go green. The good news is that most of them can be converted to be as efficient as a new green campus or more with just a little tuck and trim. Architect Mohe adds, “In an old campus, one has to work around existing constraints. Here efficiency of services takes precedence. Adopting the right mechanical and AC systems, and selecting the right fixtures for electrical and water supply could drastically change the efficiency of the building. Adding direct shading devices like pergolas or solar screen and adding

by Maria Sandqvist

Environment

insulating materials at appropriate places would enhance the energy efficiency.” Internationally, Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability is a beautiful example of turning an outdated 1960s-era structure into a bright, open, eco-friendly facility that was awarded the ED+C magazine’s Excellence in Design award. The building saves 18.7 percent on energy use and 50.3 percent on water use compared with the original building’s baseline. Some of its energy conservation strategies included creation of balconies by removing a section of exterior brick and replacing it with vine-clad metal trellises, removal of existing louvres and replacement of single-glazed windows on the east. It installed sunscreens along the east, west and south windows to reduce solar gain and control glare. Water-saving strategies are also a key focus in Arizona’s desert environment. The campus has installed waterless urinals, dualflush toilets and automatically monitored landscaping irrigation, to cut water use in half. Additionally, pervious paving reduces storm water runoff. Then there is Harvard’s Office for Sustainability (OFS) that has made the 450-year-old university a green mascot. Twenty of its new buildings are LEED certified, while more than 25 renovations include the Harvard Law School (built in 817), Byerly Hall (built in 1932), and Radcliffe Gymnasium (built in 1898). While each building has a different need to go green, some common features through all of them have been energy efficiency with more use of daylight, efficient heating ventilating and air conditioning systems instead of outdated air-conditioning, water and waste management. Roof gardens, ground source heat pumps for cooling, recharging groundwater with dry wells, boosting energy efficiency between 30 to 60 percent, reduction in water use by 50 to 80 percent, and most importantly preserving and reusing the original building materials have been the highlights of OFS renovations. In India, IIT Chennai set the precedence with a rainwater harvesting system that offsets potable water use in its 12 hostels as well as the main buildings.

Campus

The other side of green W ith all the prominence given to LEED or GRIHA, it seems inevitable that if you have a green campus, you need to get it certified. But keep in mind that these certifications cost time and money. E ach green feature needs to be carefully documented and proved to be a better option than conventional methods. This involves dedicated personnel and reams of paperwork. A ccording to report by Cleanair-Coolplanet, it is estimated that while the cost of LEED certification depends on the level sought, it can vary between 3 to 8 percent of construction costs. C onsequently, many administrators have opted to go green but not bother with the process of getting it certified. They also opted for more common sense measures rather than go all green. For instance, they installed light sensors that had a payback time of 10-15 years but didn’t go for solar panels that had payback time of 50-60 years. W ith the economy tight, where contractors are grateful enough for work coming in, they are facing the reality that while green measures are necessary, certification isn’t.

During the drought that hit Tamil Nadu between 2002 and 2004, the institute faced severe water shortage, and was forced to extend its summer vacations from two to four months. It was rainwater harvesting that provided a solution. IIT Kanpur has created a green haven with dedicated tree planting. In 2008, it consulted TERI to build a green Earth System and Environment Science Engineering Building, which saves up to 59 percent energy. It got TERI’s Green Rat-

ing for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA)— a rating similar to LEED but more contextual to India. GRIHA has almost 40 projects registered right now. Indian construction has a natural advantage. “Western concepts of ‘green’ are mostly related to high energy demands that arise from creating an air-conditioned environment,” says Gaurav Shorey, area convener GRIHA. Recently, the 92-year-old Banaras Hindu University also decided to build a sewage treatment plant. The south campus of the university is attempting to become the first carbon neutral university campus in the country, with a massive plantation drive of 176,000 saplings on 400 of its 1350 acres of land. Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi is installing water treatment plants and solar water heating. It already has rainwater harvesting in a few buildings, and is installing them in others as well.

Economics of Green “The main cost is not money but time. Time for increasing environmental awareness, doing internal environmental audits...” —Jörgen Bäckström, Head, Environmental Initiatives, Stockholm University

“If the basic design responds effectively to elements of nature, it does not involve any huge costs. In fact there is substantial savings when one looks at the overall life cycle of the building,” says Mohe. Harvard’s OFS has designed the innovative Life Cycle Costing calculator that helps calculate present and future costs related to new construction, renovation, equipment replacement, or any other project that involves expenditures. While December 2009 Edu Tech

Campus

Environment

Expert Speak: Dr Rajiv Seth What is the role of universities in carrying the green concept forward? Universities play a major role in exposing students to an efficient use of energy in day-to-day life. When encouraged by the faculty members, projects in universities could lead to simpler and newer methods of energy savings.

What is the role of students and faculty in maintaining a green campus? The very purpose of a green campus would be lost if the students and faculty members are not involved in maintaining it. In actuality, I would say that this could very well be a self-sustained process. At the TERI University, students have come up with various methods to maintain the green campus, including the setting up of a sustainability cell. They have set up a monitoring team, which goes around the campus at regular intervals to make sure that no wasteful expenditure of electricity is taking place.

How does TERI’s campus impact the surrounding community? The presence of the TERI University’s campus has excited people around the campus to actually participate in greening the surroundDr Rajiv Seth Registrar, TERI University ing areas. A corporate entity has joined hands with the University, along with some of the neighbouring RWAs, to green a large belt around the Institutional Area in Vasant Kunj, Delhi where the University is located. I do feel that the presence of an eco-friendly campus acts like catalyst and spreads awareness amongst the surrounding community.

Is it time for subjects like sustainability management to be introduced into regular courses? Would definitely think so. In fact, the TERI University has already introduced an MBA programme in Business Sustainability. This is like an MBA ‘Plus’ programme, where sustainability issues are integrated into every course taught in the programme. The aim is to ensure that leadership re-orients itself to customer needs, societal pressures and environmental imperatives. We hope to develop in the students, a new perspective related to integration of sustainable and ethical practices into management education.

What are the future plans for TERI to enhance its green image? All future programmes of the university will continue to have sustainability as a central theme. We do see our alumni as ‘green ambassadors’ and our expectation is that the learning at the university will go a long way in influencing their thinking process as they venture into their jobs. the current assumptions are Harvard specific, they are a good indication for any university considering the Harvard model of renovation or construction.

Edu Tech December 2009

In India, while we don’t have a specific calculator, it is estimated that it typically costs about 10 percent more to go green. For Great Lakes, it meant about Rs. 30 to

40 million increase in project cost. There were restrictions in the kind of materials used (recycled/reused, eco-friendly), source of material, type of vendors ( have to be certified) and contractors. “Many of these also resulted in delays in execution which was expensive,” explains Sriram. Seth from TERI adds, “A break even period for the extra 10 percent spent on going green is around five years.” The point of economics is drawn home by Jörgen Bäckström, head of Stockholm University’s environmental initiatives, “The main cost is not money but time. Time for increasing environmental awareness, doing internal environmental audits, developing information and promoting continual improvement of environmental performance.” According to supporters of green initiatives, working, studying or living in a green environment reduces absenteeism by as much as 10 percent and better natural light translates to better scores in tests for students.

The Future is Green “The future is about a politically correct generation, who will ask questions about the green status of a campus. Institutes need to build for the green standards of tomorrow,” says Bijoor. According to Shorey, it is important that India’s natural inclination for going green is revived. Institutions should be built according to local context. “These days, ‘development’ has only one face - large glass boxes completely devoid of architectural character. This has to change,” he says. Architects and engineers need to provide holistic solutions for buildings through an “integrated design approach”. Educational institutions in India have the distinct advantage of borrowing from the country’s past to contribute to its future without aping alien models.

What’s Online To read more about the green concept l LEED certification: www.usaleed.com/Certification.cfm l GRIHA certification: http://bit.ly/7EqE9H

Write in your views and opinions about the stories in this magazine or on any other issues relating to higher education. Send them to the Editor, EDU at editor@edu-leaders.com

*Offer valid till 15th Jan

academicS

Distance Learning

With the right mix of pedagogy and technology, distance learning could provide a successful route for expansion By Nupur Chaturvedi

t is 8 am on Sunday morning. While others think about sleeping in and waking up late, Taru Agarwal is in a senior management programme class. The class is discussing a case study, and Rohit and Taru have diametrically opposing views on what needs to be done. Finally, the professor intervenes to cool tempers. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a regular class, except that Taru is in New Delhi, Rohit is in Chennai and the professor is in Kolkata. As an entrepreneur, Taru has a hectic lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;dealing with clients, getting work done by her employees and managing her firm. Time and again she felt the need for a management education for better management of her business, but she was unable to leave her work for a year, nor was she enthusiastic about plain text-based correspondence courses. That was until she heard about virtual classroom based distance learning.

Edu Tech December 2009

eye stopper $ 200 million is the current revenue of the overall online education market in India $ 1 billion is the projected revenue for the year 2010, of the online education market in India

Distance Learning

“I opted for a distance learning programme that could be done along with my full-day work. The classes for the Senior Management Programme at IIM Calcutta were held on the weekend, so it was ideal.”

Growing Over Time

r Manjulika Srivastava, associate professor of Distance Education, STRIDE, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), in her paper A Comparative Study on Current Trends in Distance Education in Canada and India, states that in most countries distance education evolves in three phases—the correspondence education phase, the open and distance education phase, and the online education phase. Not surprisingly in India, with several centuries living back to back, these phases can all be found coexisting. Distance learning education came into being in the country through the recommendations of the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66), and was implemented in 1962. For India, the period from 1962 to the early 1980s was the correspondence phase. In 1982, the first Open University (OU), Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University, was established. This was followed by several others, including IGNOU in 1985. And then the latter part of the ‘90s, and the turn of the millennium saw the emergence of virtual platforms of education, auguring the online phase of distance education. Today, open and distance learning in India accounts for 24 percent of the total number students in higher education. There are largely three types of institutions offering Open and Distance Education—those that specifically offer distance learning, like IGNOU, the other OUs, those like Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL) and others, those that are traditional institutions looking to expand their base and impact more people with distance learning like the management institutions, and those that enter it from the corporate technology side and tie up with traditional institutions, like NIIT, Hughes, Educomp, Liqvid and others.

Technologically Inclined

n India, technology is beginning to play a bigger role in both the creation and delivery of course content. It started with radio and television, and has gone on to include the computer. Says Professor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, chairman and vice chancellor, IGNOU, “The radio, TV, print media as well as the new media—Internet, satellite and multimedia—have all contributed to education. These are all tools for enhancing the quality of teaching-learning process in the classroom, and thereby enhancing the quantity of education delivery as well as its reach.” In its recommendations to the government, the National Knowledge Commission’s (NKC) working group on open and distance education (ODE) says, “ICT must be suitably integrated into the ODE system, not only to ensure wider outreach and delivery, but also to make the pedagogical process more relevant, user-friendly, accessible and updatable.” ODE is not just for remote locations. Even for those living in urban areas, like Taru, pursuing higher education may not be an option. Many institutes employ a combination of technological and traditional methods for course content creation and course delivery. IGNOU covers a wide spectrum of technology suited to the needs of the course, like TV, radio, EduSat to digital media, IPTV, broadband connectivity, cloud computing based solutions, video conferencing, and mobile education. Pillai explains, “An ICT-enabled or ‘smart’ classroom is not just one with video of a monotonous 45-minute lecture. It has to be interspersed with presentations, demonstrations, illustrations and live examples.”

academicS

See Global, Think Global Nick Hutton, CEO, U21Global, on what makes a global distance learning institute relevant everywhere What challenges does U21Global face in providing courses internationally? Our programme brings people from different parts of the world together. Hence, we need to deliver the courseware in a way that caters to the technological capabilities of users from different parts of the world. The key is to remain relevant in the various business markets.

Nick Hutton CEO, U21Global

How do you maintain parity across countries?

The courses conducted at U21Global are fully online. Hence, there is no disparity in terms of content delivery. U21Global is backed by a network of universities from around the world. These universities, have collectively formed a quality assurance body, U21Pedagogica, to evaluate, monitor and set the quality standards.

How is the curriculum made relevant to all? While there may be variations of skills and knowledge in some countries, our approach is to develop leaders who can manage in a global environment. The global faculties and the global networking opportunities with the students and alumni, foster a great exchange of ideas across different cultures.

Where and how are U21Global’s courses available in India? Currently, we have students from over 72 countries. We also work with multiple corporate clients in India where the courses are partially customised to cater to their specific needs. These customisations may result in some face-to-face components, which are conducted at their premises.

December 2009 Edu Tech

academicS

Distance Learning

Different Approaches

ike IGNOU, SCDL uses a mix of technology and traditional tools. Swati Mujumdar, director, SCDL, says, “Whether it is e-learning or self-learning material, the main thing is the content, and Symbiosis prefers to keep the content copyright, because we know our students the best.” For a lot of institutions, technology is a retrofit, but there are also those who have entered the education sector from the technology route. NIIT Imperia and HughesNet Global Education, for instance. Both use satellite-based platforms to deliver classes in real time, simulating real classrooms. Both have tied up with reputed institutions for the content and curriculum delivery. Says Senior Vice President, NIIT Imperia, Shraman Jha, “You could be in Ahmedabad, somebody else in Bhopal, and a third person in Patna. But, for all practical purposes, you are in one classroom.” With no time lag, the ability to interact with other students and an intuitive interface that includes features like a “Raise Hand” icon, it feels like being in a real class room.

You could be in Ahmedabad, somebody else in bhopal and a third person in patna. but for all practical purposes you are in one classroom The institutions that NIIT and HughesNet have partnered with felt that they should concentrate on their core competency of course content and teaching, leaving the logistics and technology to the experts. Professor S.S.S. Kumar, chairman, Interactive Distance Learning Programme, IIM Kozhikode, says that while looking for a partner they looked at “the nature of technology, obsolescence rate, expertise to innovate on technology, experience in technology deployment, and cost and reach.” According to Professor Supriya Kumar De, associate dean, Satellite Programme, XLRI Jamshedpur, technology is an

enabler which helps in reaching more students, and giving them more value.

Benefits and Trends

or students, ODE provides the convenience of any time, anywhere access to the best education. There is no need to leave job or family to attend classes. Besides it is also easy on the pocket. Shraman explains, “A typical executive MBA programme on-campus, with an IIM, will cost you about Rs 1.5 million plus living expenses. Compared to that, a senior management programme from us, costs roughly Rs 200,000 to 250,00.” To the institute, the biggest benefit is scalability. With distance learning, the cap on the number of seats goes up, and with technology, the cap goes up even further. While a typical class in a university is limited to 30 to 40 students, technology-based distance learning can support class sizes ranging from 100 to 200 across geographically dispersed areas. Secondly, since most of these courses happen in the evening or on weekends, the facilities and premises can be used for other purposes, including leasing out. Conversely, those that don’t have

Student Support Services Are Critical For Success Swati Mujumdar, Director, Symbiosis Centre For Distance Learning (SCDL) talks about how SCDL makes sure that its distance education is a success. W hat does it take to design and deliver distance learning programmes successfully? In distance learning, two components are most important—academics (course content and curriculum) and student support services. Symbiosis blends learning methodologies. l Printed form: Each course has speSwati Mujumdar cially designed, easy to understand and Director, Symbiosis comprehensive self-learning material. Centre For Distance Learning (SCDL) l E-learning: Content is delivered in e-learning format and also via CDbased technology for those who cannot access the Internet. l Face-to-face interaction: To clarify doubts and provide a better understanding, classes are organised in either a faceto-face classroom format or through video conferencing.

Edu Tech December 2009

What role has technology played in improving distance learning programmes? Technology plays an extremely critical role in the delivery of distance education. We have used technology intensively for student care services. Our student information system tracks data to ensure that whenever the student logs into our web portal, he gets a complete picture of his history, right from the academic side to a fee cheque. Information is available at fingertips. Secondly, we have introduced an on-demand examination system. Students can take an examination without waiting for the semester end. Whenever they feel that they are ready, they can simply go to the web site and schedule a slot. You can give one paper from Delhi, another from Kolkata. This has given the students extreme convenience and has ensured that the students not only join our programmes, but also pass out quickly. We also have a professionally managed call centre that is dedicated to only answering student queries and every call is tracked for quality control.

Distance Learning

facilities can use ones that are available at those times. Incorporating distance education is also a way for institutions to appear ahead of the curve in terms of innovation. “The main reason for IIM Kozhikode to opt for interactive distance learning is our philosophy to innovate and experiment, and the eagerness to be at the cutting edge of technology enhanced learning,” says Kumar. How much does it add to the institute’s revenue base? According to “The Survey of Distance Learning Programmes in Higher Education,” 20072008, by Primary Research Group, distance learning revenues in a sample of programmes grew by a mean of 15.52 percent in 2006. In India, the combined ODE enrolments in 2006-07 were over 2.3 million. India currently gets US$200 million revenue from online education (not limited to higher education), and this is slated to touch $1 billion by the end of 2010. Corporate and institutional training is one area where distance learning is providing many solutions. For instance the tie-up between NIIT Imperia and ICICI Bank in the form of the Institute of

Distance No Bar

Students choose distance learning for different reasons

24%

30%

22%

23%

Can pursue the course while in job Interactiveness of the platform Learning from the professors from premier institutes while in their city Learning and Networking from experience of other executives Source: HughesNet Global Education survey

academicS

Synchronous learning The Synchronous Learning Technology platform at NIIT Imperia consists of—studio, satellite and study centre. Faculty comes to the nearest studio to conduct class. Studios are connected to the data centre on high-speed dedicated links. From the data centre it goes through satellite network to the remote Source: NIIT Imperia centres. The student has a headset and a web camera, so when he asks a question, the entire virtual class can see and hear him. At any given time, beams of three different courses can concurrently come into a centre.

Banking, Finance and Insurance and the MoU between IGNOU and the Indian Army, where the former provides professional certification to soldiers. U21Global also offers corporate training. Nick Hutton, CEO, tells us, “Giving its staff the tool to excel in this ever-changing environment is the best way a company can help itself.” Management education is one of the most popular courses in distance learning. However, a range of other courses like language, poultry farming, communication and creative courses are also on offer. Even technical, laboratory-based courses are available, with virtual experiments and field interaction. Internationally in regions where the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) levels are below 15, distance learning is seen as a viable option to increase the number of people getting higher education opportunities. For instance sub-Saharan Africa, with a GER of 6 is focused on distance learning. While East Asia, matches the world average of 26, South Asia falls between Africa and East Asia at 11. IGNOU, has a pan-African programme in management and education. Singapore-based online graduate school U21Global (see box), has affiliate universities from around the world, including Delhi University. U21Global has recently tied up with IGNOU as well. Internationally, collaborate-and-grow seems to be the model to go forward with.

Success Factors

aying equal attention to delivery and content, and using resources efficiently are the critical success mantras, say experts. Partho Banerjee, president and managing director, Hughes Communication India Ltd elaborates, “Learner’s engagement, participation, interest, motivation and enthusiasm for learning are the fundamental things that one should keep in mind while designing a distance learning programme. Since the participants have to cope with both work and knowledge enhancement pressures, it is important that they see value in what they are learning.” Ultimately, though, the true success of ODE in India will come when the NKC’s vision of the A-3 scenario is realised— where anyone, anytime, anywhere can be connected to others through networks and access devices in a virtual space to receive education. The idea is to have an open mind and a clear strategy.

What’s Online Read a longer version of this article with more insights on the EDU Website www.edu-leaders.com. To read more about distance learning l Distance Education Council: www.dec.ac.in/index.htm l Recommendations from the Working Group on Open and Distance Education: www.knowledgecommission.gov. in/downloads/documents/wg_ode.pdf l Sakshat:E Learning Portal: www.ignouonline.ac.in/ sakshat/index.aspx Write in your views and opinions about the stories in this magazine or on any other issues relating to higher education. Send them to the Editor, EDU at editor@edu-leaders.com

December 2009 Edu Tech

Viewpoint

Rishikesha T. Krishnan

Learning How to Innovate From Stanford

tanford is often incorrectly referred to as one of the Ivy league universities despite the fact that it is just over a hundred years old, and is on the wrong coast of the United States (US)! The story of how it reached this exalted status contains many lessons for Indian institutions aspiring to become world-class.

The beginnings were not propitious. Soon after the university was founded in 1891 by Senator Leland Stanford and his wife Jane in memory of their only son, Senator Stanford died. Jane Stanford had to struggle to keep the university going, and according to legend at one point had to pledge her jewellery to raise money.

the then science adviser to the President, the government set up funding mechanisms through the Departments of Energy and Defense to pursue “the Endless Frontiers of Science.” Stanford Engineering, led by Terman, grasped this opportunity to change the University’s trajectory. The fact that Vannevar Bush had been Terman’s PhD guide at MIT probably did not harm Stanford’s cause! Terman realised that generous research funding from the government could help overcome the limited budgets available within the university. He aggressively hired talented engineering faculty, helped them set up state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, and used this base to attract the best students. In addition, he invited technology pioneers like Bill Shockley, inventor of the transistor, to relocate to Stanford.

Terman Changes the Game

Academic Entrepreneurship

The inflection point for Stanford came soon after the Second World War, but it was helped by events that happened before and during the War. It was Frederick Terman, who steered the change. Though he never became President of the University, he was, in sequence, Head of Electrical Engineering, Dean of the School of Engineering, and Provost of the University. During the Second World War, academic science was harnessed in large time-bound efforts to give the Allied Powers a technological edge. In one of these projects, Terman led the effort to develop anti-jamming techniques. This gave him the experience of leading a large project team, and alerted him to the potential of large-scale university research. After the War, US decided to continue the pursuit of “big science” in peacetime. Under Vannevar Bush,

Terman did not restrict his attention to academic research. Another important contribution was his encouragement of entrepreneurship in students. He was personally involved in helping Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard set up what is today HP, the highly respected global leader in information technology. His support included ideas for their first products, and a research assistantship that allowed Hewlett to move back to the west coast from a job at General Electric. As Dean, Terman encouraged faculty to get out

Edu Tech December 2009

Rishikesha T. Krishnan

of the university and learn about the industry. As Provost, he extended this thinking to other departments. Stanford became famous for the porous boundaries between the university and start-ups emanating from ideas on campus. Today, the success of companies like Google underlines the importance of the seeds sown by Terman sixty years ago. Terman persuaded Stanford’s trustees to use the large land bank to set up the Stanford Industrial Park. He attracted high calibre technology companies to the Park. These companies became the nucleus of what is today Silicon Valley. Some of Bill Shockley’s associates founded Fairchild Semiconductor, the parent of Intel and the semiconductor industry. Realising that industry would need to retain talented people, yet keep sharpening their skills and knowledge, Terman pioneered the Honors Cooperative Program (HCP). Under the HCP, engineers from companies in the region could attend graduate classes on campus, part-time. The fee structure ensured that the large companies subsidised the small, thus providing further support to

Viewpoint

Stanford may exist in India today. The government is moving away from a system of funding research only within laboratories that it owns and runs. It is setting up a new National Science and Engineering Foundation to give a quantum jump to research funding in Indian higher academia. There are several spheres of public activity in which there is an urgent need to scale up research efforts— national security and public health are two that come to mind immediately. Opportunites exist outside research in new teaching pedagogies, better use of technology, and new courses that address the changing needs of the country. Universities that can take the lead in addressing such opportunities can position themselves for future growth and leadership. The second lesson is the importance of excellence. With foreign universities knocking at our doors, the bar will go up. Only universities that aspire for the highest standards will be able to stay up there with the best. The third takeaway is the importance of a longterm view, persistence, and patience. Stanford’s transformation did not happen overnight. It took

oday, the success of companies like Google underlines the importance of the seeds sown by Terman sixty years ago

small firms. It is little wonder that Fred Terman is often referred to as the Father of Silicon Valley. Terman was well known for focusing on “steeples of excellence” – he believed that the University should concentrate on what it could do best. He supported inter-disciplinary work by encouraging departments to make cross appointments. As an individual, he remained largely in the background and did not seek presidential appointments at other universities though these could have been his for the asking.

Lessons for India Today, Stanford is consistently ranked among the top ten universities in the world. It gets more than $800 million in funds each year, and its pioneering spirit continues. What can we take away from this? The first message is the importance of academic entrepreneurship. Interestingly, an opportunity similar to the one Terman identified for

at least 20 to 25 years of effort by Terman and others to reach the status of the Ivies. Terman sacrificed personal glory for the cause of Stanford. The fourth lesson is the importance of combining individual freedom with responsibility for outcomes. Though Terman was never Stanford University President, the President and the Board of Trustees recognised the value of his vision and ideas, and gave him the space to operate. Terman, in turn, gave faculty considerable freedom and relied on high standards of excellence to ensure that the best thrived. Finally, people make institutions. Terman had a long and abiding interest in people and what they were doing. He was well known for keeping track of alumni and researchers who were making waves, and finding ways of attracting them to Stanford or Silicon Valley. It is this interest in people that helped him become an inspiring mentor to dozens of start-ups.

Rishikesha T. Krishnan Dr Krishnan is a professor of Corporate Strategy at IIM Bangalore. He holds an MSc in Physics from IIT Kanpur, MS in EngineeringEconomic Systems from Stanford University, and a PhD from IIM Ahmedabad

December 2009 Edu Tech

PROFILE

L.K. Maheshwari

fact file Name: L.K. Maheshwari Current engagement: Vice Chancellor BITS, Director BITS Pilani

things he likes: music: Old Hindi film songs; bhajans of Anoop Jalota Food: Rice and Karhi Holiday Destination: Rameshwaram Restaurant: Sagar in Delhi Book: Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock Pastime: Reading books on spirituality and philosophy

The Man Who Never Left He is a believer in science, and yet as passionate about God and spirituality. After all, life has taught him that destiny makes the best plans

By Smita polite 56

Edu Tech December 2009

t was just another dry and dusty day in Rajasthan when 20-year-old Laxmi Kant Maheshwari entered the campus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) in Pilani. While the campus was like an oasis in the barren landscape, it was still a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Lucknow, where Maheshwari got his Masters in Physics. He made up his mind that he would leave the campus the day he got his MTech degree. Forty-four years later, Maheshwari is still there and cannot ever imagine going elsewhere. “I guess it was destiny. Every time I thought of leaving, something stopped me,” says Dr L.K. Maheshwari the director of BITS Pilani and the vice chancellor of BITS. Born in a middle-class family in Kasgunj, a small town in Etah district of Uttar

by DR Lohia

Date of birth: July 5, 1945

L.K. Maheshwari

Pradesh, Maheshwari was urged by his father to pursue higher studies. “I was not sure of what career to choose and took each day as it came. After MTech I got a research fellowship. Then, I got an offer to join Regional Engineering College Trichy as a lecturer in 1971. But, my head of department at Pilani asked me to join BITS,” says Maheshwari.

Oasis of Learning The depressing heat and dust was soon forgotten in the excitement and bonhomie that BITS offered. Along with his wife Gayatri, and sons Anil and Sunil, Maheshwari developed an attachment to the campus that only a BITSian can describe. The clock tower, the marble temple, and the old shopping market C’Not are as important to him as to any true-blue BITSian. “In a campus like BITS, the administrator has to make sure that everyone— the teaching and non-teaching staff including the peons and the attendants feel like a family. We have managed this beautifully, and the warmth spills over to include new students every year,” says Maheshwari. The joy of seeing bright young faces every morning is more than anything that money could give, in Maheshwari’s view. “At one time, I had toyed with the idea of joining as the CEO of the sugar businesses owned by our Chairman J.K. Birla. I even went to see the place where I would be working. But, when I went there I immediately realised that I was missing the vibrant energy of the campus. I was thankful that destiny had made me choose the profession that I was made for,” reflects Maheshwari. As a teacher, his popularity with students is legendary. It is a policy at BITS to not force its students to attend classes or take tests. “We leave it to you. You want classes, you attend classes,” is the BITS diktat. By the end of the year, many students have minimal attendance. Yet, when Maheshwari delivered lectures, his class often had to move to bigger rooms to accommodate the 400-odd students who would turn up, to listen to him even on chilly winter mornings. Even as a director he shares a special bond with students. He turns up for

rehearsals of plays and other cultural shows that the students prepare for OASIS, the famous student festival that attracts attendees from all over India. “I have acted in plays, and I know the level of commitment it needs. These activities need as much encouragement as academics.” he says. His popularity has also helped him involve students in community development programmes, another area that Maheshwari believes should be as important as academics. “Universities of tomorrow will be known for the impact they make on the society around them. Ayam nija paroveti ganana laghuchetsam, Udarcharitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam. ‘This is mine

PROFILE

Though there have been detractors of the benefits of the tremendous freedom that students enjoy at BITS, Maheshwari believes that students need independence to prepare for the outside world. “Students appreciate transparency. As long as you practice what you preach, and are able to inspire them they will do fine,” he says. To keep himself approachable Maheshwari has kept aside one hour on Mondays and Fridays, to meet people. “Everyone on the campus knows I am there for them. However, they also know that I am a no-nonsense person. I appreciate punctuality and I always keep commitments,” he says. Students often write to Maheshwari to

“I think I derive the greatest satisfaction from the success of my students” and that is yours’ is the value system of mean people. For people who are largehearted, all the world is like their own,” he says. The institute runs several social development projects, like a BPO which employs around 60 girls of neighbouring villages, irrigation processes, solar energy driven pumps and administrative training of sarpanchs.

Socially Committed Maheshwari poignantly recalls a rainwater harvesting project, which provided potable water for 10 households. “An old woman from the village walked up to me and said ‘Manne bahut faydo huo ho, gharo konne utthano paro hai (I don’t have to lift the pitcher anymore).’ The relief and happiness writ large on her face was one of the best compliments that we could get,” says Maheshwari.

thank him for his guidance. Sometimes they write to say that an idea he brought up in class inspired them to start up their own company “I think I derive the greatest satisfaction from the success of my students. Life has been kind to me and I thank God for all the trust and respect I have got,” he says. Few people know that Maheshwari is a deeply religious man, who goes on pilgrimages to Kedarnath and Badrinath, and that he starts each day with a prayer. “Kayena vacha manasendriyairva Buddhyatmana va prakrite swabhavath Karoomi yadyad sakalam parasmai Narayanayeti samarpayami (Whatever I do with my mind, body, speech or other senses, with my intellect or with my innate tendencies I offer everything to Narayana). I do my part and then leave everything to God and destiny,” is all he says. December 2009 Edu Tech

“(Integrative thinkers) see the entire architecture of the problem” Roger L. Martin, Author

Book Review

The Opposable Mind How successful leaders win through integrative thinking By C. S. Venkata Ratnam, Director, IMI This book on integrative thinking is based on the experience of the author who is the Dean at Rotman School of Management in Toronto University. Roger L. Martin defines integrative thinking as, “The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas, but is superior to each.” Roger advocates that integrative thinkers who use the opposable mind go past a series of either-or propositions and in the words of poet Wallace Steven, choose “not between, but of.” Martin got this idea of opposable minds from the works of Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Chamberlain. For Fitzgerald, integrative thinking is a naturally occurring capability that is limited to those born with “a first-rate intelligence.” For Chamberlain, it is a skill and discipline that even those of us who aren’t geniuses can develop. For, the opposable mind is there waiting to be used. When faced with a dilemma to choose between two diametrically opposite solutions, instead of resorting to a trade-off which involves compromise, persist and persevere to generate additional alternatives until you find a creative solution with optimal benefit to all stakeholders. In the second half of the book, Roger gives many examples of how he and his colleagues at the school have developed and used integrative thinking pedagogy

in both MBA and executive education programs. Roger describes the process of thinking and deciding in the following four phases/stages: Salience: what features do I see as important? Causality: how do I make sense of what I see? Architecture: what tasks will I do in what order? Resolution: hw will I know when I am done? And, then, he proceeds to map the typical features of the integrative thinkers’s personal knowledge system comprising stance, tools and experience. He believes that the personal knowledge system that he outlines can help one to become more proficient, provided one has the needed patience and reflection as one proceeds. It takes time to build the skills and discipline. Towards the end, Roger quotes Peter Drucker in the spirit of whose insight the book was attempted to chronicle the obvious that is usually taken for granted: “One always finds that the most obvious, the simplest, the clearest conclusion has not been drawn except by a very small fraction of the practitioners. One always finds that the obvious is not seen at all. Perhaps this is simply saying that we never see the obvious as long a we take it for granted.” I recommend this book to every teacher, student and practitioner of management, not just for reading but also for imbibing as a part of their pedagogy.

Author: Roger L. Martin Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (December 4, 2007) Price: Rs 995

New releases

Why Education Isn’t Educating

A Sociological Perspective

Education is receiving an unprecedented amount of attention, whether in India or elsewhere. However, education just for the sake of learning has lost its importance. Frank Furedi, a professor of sociology at the University of Kent Canterbury explores the aberrations that occur when a society gets obsessed with education.

Two professors from King’s College, London have collaborated to write this book on the connections between sociology and education. Sharon Gewirtz, professor of Education and Alan Cribb, professor of Bioethics and Education discuss theories in sociology of education in detail and relate them to the values attached to these ideas.

Author: Frank Furedi Publisher: Continuum Pub Group (Nov 30, 2009)

Author: Alan Cribb & Sharon Gewirtz Publisher: Polity (November 16, 2009)

Price: Rs 1,393

Price: $69.95

Edu Tech December 2009

timeout

Gizmos

Kindle the Reader in You The digital reader has been hailed as the next big thing after Gutenberg’s printing press, and figures high on the wish list of must haves this holiday season Worried that your house cannot store the huge number of books that you keep accumulating? You might have a solution in Kindle. This digital reader from Amazon, can store up to 1,500 books in its 2GB memory. With a thickness of .36 inches and a weight over 28.3 grams, it will certainly occupy less space than the average book in your library. Kindle uses 3G wireless technology to download books in 60 seconds. Its 6-inch electronic ink, black and white display reads like paper and does not use backlight. Various other features like “Text- to- Speech” make it really hard to resist.

Price: $279

gADGETS The Power of Three PaperShow is a tool that could give an edge to your presentations and lectures. The kit consists of a USB key that is a bluetooth transceiver and a memory stick rolled into one, a bluetooth pen that connects with the USB key, and Papershow digital paper. What you write on the digital paper gets projected on your screen. It is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher and Vista.

Price: $199

Tap and Slide Yes those are the two features that make Nokia 6600i stylish. You reject calls by tapping and you display the the clock by sliding. Equipped with 5- megapixel camera with autofocus and dual-LED flash, 3G and EDGE connectivity the phone is just 14 mm thin. The only dampener is the four-hour talk-time battery. If you don’t mind that, then just go ahead and tap and slide away.

Thin and Sleek

Price: Rs 14,000

The obsession with size zero is the latest fad in the notebook market. Not wanting to be left behind, Dell has launched the world’s thinnest notebook Adamo XPS. The 9.9 mm thin beauty weighs only 1.3 kg, has a 13.4inch widescreen HD (720p) display, and a sleek aluminum body. It opens at an angle with a slightly raised body, which makes it comfortable to type on the keyboard. It runs on Windows 7, and has a built in battery that lasts for 5 hours.

Bold and Beautiful

Price: Rs. 1,50,000

The uber cool VO2 from Void watches will make you drool. With a half glass half steel front, and a leather strap, it has that ultra modern look that catches attention. Designed by Swedish designer, David Ericsson, it is inspired by the Scandinavian design tradition which uses geometric patterns. Notwithstanding its bold look it looks equally fetching on men and women.

Price: $200 December 2009 Edu Tech

Perspective Dr N.K. Uberoi Former Joint Director IMT Ghaziabad

New Paradigm in Management Education Business schools have to encourage students to delve deeper into the purpose of management education, and realise that “when we do business we are building society”

avier Mendonza, Dean of Esade Business School has tried to revive interest of management educators in the philosophy of Max Weber (18641920), who was a noted German political economist and sociologist. Weber believed that “when we do business, we are building society.” Mendonza’s efforts to revive this view in today’s business world is worth emulating. We really need to review whether our business schools are actually contributing towards the advancement of society. Today the training of most managers does not focus on how their actions can help build or break societies. However, at the time when business schools like Harvard were being founded, Weber’s philosophy was in vogue. Even the famous philosopher Alfred Whitehead, who was Weber’s contemporary and later also taught at Harvard University, recognised that business and society were interlinked. In fact, Whitehead viewed business schools as representative of modern directions in university theory and practice. He said, “Universities have trained the lawyers, the statesmen, the men of science and the men of letters. The conduct of business requires intellectual imagination of the same type as other professions.”

Edu Tech December 2009

Unfortunately business schools have come to be viewed as “the place where you learn how to make money” instead of a “place of learning” like other professional colleges. This must change The role of business schools is to spell out the purpose of management education, and to help students in igniting their learning process. The purpose, in simple terms, is to help business to build society. To adhere to this principle they must have a space for discussion on societal, moral and other wider goals of business education and philosophy. Creating an option for a course in philosophy will bring in a component of liberal education as well as training in critical thinking process. Critical thinking is a prerequisite to reach judgement and decision, hence crucial for a manager who is confronted with situations in which a good decision can result in good business.

the underlying concept of course work has become imparting of knowledge FOR maximisation of shareholder’s value

However, most business schools do not feel that their students should spend precious time in courses that force them to think about society and its problems. Even students consider these courses as unnecessary frills and would rather concentrate on courses that can help them learn ways of generating more wealth. Thus the underlying concept of course work has become imparting of knowledge for maximisation of shareholder’s value. Courses related to globalisation and internationalisation of business are being preferred over understanding of the fundamental nature of knowledge, and its validity in relation to business. In my view drastic changes are needed in the current educational approach. Students should be taught that Social Darwinism has to be changed to ‘Reform Darwinism’; a balance has to be struck between laissez-faire and the doctrine of interventionism. The economists, other social scientists and even literary works like Homer should also get an honourable space in our business schools. Economics, sociology, psychology, ethics, political science, in addition to management disciplines must cooperate in finding solutions to society’s problems. Will B-schools rise to the occasion? Former principal of Hansraj College and former joint director of IMT Ghaziabad, Dr N.K. Uberoi, is a well known educationist and author of several books on environmental management

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