Academic Excellence in Improved Ecosystem and Faculty Engagement Thanikachalam Vedhathiri Former Professor and HOD, Center for International Affairs, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai vthani2025@yahoo.in Abstract Academic excellence is essential in developing a nation’s competitiveness in the fast- growing knowledge economy. Engineering Universities play key roles in creating and institutionalizing knowledge and human capital, sustaining them through continuous research and undertaking sponsored research works from the industry and government. Various development strategies have been undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development like establishing institutes of national importance, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and Management, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and Design, Under Quality Improvement Programs, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is offering doctoral programs through Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) [Tier-1] , National Institutes of Technology (NIT)[Tier-2] and other autonomous colleges [Tier-3]. Also, two World Bank assisted Projects in Technical Education Quality Improvement (TEQIP) has been successfully implemented. Still, there are thousands of state colleges, and self- financing colleges which need highquality faculty, infrastructure, and resources. Only 2-5% of students who are coming out of these Tier-4 institutions join Multi- National Corporates (MNC) and work in various global giants in software development, product innovation, and other managerial positions. It appears about 800 colleges would be closed soon for want of trained and competent faculty, and absence of linkages with the industries. There are more than 1000 colleges which are not properly governed will be discarded by the faculty and students. This will create a burden on the banks to collect the loans advanced to these institutes. There is a need for academic excellence to be nurtured through faculty engagement and improving the educational ecosystem. Hence, a transformation model has been
suggested to turnaround the low- performing colleges and lead them towards the growth path. It is assumed that the graduates from Tier IV colleges would perform very well. From their feedbacks, a model has been synthesized for the faculty engagement and improving the ecosystem in the engineering colleges. Keywords: Faculty Engagement, a turnaround of lowperforming engineering colleges, improving the academic ecosystem. Introduction In the fast few years, an increasing number of states have encouraged the private enterprises (edupreneurs) to start many engineering institutions, but they did not recruit required number of competent faculty, and liaison with the industry for training the students and absorbing them. Majority of these institutes run with less than 50 % of the faculty members. In addition, a number of graduates seek many part -time jobs at a very low salary. They struggle for more than five years to get needed skills. A few motivated graduates have completed the programs and continued to undergo many courses in software which are offered by many private companies. It is very essential to plan for turnaround these colleges, engage the faculty for their competency development, form state-level consortia to provide additional courses and link with industries for on the job training. The Boards of Apprenticeship Training (BOATs) can provide a number of apprenticeship training with a stipend to the college graduates. The skills and competencies of the young faculty members are to be improved through the in-house faculty development programs, mass open online courses (MOOCs), sequential summer and wither schools under Quality Improvement Programs (QIP), industrial exposures through BOATs and external guides for research work through part-time external registration. Also, one can review the steps taken by various countries to improve the quality of the engineering graduates. Objectives of the Research
To assess the problems of the engineering graduates who are not able to acquire needed skills and competencies during their studies. To review the global practices in improving the quality of graduates in collaboration with the industries and other training institutes. To develop a turnaround mechanism for the poorly performing colleges through engaging the faculty To suggest an improved educational ecosystem for developing highly skilled graduates
Research Methodology Survey research has been selected for this research work. Viable turnaround strategies were collected from the literature. Quality circles were formed with the senior faculty members and the overseas participants to generate viable solutions for the present problems. A focused questionnaire has been prepared to get the feedbacks from the faculty who are working in various institutes. Analyses of these outcomes helped the researcher to develop synthesis and a model for improving the competencies of the graduates of engineering colleges and creating an ecosystem for excellence in engineering education through faculty engagement. Literature Survey World-class engineering universities are essential in developing a nation’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. These universities play key roles in creating and disseminating knowledge, educating a highly competent workforce for technological and intellectual leadership, and serving the needs of the country (Altbach, 2009, Qi Wang, Ying Chang and Nian Cai Liu, 2013, and Wende, 2009). Hence, the low performing institutes have to be developed to provide more competent engineers.
support from the management. Almost all the institutes depend on the high tuition fees and capitation fees. There is a need for curriculum reform to meet the fastdeveloping technologies, faculty training through in-house programs in instructional design, delivery, industrial exposure, sequential summer and winter schools which will lead to postgraduate degrees, and online open courses. The cooperation from the government and the affiliating university are very much needed. Altbach (2004 & 2011) has stated that the following attributes are essential for the universities: ‘ highly qualified faculty, talented students, excellence in research, quality teaching with international standards, high levels of government and non-government funding, academic freedom, autonomous governance structure, and well- equipped facilities for teaching, research, administration for student life’.
Salmi (2009) proposed the following three complementary factors: 1. A concentration of talent, 2. Abundant resources, and 3. Favorable and autonomous governance. Further, the technical universities should offer a rich learning and research environment, and to provide favorable and autonomous governance and encourage strategic vision and innovation, so as respond effectively to the demands of a fast- changing global market. Priscilla Wohlstetter and Susan
Albers Mohrman (1992) have reported that school leaders across the USA are exploring ways to better educate students and improve school performance. Institute- Based Management (IBM) (Priscilla Wohlstetter and Susan Albers Mohrmam, 1993) offers a way to promote improvement by decentralizing control from central offices to individual college sites. The control over four resources needs to be decentralized throughout the college to maximize performance improvement:
Approaches to Excellence Special funding Schemes of “China’s 985 Project”
Korea’s “Brain Korea 21” Germany’s “Centers of Excellence” Taiwan’s “Five Year –50 Billion Excellence Initiative” Russia’s “National Research University” Saudi Arabia’s “Education City Projects” By comparing the above approaches with the present low performing Tier IV colleges, it is inferred that there is no goal for excellence, no adequate funding, and no policy to
Power to make decisions that influence institutional practices, policies, and directions; Competencies that enable faculty to understand and contribute to institutional performance including technical knowledge to do the job or provide services, interpersonal skills, and managerial knowledge and expertise; Information about the performance of the institution, including revenues, expenditures, department performance, and strategic information on the broader policy and economic environment; and Rewards that are based on the performance of the institution and the contributions of faculty.
The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) (NPBEA, 1989) specifies that the desirable educational leader promotes success for all students by:
Facilitating the development, articulation, implementation and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the community; Advocating, nurturing and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and the professional growth of staff members;
Ensuring management of the organization, operations and resources for a safe, efficient and effective learning environment; Collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources; Acting with integrity, fairness and ethics; and Understanding responding to and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts.
Contributions of University Council for Education Administration (McCarthy 1999; Van Meter 1999)
University of Connecticut, California State University and the University of Colorado designed a core curriculum that more strongly emphasizes instructional practice and involves practicing educational leaders in specifying the content and organization of core courses. Michigan State University has introduced fieldwork involving internships, problem based learning and other forms of experiential learning. The University of Northern Colorado introduced internships, simulations and case studies. Stanford University developed Prospective Principals Program (Bridges and Hallinger, 1996). The University of Utah and the University of Pittsburgh stress instructional leadership with extensive fieldwork and build program design around the collaborative efforts of practicing leaders and university faculty (Alonso 2000).
Leadership Preparation
Mostly occurs in colleges and universities, weekend programs, retreats and staff development workshops. There is a need for leadership development. Internal restructuring is essential
All these are equally applicable to the current institutes who need improvement. Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation Student engagement and motivation in an institute is measured on:
Effective Strategies for Student Engagement
Authentic Instruction Newmann and Wehlage (1995) defined authentic instruction as a pedagogy that consists of four essential elements: 1.
School Improvement: Strategies that Work
3.
Hoachlander Gary (1999) identified the following six strategies from the literature:
4.
Raising the bar- elevating expectations, increasing academic rigor and eliminating low-level teaching; Increasing student engagement and motivationadopting, authentic pedagogy and providing additional support services; Providing focused sustained professional development- clarifying mission and developing teachers, teachers as trainers, and mentor teachers; Organizational and management practiceseffectively managing the school site and creating schedules; Building linkages- forming relationships with parents, employers and the community; and Monitoring and accelerating improvementimplementing policies for assessment and accountability.
Authentic instruction Focused “thematic” curriculum Smaller, more personalized learning communities Customized student support services
The above would influence both behavioral and affective engagement. The authentic curriculum would impact on students’ classroom participation more directly. Smaller learning communities and more effective support services are more likely to influence students’ identification with institute and sense of belonging.
2.
Behavioral – degree of participation in classes and other cocurricular activities Affective – identification with institute and sense of belonging
Students learn through tasks such as synthesizing information, generalizing from examples. Explaining with their own words, or making deductions. Instruction covers curriculum thoroughly and provides students with opportunities to explore connections and relationships among various parts of the subject. Students discuss subjects extensively with other students and their teachers to develop a deep understanding of the concepts and to share insights with one another. Students apply what they learn in school to their own lives and to issues outside the school, such as their future careers or volunteer work, public policy problems and local developments.
Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation
Behavioral – degree of participation in classes, labs, workshops; Affective -identification with college and sense of belonging; External influences like peer pressure, personal attitudes and support, previous experiences and life encounters that shape attitudes and aptitude. External influences are powerful and overwhelm even the best efforts of a skilled faculty dedicated to finding effective strategies for engaging the faculty.
Effective Strategies to increase Student Motivation and Influence both Behavioral and Effective Engagement
Authentic instruction Focused “thematic” curriculumclassroom participation
improves
students’
Smaller, more personalized learning communities- influence students’ identification with the college and sense of belonging Customized student support service
Status of the Low Performing Institutes The following information has been synthesized from a group of senior faculty members around 509 who participated in institutional development workshops in engineering education organized by the researcher at NITTTR Chennai in ten years 2001-2011.
Severe shortage of qualified and experienced faculty Low importance to in-house training Lowest importance to industrial linkages Shortage of corpus funds Low salary to the faculty Frequent changes in the faculty Limited Resources Mediocre students who could get the seats through open competition Absence of accreditation of the programs Absence of industrial training to the students and faculty Low performance in the university examinations Accumulation of arrears Low skills and competencies in critical thinking, problemsolving, design, prototype development and maintenance Low enrolment of students Governing council rarely meets AICTE and MHRD never appoint their representatives to the Governing Council
Students are to be encouraged to apply intellectual skills and higher order abilities to every design and product development activities. They should be given realistic projects and structured activities and stimulate them to experience problem- solving and learning by doing in situations drawn from their experiences outside classrooms. In contextualized learning, teachers must customize instruction to individual students’ experiences, interests, and cultures. Improved Support Services for Students Special tutoring, additional in-class support for students with special needs, special equipment, supplementary materials, and counseling could be provided. Providing Focused, Sustained Professional Development
Creating a collaborative culture that is attentive to goals and planning comprehensively to achieve them; Defining and prioritizing a focused, ordered agenda for staff development that is linked to institute’s strategic plan Empowering on master teachers to train novice teachers Commissioning mentor teachers; and Attending to the ongoing development of principals and heads of departments outside the classroom
Problems of the Graduates Who Received Inadequate Skills and Competencies
Not able to get well-paying jobs Poor performance in the entrance exams Not able to get entry into postgraduate programs Heavy debt and not able to repay even the interest Lost the family property to pay the heavy capitation fees Depressed very much and lost motivation & confidence Burdon to family and society
Thematic Curriculum One way to build a coherent, sustained program of contextualized learning is to implement large themes to organize and focus a comprehensive curriculum and longterm course of study (Goodlad 1984; Hill Foster and Gendler 1990; Sizer 1992). Broad themes in engineering provide a real-life context for organizing challenging programs of academic and technical study. Rigorous foundation of knowledge and skills would ensure success in careers. Work-related issues, problems and situations provide the context for engaging and motivating students as well as a theme around which to focus their engineering studies. Cooperative education has a well-defined structure and set of organizing prerequisites. Mary Deane Sorcinelli (2007) studied the problem of faculty development and the challenge going forward. She assessed the key challenges and pressures facing faculty members and their institutions. According to her the expanding faculty roles, finding balance, needs of new faculty, the changing nature of student body, increasing multiculturalism and diversity, the challenges of underprepared student, changing nature of teaching, and scholarship are to be addressed. The faculty development programs should emphasize learner-centered teaching, integrating technology into teaching and learning, assessment of student learning outcomes, expanding the definitions of scholarship, and building interdisciplinary collaborations. Mildred Pearson and Krishna Thomas (2010) stated that quality faculty development programs would impact teaching and learning. Colleen Flaherty (2016) concluded that the faculty development has demonstrable impact on student learning. Suggested Strategies for Improving the Academic Ecosystem 1.
Select Senior Engineers from the Industry: Many departments require highly experienced engineers with postgraduate engineers. They senior engineers retire at the age of 60 years. They can serve the institutes for another five years. They
can be employed and could be exposed to the advancement of theory, computer applications and educational methods through faculty training programs. Faculty Engagement for Development Most of the universities engage faculty for development (Paul D Umback and Matthew, Gary Rhoaches, Rachel C Plews, and Stevens) According them higher levels of engagement and learning at institution where faculty members use active and collaborative learning techniques, engage students in experiences, emphasize higher order cognitive activities in the classroom, interact with the students academically, and value enriching educational experiences. They conduct faculty workshops, teaching circles, leadership development, faculty mentoring, and writing groups. The following suggestions are made for training the faculty members: Train the Novice: The younger faculty members could be trained through short-term courses which are offered by the State Technical Universities, ISTE, Academic Colleges, and NITTTRs. In addition, AICTE can sponsor many faculty development programs during the week ends in each regional centers of the state. These faculty members could be trained in the industry during summer and winter vacations. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) can arrange online faculty development programs once a week for two to three hours. Sequential Summer and Winter Schools may be organized by the autonomous colleges and state technical universities so that the faculty can pursue the postgraduate programs. Such programs were conducted by the IITs during 1965-1970. AICTE could fund the institutes for organizing these programs. Professional Development through Mentors Mentors are qualified, experienced and senior faculty members in the same institute who can guide on curriculum implementation, designing instructional methods, and guide in research works. The novice faculty members seek assistance from the mentors in the same departments. Generate Case Studies: They could be generated in collaboration with the industries and validated through a group of specialists. They may be uploaded to the web and the faculty can download. The colleges can also print and distribute to the faculty.
Research Works: The faculty can be encouraged to undertake the research works under the supervision of the guides of the state technical universities or autonomous colleges. They may be encouraged to publish papers in the international seminars and journals. Appointment of Adjunct Faculty from industries and national labs: This could support the faculty and students. Appointment of Visiting Faculty from other national labs and entrepreneurs who can conduct courses on the current technology- based areas. Plan Flexible Programs so that the young faculty can plan their development of course work through their accumulated leave. Webinars: Courses through webinars and video conferences could be organized. NITTTRs can take up these courses systematically and reinforce the skill development. NPTEL: The recorded lectures of IIT faculty can be downloaded and the CDs could be made available for the students to supplement their classroom lectures. The Desired Developments in the Academic Ecosystem through a set of Quality Circles Every year from 1995 to 2010, five short-term workshops for the Heads of the Departments were on planning costeffective educational ecosystem at National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai. Each workshop accommodated 40 to 50 faculty members. The participants from various overseas countries under Special Commonwealth African Assistance Program (SCAAP), Technical Cooperation Scheme (TCS), and Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) were also included. Case studies on the resource crunch, difficulties in recruiting the experts, getting the sponsorship from the companies and developing consortium were given to the interdisciplinary and diverse groups. In each group, nine members were included at random. The groups selected their own chairmen and secretaries for deliberation. The themes are as follows: Desired Interventions 
Strategic Planning
The developing institutes can seek the assistance from the expert teams on strategic planning of academic activities, generating vision, mission, goal, and objectives of the institute. This would lead to planning all the educational programs, faculty development,
establishing consultancy works, research, and development centers and establishing student service units as stated in the following unit.
Establishing an Industry-InstituteGovernment Partnership for planning industrial training, undertaking joint research, offer training to the employees Establishing an Industry Consulting Center. Establishing a Local Forum of engineering colleges for planning industry specific seminars, conferences, industrial training, and planning continuing education programs for the working professionals. Developing MoUs with the Companies in the state for training the students, sending the experts to offer industry relevant topics. Networking with the international universities for faculty training under various bilateral programs. Planning Quiz Competitions for the students on the product innovations. Establishing a Counselling Center for the students Planning Open Houses for the industry experts. Planning Product Development in collaboration with the manufacturing companies in the industrial hubs and industrial corridors. Planning Industry Specific Advanced Courses through cooperative mode. Planning Local Centers of Professional Associations like Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD, Institution of Engineers (IE), Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS), Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), etc. Planning a Consortium of the Engineering Colleges for bidding for the projects under International Development Agencies Planning Interdisciplinary Engineering Education and Research Programs for the dissertations. Planning Dual Programs in collaboration with other engineering colleges in the region. Planning Service Centers for SMES. Planning the Production Centers using the resources and the senior students under “earn while you learn” scheme
Planning Entrepreneurship Development Programs in collaboration with the local entrepreneurs. Planning Instructional Material Development and Production Centers in cooperation with the other engineering colleges and professional associations. Planning the Production Centers for Multimedia Learning Packages through the cooperation of other engineering colleges.
Establishing Development Academic Ecosytem
Centers
to
Create
an
The following development centers could be planned in each engineering college:
Industry Institute Government Partnership Center for undertaking sponsored research and development projects, production works, and industrial training of the faculty and students. Academic Council for planning and evaluating the courses and results and auditing the performance of the faculty and the students. Curriculum Development Center for planning courses in emerging technology areas and additional courses based on the needs of the career prospects. Instructional Material Development Center for preparing curriculum specific modules, drawing manuals, design manuals, lab manuals, and case studies. Students Service Center for providing timely assistance in getting scholarships, loans, applications for examinations, issuing mark sheets, arranging internships etc. Grievance and Redressal Unit This unit can hear the faculty grievances and resolve them. Entrepreneurship Development Center which will assist the students to plan product development, incubation and start up. In-house Faculty Development Center for training the faculty in collaboration with the ISTE, ISTD, IE, and industrial associations like FICCI, CII, etc. Research and Development Center for undertaking sponsored research projects from the Industries and other agencies. Integrate All the Institutional Changes to Create Whole Institute Reform It is beneficial to review the progress and the achievement periodically.
Collet the progress every semester and identify the strengths and weaknesses. Discuss with the in-charges and resolve the bottlenecks, resistances and shortages. Bring remedies as early as possible. Publish the results and reward the achievers.
Indian Context Government of India established Technical Teachers Training Institutes in Bhopal to serve the engineering institutes in the Western Region, in Chandigarh for the Northern Region, in Chennai for Southern Region, and in Kolkata for the Eastern Region. Since, 55 years these four institutes conduct short-term, medium-term, long-term faculty development programs to meet the fast changing technologies and growth of economy. Most of the foreign development investors prefer India based on the availability of highly skilled technicians and engineers. However, due to fast growth of engineering institutes, more number of engineering faculty need to be trained. To meet the demand, Government of India has planned more massive online open faculty development programs. IITs, NITs, NITTTRs and State Technical Universities offer PhD programs for the Engineering faculty. Performance improvement of the faculty has been considered foremost initiative to create human capital. ISTE is offering summer schools and shortterm courses. AICTE offer summer schools. Summary and Conclusions The fast- developing countries and advanced countries provide sufficient grants for modernizing the programs, research works, faculty development. Even though Government of India has established many national institutes and institutes on national importance, there are large number of institutes which need attention in faculty development, resources, infrastructures and more monitoring of their achievements. If the institutes are lagging in the basic resources, it would be essential to stop them in implementing programs which affect the human capital development. It is essential to provide more assistance for the faculty development through AICTE, ISTE and In-House Training Programs and offer MOOCS through National Institutes of Technical Teacher Training and Research. All these activities would enhance the Academic Ecosystem. The newly established institutes should form Academic Councils, I-I-G Partnership Centers, in-House Faculty Development Centers and Consultancy Centers.
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