Nirma University
Strategic Plan
2014-2019 CONTENTS
Page Nos.
Strategic Plan – Nirma University 1-25
Strategic Plan – Institute of Technology 26-50
Strategic Plan – Institute of Management 51-78
Strategic Plan – Institute of Pharmacy 79-1070
Strategic Plan – Institute of Science 101-118
Strategic Plan – Institute of Law 119-143
Nirma University Strategic Plan (2014-19)
PREAMBLE
“Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.” — Aristotle
“University education stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason for adventure of ideas and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their duties adequately then it is well with the Nation and the people.”
Late Prime Minister Pt. J.L. Nehru
Education satisfies human needs, wants, and aspirations. It empowers people by providing the necessary knowledge and equipping them with requisite skills. It also inculcates right values and attitudes among students to grow as responsible citizens. The economic value of education is well-acknowledged. It is widely demonstrated that higher education contributes to the economic growth of a nation and the welfare of humanity. Research conducted at higher education institutions (HEIs) conduces to the technological development of a nation and the productivity of people. Higher education also adds a significant value in students for social mobility. It creates rich human capital. People all over the world invest in a big way in higher education to increase their employability and earning capacity. Moreover, it has immense intrinsic ends.
Investment in education is better than the investment in physical or financial capital. In the knowledge society, the importance of higher education has increased multi-fold. The knowledge society necessitates the continuous upgradation of skills and innovation in organisations. Human capital or competencies are the defining characteristic of a knowledge society.
Need for Strategic Plan
Strategy is an important determinant of the effectiveness and long-term growth of an educational institution. As the educational landscape is becoming complex in the Indian context, there is an urgent need for thinking and planning strategically. Nirma University has recently completed a decade of excellence in educational service. It is high time that we develop strategic plan for our survival and success.
A strategic plan basically deals with four cardinal issues: Where do we stand today as an institution? Where do we want to reach? How do we reach there? How do we know that we are achieving our goals? This document is an attempt to answer these questions.
A large educational institution needs to develop a strategic plan for itself as well as for its different constituents. The purpose of strategic plan is to achieve with excellence - the mandate given in the vision and mission of the institution - as well as to compete with peer institutions. It is possible only when we do an in-depth assessment of external environment and internal conditions. In addition, it is also pertinent to understand the intent and aspirations of organisational units and factor them in to the strategic plan.
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Most importantly, a strategic plan must chalk out strategic goals and consequent objectives and measures. It should also provide a set of action plans and mechanisms to achieve organisational goals and objectives.
The strategic plan of Nirma University endeavours to analyse the external environment of the institution and then scrutinise the internal structure and dynamics of the University and its various constituents. Then it examines the critical success factors for institutional effectiveness and draws strategic goals, followed by the identification of objectives and measures. It also discusses additional budgets for new initiatives and necessary systems and structure for the implementation of strategic plan.
The strategic plan is based on discussion with different internal and external stakeholders. We also conducted an intensive study of educational trends and examined their implications for our success and effectiveness. This exercise was undertaken at the university as well as institutional levels. The strategic plan went through an iterative process and many modifications were made after several rounds of discussions.
The strategic plan is a living document for us. It guides and directs us. However, it is considered to be a flexible document that needs to change as per the changes in external and regulatory environments. Relevant portions of the documents are shared with students, parents, faculty, and staff members.
Vision: Shaping a better future for mankind by developing effective and socially responsible individuals and organizations.
Mission: Nirma University emphasizes on all round development of its students. It aims at not only producing good professionals, but also good and worthy citizens of a great country aiding in its overall progress and development.
It endeavours to treat every student as an individual, to recognize their potential and to ensure that they receive the best preparation and training for achieving their career ambitions and life goals.
Vision and mission of Nirma University provide the mandates for its strategic plan. Our purpose is to aid to the future of humanity by developing not only educated, ethical and effective graduates but also effective and socially responsible organisations. Our mission mandates that we focus on student centricity and develop students to realise their career ambitions and life goals. In other words, the university stresses personal and professional development.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
International Higher Education Landscape
Quality of human capital is an important contributor of economic growth. South Korea has highly skilled personnel in its labour force (50%). On the other hand, its proportion is 16%, 14%, 7% and 6.5% for Brazil, Russia, India and China1, respectively. Knowledge economies are likely to perform better than traditional economies. India is at the cusp of becoming an industrial, knowledge economy; therefore, it has to focus on the reform and improvement of its higher education.
1 Knoema.com Strategic Plan Page 2
Most people in developed countries have higher education degrees. Developed countries have a large number of higher education institutions, many of them are committed to research and innovation. The developed countries on an average spend more than 6% of their GDP on education. The United States invests 4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in higher education, while China invests 4.3% of its GDP. The European Union spent 6.2% of its GDP on higher education through public and private sources in 20092. In contrast, India spent only 1.22% (in the year 2010-11) of its GDP in higher education3. Emerging economies, like China and India, are growing their higher education fast to achieve economic growth and development. However, India is at least four decades behind industrial countries in higher education.
The participation of youth in higher education is measured in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). It is the percentage between the age group of 18-23 years of total population. The GER for the United States is 70%, while it is 27% for China. India’s GER is 18.8%. Thus, the United States has reached universal higher education phase. China has entered the phase of mass higher education. On the other hand, India is transiting from elite higher education to mass higher education phase.
A project sponsored by Universitas 21 and conducted by the University of Melbourne4, 2013, on the ranking of National Higher Education Systems, studied 22 desirable attributes, clubbed into four categories, i.e., resources, environment, connectivity and output. It researched in total 50 countries. Overall, the United States and Sweden were ranked number 1 and 2, respectively. Sadly, India fared poorly and was overall ranked 49th, just before Indonesia. Table 1 shows that India fared poorly on the dimensions of resources, environment, connectivity and output.
Table 1: Ranking of India among 50 Countries on Different Dimensions (2013)
Dimension Ranking
Resources 41st
Environment 45th
Connectivity 48th
Output 45th
Overall ranking 49th
A robust indicator of effectiveness of higher education is student-faculty ratio. Figure 1 shows that Sweden has a student-faculty ratio of 9.5, China 16.8, while it is 24 for India. It implies that India has a lot to catch up in the quantity of teachers in higher education.
2 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Educational_expenditure_statistics 3 University Grants Commission statistics, 2013. 4 U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems, 2013 Strategic Plan Page 3
Figure 1: Student-Faculty Ratio in Different Countries
S-F Ratio 30 25 20 15 10 5 S-F Ratio 0
Domestic Higher Education Landscape
Demographic Dividend: India has experienced demographic dividend in the past few decades due to better public health. The swelling population that was considered a bane is now emerging as a boon. Population growth is related to the socio-economic growth of a country. India’s proportion of young population to the total population is significantly larger. The ratio of the working population (15-64 years) to non-working population is in India’s favour.
In July 2013, the population of India is 124 crores. It is more than 17% of world population. The current population growth rate is 1.53% per annum. The population is likely to reach 1.53 billion in 20305. The literacy rate of India was 74% in 2011. More than 50% current Indian population is under the age of 25 years. In 2030, the average age will be 40 years, 33 years and 29 years for the United States, China and India, respectively. By 2020, India will have a young population of 116 million (Age group 20-24 years) against a population of 94 million in China. In the next 20 years, the labour force is likely to go down by 4% in the industrialised world and 5% in China. However, it will go up to 32% in India6. It is evident that India would remain a young country in the near future. It is, therefore, important that the nation takes an advantage of its demographic dividend. The emerging demographic dividend cannot be taken for granted. Unless this mass of the population is adequately educated and skilled, India cannot prosper and its people will suffer.7 The demographic dividend has to be leveraged by educating and skilling young people. Otherwise, demographic dividend can turn into a demographic disaster.
Development of Higher Education: At the time of independence, India had a humble higher education. There were 26 universities and 695 colleges. However, the scenario is
5 www.populationofindia.info 6 Valedictory address by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD, 4th Indian Management Conclave, 3rd August, 2013, New Delhi 7 Ibid Strategic Plan Page 4 dramatically different today. In 2012-13, she has 700 universities and 35,539 colleges8. Table 2 describes the number of various HEIs in India for the year 2013. A study of growth of higher education shows that there were two tipping points: 1991 and 2001. Basically, liberalisation led to a massive increase in the number of higher education institutions. In 2005-2006, the GER was 11% that increased to 18.8% in 2012-139. The higher education sector size in the year 2008 was US$20 bn and it reached US$ 31.47 bn in 201210. Figure 2 shows that growth of universities in the last two decades. It is important to note that different Indian states have wide variations in the GER. The range is between 9% (Assam) to 49% (Delhi). At present, India has the third largest enrolment of students in higher education. It has an enrolment CGAR of 6.2% in the last two decades. The Planning Commission plans to increase the GER to 30% by 2020. It is an ambitious target and sound policies are required to realise it.
Table 2: Various Higher Education Institutions in India (2013)
Type of Institution Number
University 700
Engineering Institutions 3,500 Management Institutions 4,000 Law Institutions 700
Medical Institutions 362
Pharmacy Institutions 500+
Figure 2: Growth of Universities in the Last Two Decades
No. of Universities
700 600 500 400 No. of 300 Universities 200 100 0 Year Year Year 1990-91 2000-01 2010-01
A study of transition of students from higher secondary to higher education shows that the percentage of students passing out from higher secondary education is increasing. In addition, there is a consistent increase in enrolment in higher education (See Figure 3).
8 www.ugc.ac.in 9 University News (July 15-21, 2013) Special issue on Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): National Higher Education Mission Volume I. 10 Indian Higher Education Sector by Deloitte, 2012 Strategic Plan Page 5
Figure 4 describes that arts, commence/management and science are disciplines with maximum enrolments. It is followed by engineering and medicine. However, the first preference of students is admission in a professional course.
Figure 3: Pass Outs of Higher Secondary Education and Enrolment in Higher Education Over Three Years
14000
12000
10000
8000 Enrolment in HE (In 000's) 6000 12 Passouts (In 000's)
4000
2000
0 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10
Figure 4: Enrolment of Students in Different Disciplines
Enrolment %
Engineering Arts Science Commerce/Mgt Law Medicine
Various higher educational institutions can be divided into three major categories: central institutions, state institutions and private institutions. Before liberalisation, most students were studying in state institutions. After a massive increase in private institutions that basically provide technical education, the pendulum has swung in favour of private institutions. Today 2.6% students are studying in central institutions, while 38.5% students are studying in state institutions. A whopping 58.9% number of students are studying in private institutions.
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Higher Education Commissions and the Supreme Court Judgements
In the last decades, a marathon exercise has taken place to revamp higher education. Many Commissions and Committees for remoulding higher education have been appointed so far as under:
• Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Commission • Dr. Gajendra Gadker Commission • Dr. Kothari Commission • Formation of National Education Policy – 1986 • Formation of revised National Education Policy – 1992 • Dr. Gnanan Committee • National Knowledge Commission • Prof Yashpal Committee
If we look into the different reports of the above commissions, they brought about a breakthrough in many ways in the system of higher education in the country. Even the recent reports of the Knowledge Commission and the Prof Yash Pal Committee have suggested a major breakthrough including abolishing many National Statutory Bodies and constituting a commission like Higher Education Council, which can be given the status like that of the Election Commission. This recommendation is still not implemented and it is under consideration of the Government of India.
Only in pursuance of this report, there are four bills already introduced in the Parliament with regard to:
Establishment of foreign universities in the country Establishment of two tribunals at national level; one to deal with the disputes of employees working in the private institutions of higher education another to deal with the dispute between the management of private institutions and the government Revamping of National Assessment and Accreditation Council
These bills are also under consideration of Parliament. If all these recommendations are implemented, then there will be a major breakthrough in the entire system of higher education.
Gujarat State, after its establishment in May, 1960, tried to revamp the higher education system. It appointed many Committees at the State level like:
• Dr. Dongarkeri Commission • Shri Palejawala Committee • Dr. Sandilaya Committee • Dr. John Mathai Committee • Committee of modernisation of University Acts
Due to the marathon exercise made by the above Commissions and Committees, the scenario of higher education has changed, mainly in three folds, namely:
● Bifurcation of the types of University to concentrate more on certain disciplines
● Expansion of Universities in terms of number
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● Decentralisation of University education
Earlier there were only the Statutory Universities funded either by State Government or by Government of India. Now big bifurcation has taken place in terms of nature of universities, namely, instead of only State funded Statutory Universities, we have now Private Statutory Universities also. Another scenario is in addition to Statutory Universities, we have now Deemed to be Universities, both in the category of State funded Universities and under the private sector. We have various Centres of Excellence, like IITs, IIMs, NITs, IISc. in addition to autonomous colleges, where the academic freedom is given by the UGC to certain colleges.
Similarly, the sectoral universities have also taken place, like Agriculture, Technology, Medicine, Ayurvedic and so on. We have also now the Universities like Raksha Shakti, Children, Sports, Open Universities, etc. This kind of bifurcation has provided the scope of accessibility of higher education to wide section of people and also concentration of teaching and research in specific areas.
The second scenario which has taken-place as a result of marathon exercises made by different Commissions, Councils, that the number of Universities has gone to 700+, colleges also has gone about 70% higher than on the day of independence, teachers 150 times ahead and the enrolment of students have gone 200 times ahead. So depending upon the requirements of the Country, the expansion has taken-place. According to the recent decision taken, by 2020 we will have to have about 1500 universities in the country. As we know, India has the largest higher education system after US and China even though there is a growing demand with challenges.
Third scenario which has taken-place in last 50 – 60 years is the establishment of Centre of Excellence like IITs, IIMs, IISCs, IIITs, NITs etc. which has reduced the burden of providing centre of excellence in the country from the routine university system and because of the establishment of these Institutions, India has been able make a mark in achieving excellence in higher education in certain areas.
Important Judgements of the Supreme Court
The scenario of higher education has changed due to historic judgements of the Supreme Court of India, which are as under:
Shri Unnikrishnan Judgement regarding self-finance Institutions Islamic Academy and other Judgements regarding self-finance Institutions Judgement regarding measures for prevention of ragging Judgement of establishment of Sexual Harassment Cell for curbing and preventing such evil Judgement on the PIL by Prof Yashpal on the establishment of private Universities in Chhattisgarh
If we look into the directions given in different judgements as narrated above, it is evident that the entire system of higher education, particularly with regard to the privatisation of higher education, has undergone important changes. The entire system is streamlined in many ways under the judgements, including framing different laws by the State Governments for monitoring on prescribing fees and also the admission procedure to bring transparency. Due to the judgement regarding measures for prevention of ragging has made a great impact and the incidents of ragging have considerably gone down. The judgement of the Supreme Court on the PIL filed by Prof. Yash Pal on establishing of 100 private universities in Chhattisgarh at a time besides set aside the establishment of such 100
Strategic Plan Page 8 private universities also gave a framework of regulations for private universities to strengthen more transparency, including the jurisdiction of activities to be undertaken by the private universities established by the respective states.
Private Higher Education
As state governments have been constrained for funds, they have allowed and encouraged the establishment of private universities and colleges with a view to increase access to students. It has been felt that government efforts in higher education have to be complemented and supplemented by the private sector initiatives. Recently household spending on higher education has increased and surpassed government spending. In real terms, India spends almost 3% of GDP on higher education (1.2% from government sources and 1.8% from private sources). It is more than the United States that spends around 2.6% on higher education. However, the total quantum spent on education is lesser in comparison to advanced countries.
Today, private institutions have left behind government institutions in student enrolment. By the end of 11th Five Year Plan, the share of private institutions in higher enrolment reached 58.9%11. During the 11th Five Year Plan, 98 private state universities, 17 private deemed universities, and 7,818 private colleges were established. The 12th Five Year Plan envisages a preeminent role for the private sector in higher education. It even suggests allowing the operations of for-profit higher education institutions for pragmatic considerations.
The Narayana Murthy Committee on Higher Education proposes that the government must invite the private sector to meet the swelling demand of higher education. The outlay for higher education is so tall that the government cannot meet it alone. One recommendation of the Committee is to upgrade 75 top-of-the-class universities. The Committee further recommends that the government should allot land free of cost on a lease for 999 years. Another important suggestion is to create clusters where universities, research organisations and business organisations can work together for knowledge creation and innovation. Another significant proposal is to promote entrepreneurship among students. Skill development is also recommended at postgraduate and doctoral level programmes.
At present, India has 165 private state universities12. Most private universities are in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. They have jurisdiction limitations. They cannot operate beyond their state geography. Further, they cannot affiliate any institution. In many states, they cannot fix their fees or regulate their admissions. They have some academic autonomy. Neither they resemble their Indian state government counterparts, nor do they look like their western peers.
Professional education, such as engineering, medicine, architecture, pharmacy, management and law, has emerged as the flagship education in the last two decades. Most of the new private institutions are in the field of professional education. As private educational institutions depend primarily on tuition, they are concerned with the return on investment by students. Of course, there is a greater return on professional education than liberal arts and science education. Undoubtedly, employability is a watchword for private educational institutions.
The mass influx of private universities has also created a quality problem. Not all private institutions are able to provide quality education and fail to follow high standards of quality education. Some of them even indulge in the commercialisation of education. They have
11 Higher education in 12th plan, S. Bhushan, Economic and Political Weekly, January 26, 2013, Pp. 17-19. 12 http://www.ugc.ac.in/privatuniversity.aspx Strategic Plan Page 9 adopted a mercenary approach over a missionary approach. They suffer from poor governance and unprofessional management. However, several private universities are exemplary in their provision of higher education and contribution to the society. Probably they will be trail blazers in higher education.
Higher Education in Gujarat
The GER of the state of Gujarat is 15.9%, below the national average. While Gujarat is an economically forward state, it lags behind in higher education. In the 90s, a large number of students used to study in other states, because of a lack of seat availability in Gujarat. Consequently, the Government of Gujarat decided to allow private sector to participate in higher education in 1995. In 2003, the first sets of private universities were established. Afterwards a large number of private universities have been set up. Moreover, the state government has also recently established a good number of state universities in different fields.
Table 3 describes the different types of educational institutions in the state of Gujarat for the year 2011-12. Additionally, Table 4 portrays various institutions and their technical programmes in the field of higher education. It shows that there are a large number of higher education institutions in Gujarat.
Table 3: Different Types of Universities in Gujarat (2011-12)
University Number State Universities 17 State Agricultural Universities 4 State Aided Private 2 Universities Central Universities (As well as 3 deemed Universities aided by the Central Govt.) Private Universities 13 Total 36 No. of Universities in 17 Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar
Source: Department of Education, Government of Gujarat Website
Table 4: Institutions and Programmes in Gujarat (2011-12)
Programme Institution Seats No. of Programmes B. Tech 102 45,455 37 M. Tech 33 2,035 61 B. Pharm 90 6,028 1 M. Pharm 52 2,689 17 MCA 67 5710 1 MBA 123 12,840 1 B. Arch 12 780
Source: http://dte.gswan.gov.in/web_pages/Glance.asp
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In fact, the supply of seats in technical education exceeds the demand. Consequently, many engineering and management institutions are unable to fill all seats. Table 5 reveals that a large number of seats in different professional programmes are not filled in 2013. In total, there were 1.12 Lakh seats in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Out of which, 45,044 seats are vacant. The percentage of vacant seats is mentioned in Table 5. Thus, the admission scenario is quite gloomy for many HEIs in Gujarat. The main reason seems that the programmes that offer low employability are not preferred by the students.
Table 5: Percentage of Empty Seats in Different Programmes in Gujarat (2013)
Course %age of Empty Seats Undergraduate Engineering 3.71 B Pharm 75.22 Hotel Management 60.31 Diploma to Degree 37.51 M Tech 40.64 M Pharm 67.01 MBA 63.49 MCA 81.30
Source: Times of India, 26th August, 2013, Ahmedabad Edition
Research and Higher Education
Research and innovation is an essential component of the university education system. Technological advances and productivity are stimulated by research and innovation activities conducted in universities. Developed countries have highly benefitted from research and innovation taking place in their universities. Countries like Brazil, Russia, Taiwan and South Korea have also shown that university based research and innovation can play a critical role in industrial growth and technological advancement. Interestingly, Brazil, Russia, India and South Korea are increasing impacting research landscape13. Unfortunately, the performance of Indian universities in research and innovation has been dismal.
The western world has been a leader in research-based education. The United States is the undisputed leader. The US today produces 20.3% of total PhDs in the world. China has picked up quite fast. It matches the United in the production of research articles and PhDs. It produces 20.1% of all PhDs. In contrast, India produces only 2.2% of total PhDs14. There are several reasons behind such poor performance of India in the field of research and innovation. As India focussed little on globalisation during the pre-liberalisation ear, it did not concentrate on research. Both government and industry invested pittance in research and development. After post-liberalisation in the early 90s, there was some spurt in the funding of science research, but it was probably too little and too late. India lags behind countries like Russia and South Korea. Further, India believed in the Russian model of non-university based research laboratories. Universities were more for teaching than for research. As a result, India’s publications and patents are far smaller than that of many emerging economies. It is so widely known that it does not require further elaboration.
Universities yield both public and private good. Learning and development of students leads to the creation of both public and private good. Educated youth contributes to societal
13 Building BRICKS: Exploring the global research and innovation impact of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Korea (February, 2013) by Jonathan Adams, David Pendlebury, & Bob Stembridge, Thomson Reuters. 14 University News, July 15-21, 2013 Strategic Plan Page 11 prosperity and development. They, however, also personally benefit from their education. However, research and innovation directly add to the public good. Thus, funding for research purposes is the responsibility of the state. If the government wishes to promote research productivity in the country, it has to liberally fund research in both public and private universities. The funding has to be more outcome based. Those universities which are more productive should be given higher funding, irrespective of the nature of ownership.
The 12th Five Year Plan has earmarked greater amount of fund for research in the university system. However, it is not clear how the conduct of research in private universities shall be encouraged. The University Grants Commission has not clarified its facilitative role in funding research in private universities. Unless these universities receive research grants from different government agencies for research and for creating research infrastructure, they would not be able to conduct quality research.
Twelfth Five Year Plan and RUSA
Twelfth Five Year Plan aims to achieve the target of 30% GER by 2020. It would, among others, add another 5.7 million enrolments in higher education. It would require 1,000 universities and 45,000 colleges. As already mentioned, the Plan has adopted a three pronged strategy: expansion, equity and excellence.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is a scheme to promote and strengthen various state universities to achieve higher education targets set by the Planning Commission. It shall be spread throughout 12th and 13th Five Year Plans. The central funding through RUSA aims at promoting and rewarding academic, administrative and financial reforms in the state higher education system. On the other hand, the state government is supposed to take care of expansion, equity and excellence. RUSA prescribes the private sector to help state universities to mobilise their share of funding. However, RUSA does not clarify how it can facilitate the private sector universities to promote expansion and excellence. In all likelihood, RUSA will only fund state colleges and universities for their reforms and quality improvement.
Regulatory Framework
The regulatory framework for higher education is complex, ambiguous and sometimes even conflicting. Both central and state governments regulate and control higher education as education is in the concurrent list of the Indian constitution. The Indian Constitution mandates that every citizen has the right to establish an educational institution. However, education cannot be used for commercialisation or profiteering purpose. It is out of bound for business. The Supreme Court judgements delivered in 2005 and 2007 further confirmed the resolve of the state that the core formal education is not meant for for-profit in India.
Central government promulgates educational laws from time to time. The central government also regulates higher education institutions through the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). In addition, it is involved with the conduct of entrance examinations through its different bodies, such as the CBSE and the AICTE. The regulatory framework is still in a complete flux. It is evident from the fact that 11 education related bills are hanging fire in the Parliament. The nature and impact of regulation would become much clearer once these bills are passed.
Nirma University was established under an act of the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat on 17th August, 2003. Therefore, it is governed by the provisions of the Act. In addition, the Government of Gujarat also promulgates laws from time to time, affecting the functioning of
Strategic Plan Page 12 the University. For example, the Government fixes the fees of different programmes from time to time. In addition, it also partially controls admissions in different programmes.
Besides central and state governments, different regulatory bodies control the conduct and operations of different programmes. For example, the Bar Council of India is the regulatory body of the Institute of Law. Similarly, the Pharmacy Council of India regulates the Institute of Pharmacy. The AICTE is the recommendatory body for the Institute of Technology and the Institute of Management.
Thus, the University has to follow all the statutes of its Act, other educational laws of central and state governments and norms and standards prescribed by different regulatory bodies.
Challenges before Higher Education
Higher education in India is faced with a host of challenges and problems. In the 12th Five Year Plan15, they are described in terms of expansion, equity and excellence. While the first two challenges are national level challenges, excellence is basically an institution level challenge. Expansion is related to the increase in seats in higher education in the different parts of the country. Equity implies access to higher education for the different sections of the society, such as SC, ST, OBC, rural youth and female students. Finally, excellence is about the quality of education. It consists of issues like learner-centric approach, teaching- research synergy focus, faculty development, internationalisation and institutional networking. These challenges are generally considered to be complementary. But they can be contradictory as well.
The biggest challenge before the HEIs is the employability of their students. The majority of students join an educational institution to develop their careers. Thus, the predominant objective of an HEI is ensuring the employability of its students. A study by McKinsey16 amply shows that there is a wide gap between education and employment. The HEIs are not able to develop the competencies required by the industry. There is a lack of practical knowledge among university graduates. The study further reveals that the educational providers think that they are providing the requisite skills, but the recruiters and students think that the reality is otherwise. It implies that the objectives of the institution and the industry are not fully integrated. It is a serious issue. Without high employability potential, the HEIs are mere degree mills. The HEI has to critically reflect on its orientation and operations to meet its real objective, i.e., employability.
Another related daunting task for the HEIs is industry involvement. If the main purpose of higher education is employability, it has to be hinged with industry requirements. Unless an institution is closely involved with the industry, it cannot focus on industry needs. The institution has to be industry-centric. Self-orientation and introvert approach is the sure path to irrelevance and redundancy. The industry has to be involved in everything from curriculum design to course development to instructional delivery to student assessment. Industry professionals need to be involved in mentoring students and setting the research agenda for institutions as well. From the student perspective, the major challenge is not only ensuring employability but also assuring return on investment. Students apparently want value for money.
The future economic growth cannot ensure jobs in the formal sector for all graduating students. Almost 47% graduating students will be unemployed in 2020 because of the lack of job opportunities. The answer to this disturbing issue is the development of
15 Twelfth Five Year Plan, the Planning Commission, New Delhi 16 http://mckinseyonsociety.com/education-to-employment/report/ Strategic Plan Page 13 entrepreneurship among students so that they only not support themselves but also create jobs for others. Today entrepreneurship training is placed on the side line of the HEIs. It has to change in the national interest. Entrepreneurship education is a must for each and every student. Along with basic entrepreneurial education, the students should be informed about the business opportunities in the different industry sectors.
Development of employability and entrepreneurship among students is possible when they are imparted high quality education by high quality professors. There is no way low quality professionals can groom high quality professionals. Unfortunately, higher education suffers from the poor quantity and quality of faculty. There are not sufficient numbers of qualified professors. Those who are available are less productive and effective by international standards. Even the IITs and IIMs are short by 40% faculty members. Further, the shortage is severe at senior levels. As most HEIs have young faculty with limited exposure, they are not at par with the global standards of faculty. Both teaching and research skills have a huge scope for improvement.
Thus, the next challenge for an HEI is the attraction, development and utilisation of competent faculty. Focus on faculty development, research and development and skill upgradation are enumerated as chief challenges for higher education by the present Education Minister17. The stress on content in higher education is high. Faculty are generally not trained in the learning-teaching process. They do not understand the principles and practices of learning. Most instructors are a product of the conventional instruction system. So, they adopt the traditional chalk and talk method. Lack of active learning in institutions weakens learning among students. Conventional pedagogy helps students to develop lower order thinking skills. But they fail to inculcate higher order thinking skills. They thus lag behind their global counterparts. Further, faculty do not devote sufficient time on student mentoring and development. They do not see it an important part of their role set. Lest not forget that the purpose of education is not only learning but also the development of a student.
Sadly, the most HEIs have not developed requisite structures and systems to develop faculty competencies. The utilisation of faculty for high quality instruction and research is a major challenge. Since the most HEIs were in the government sector, they inherited government like performance management system, which is at best ineffective and retrograde. The productivity and effectiveness of faculty are not systematically measured in the government system. As a consequence, faculty management processes are haphazard and bureaucratic. Full job security and poor management systems result in lower faculty effectiveness. Faculty are not encouraged to excel, nor are they penalised for unsatisfactory performance. The system at best fails to meet the new demands and expectations from the different stakeholders. In some institutions, promotion can be given on the basis seniority and social background. Thus, performance management system is not totally merit-based.
Furthermore, most teachers have not been trained as full-time doctoral students. They do not undergo the rigorous training of research and publications. The standards prescribed by the UGC for PhD work till recently were lax. The working teachers needed a PhD degree so that they could grow in their career. They mostly went to the distance mode PhD programme. They were naturally not in frequent touch with their guides. They did not experience advanced subject training in exploring the emerging frontiers of knowledge, defining research problems, methodology and writing. Thus, they adopted imitation strategy rather than innovation strategy. They copied the existing works, resulting in lack of originality and ingenuity. There are rampant cases of plagiarism and reproduction.
17 Quality is a weak area by Mr. P. Raju, Edu Tech, June, 2013. Strategic Plan Page 14
Internationalisation and international networking are other important concerns of the HEIs. We live in a global village. Therefore, educational standards have to be global in nature. Student competencies have to be global. They should be able to work in any part of the world. They should acquire cutting-edge knowledge and skills. In addition, they should be familiar with most recent theoretical, applied and practical developments. Further, they need to network with global peers to get rich exposure global realities. They also aspire to get global placements. Institutions have to develop infrastructure and facilities so that they are able to provide them with global placements.
International networking has become a necessity for the HEIs. It can serve the purposes of student exchange, faculty development and joint research. Institutions follow one of the two models of international networking: the deep relationship model and the wide relationship model. In the former model, the HEIs develop relationships with a limited number of foreign institutions, but it is intense, active and comprehensive. In contrast, in the latter model, the HEIs have relationships with many institutions. These relationships are thin and often sporadic.
Last but not the least infrastructure is a big issue, requiring immediate attention. Most institutions are small and do not have wherewithal to invest in better infrastructure. They lack adequate physical infrastructure, labs, classrooms, libraries, electronic resources, sports facilities and ICT facilities. They do not have sufficient study group areas and conference halls.
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
Overview
Nirma University is a private not-for profit, statutory institution, established by an eminent industrialist and philanthropist Padma Shri Dr. Karsanbhai K. Patel through Nirma Education and Research Foundation (NERF), under an Act of Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2003. It is duly approved by the University Grants Commission under section 2 (f). It is also accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council in 2010.
The NERF was established in 1994 as a trust. In turn, it set up Nirma Institute of Technology in 1995, the first self-financing private higher education institution in the state of Gujarat. Soon after, it founded Nirma Institute of Management in 1996. Nirma Institute of Diploma Studies was established in 1997. These institutions became the constituents of Nirma University in 2003.
In 2009, the name of the University was changed from Nirma University of Science and Technology to Nirma University through an amendment in the Act, with a view to expand its scope and jurisdiction.
Historical Development of the University
Table 6 presents the different milestones in the history of Nirma University. In a short span of one decade, the University has moved from strength to strength.
Table 6: Milestones of Nirma University
Year Milestones 1994 Establishment of the Nirma Education and Research Foundation (NERF) 1995 Establishment of Nirma Institute of Technology (NIT) 1996 Establishment of Nirma Institute of Management (NIM) Strategic Plan Page 15
1997 Establishment of Nirma Institute of Diploma Studies (NIDS) 2003 Founding of Nirma University 2003 Establishment of Institute of Pharmacy (IP) 2004 Establishment of Institute of Science (IS) 2005 Organisation of 92nd the Indian Science Congress, along with National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad 2004 Recognition to the University by the UGC Act u/s. 2(f) 2007 Establishment of Institute of Law (IL) 2009 Rechristening of Nirma University of Science and Technology as Nirma University 2010 Accreditation by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) 2011 Membership of Commonwealth Universities Association 2012 Establishment of Centre for Continuing Education 2013 Membership of the AIU; Completion of a decade of excellence 2013 No admission in Institute of Diploma Studies from the academic year 2014-15 2014 Establishment of Institute of Architecture (IA)
Infrastructure and Facilities
The University is strategically located on a cross-section of Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway and Sardar Patel Ring Road. It is exactly in the middle of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. It has convenient connections with railways stations and airport and falls under the jurisdiction of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Thus, it has access to all civic amenities.
The University has modern infrastructure. It is housed in a 110 acre campus. Each institution has its independent building. In addition, it also has separate library and laboratories. The campus is modern, sylvan, and well-developed. It consists of the buildings of different institutions, PG hostels, student activity centre, and sports grounds and complexes. There are several auditoriums, varying from the seating capacity of 100 to 450 students. There are four food courts and different recreational facilities. There is a fleet of buses to fetch students, faculty and staff from the different parts of the city.
Rankings in Last Three Years
The University is consistently ranked among top universities, especially among private universities. The rankings are more relevant for different institutions. The methodological sophistication of rankings of universities in India is still in incipient stage. However, there have been a few rankings and we examine them here. Nirma University was ranked at 47th rung by Current Science Journal on the basis of total number of research papers published by institutions of higher learning in engineering during 1999-2008.
Further, the University was ranked as the 5th best University among the private universities established after the year 2000 in the areas of placements, international relations, industry interface, intellectual capital and infrastructure in the survey conducted in June, 2009 by the Financial Express. In 2010, the University was ranked 16th among the top 20 universities in India by Ipsos, the World’s third ranked Research Agency, commissioned by Zee News and DNA. In 2014, Higher Education Review ranked the university among top 6 private/deemed universities in the countries.
A close inspection of the above rankings shows that the University is moving from strength to strength and its rankings are improving.
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Faculty of Doctoral Studies and Research
Although Nirma University is a young institution, it has made significant strides in research in general and doctoral research in particular. Faculty of Doctoral Studies and Research (FDSR) was established with a view to promote research and PhD programmes across different institutions. The purpose was to exclusively focus on doctoral studies, as they are distinctly different from post graduate studies. The Faculty offers various doctoral programmes, both full-time (internal) and part-time (external). It is important to note that the Institute of Management started its Fellow Programme in Management way back in 1999. Nevertheless, as the University was constituted in 2003, PhD programmes could start only then. However, the results could come out only in 2006, when doctoral students started graduating. Table 7 shows the number of PhD graduates and the students admitted in the current year and the previous year. Table 8 shows the increase in the publications of faculty at Nirma University. Tables 9 to 11 describe the progress of various research projects. It is evident from them that the University is continuously improving its strength in the research area.
Table 7: Number of PhD Students in the Different Faculties of the University
Faculty 2012-13 2013-14 Total as on Total PhD 31.03.2014 degrees awarded since 2006 Technology & Engineering 22 24 97 19 Management 15 7 37 19 Pharmacy 21 32 86 30 Science 18 19 61 18 Law 1 0 2 00 Total 77 82 283 86
Table 8: Publications of Research Articles by Faculty of Nirma University
Institute 2012 (January to 2013 (January to December) December) National International National International Technology 4 40 7 56 Management 8 4 17 11 Diploma Studies 4 13 2 8 Pharmacy 6 26 7 52 Science 1 17 1 23 Law 18 4 4 4 Total 41 104 38 154
Table 9: Number of Major Research Projects Completed
Institute 2012-13 2013-14 No. of Projects Amount in Rs. No. of Projects Amount in Rs. Technology 3 4002000.00 2 1818000.00 Management 1 650000.00 Science 2 2275000.00 Total 4 4652000.00 4 4093000.00
Table 10: Number of Minor Research Projects Completed (Externally Funded)
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Institute 2012-13 No. of Projects Amount in Rs. Technology 2 147000.00 Pharmacy 1 15000.00 Total 3 162000.00
Table 11: Number of Minor Research Projects Completed (Internally Funded)
Institute 2012-13 No. of Projects Amount in Rs. Technology 9 718000.00 Science 8 389926.00 Total 17 1107926.00
SWOC Analysis
SWOC analysis was done by the top management and educational leaders of the University with a view to develop a deep understanding of the University. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the University are described below:
Strengths
First private university in Gujarat Committed faculty and staff members Strong academic culture and robust processes Rich industry network High reputation Superior infrastructure and excellent ambience Strong systems and processes Effective use of the ICT in the teaching-learning process
Weaknesses
Average networking with alumni Less contribution of training and consulting to university revenues Less inter-disciplinary programmes and research
Opportunities
Educational opportunities in liberal arts, medicine, etc. Greater research in collaboration with industries International networking International students Continuing education Extension activities and institutional social responsibilities Commencing inter-disciplinary programmes
Challenges
Effective collaboration with foreign universities
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Governmental controls of admissions and fees Lack of support from government funding agencies for research Less financial resources for the growth of the University Availability of senior faculty
An Analysis of Differentiating Characteristics
A university is a constellation of institutions. It is known by its institutions, their academic programmes and research. Differentiation, therefore, occurs at the institution level. However, a few features differentiate us from other universities. First, we are a student-driven university. We work hard for the professional and personal learning and development of students. We charge lower tuition fees and provide higher academic value. Further, we invest substantially in the growth and development of our faculty. We realise that the instructors play the most critical role in the academic success of students. Therefore, they should be qualified and empowered. They should be provided with adequate training, research fund and national and international exposure.
The University offers outcome-based education (OBE) to its students. All constituent institutions of the University have implemented the OBE in the last year. The University has also started a host of training and development programmes to train its faculty in the OBE. As a result, the courses and assessment are based on the learning outcomes of the different academic programmes.
Nirma University is a young university. It devoted itself to excellence in instruction in the early years. However, we are now committed to promotion of research and innovation. The University creates conducive culture and provides research grants for the conduct of research. It also provides fellowships to doctoral students in different disciplines. The University is consistently improving its performance in research and innovation.
We actively network with nearby research institutions to promote research. The University has active collaboration with Space Application Centre, Physical Research Laboratory, Institute for Plasma Research, PERD, etc. We realise that we are a private university and have limited access to research funds. However, we are committed to devote greater resource to research and innovation.
An Analysis of Stakeholder Value Proposition (SVP)
From the very beginning, the University strived to add value to its different stakeholders. As it is a private university, we realised that unless we add significant value to our students, parents, recruiters, peers and society at large, we will not be effective and will not be respected. Our value proposition to student is value for money. We keep tuition fees lower and deliver higher academic value and increase the employability of our students. Our value proposition to recruiters is high quality graduates. Further, our value proposition to peers is relevant and rigorous research, mutual support and networking. Finally, our promise to society at large is educated, employable, entrepreneurial and ethical graduates who would contribute to societal development. Table 12 summarises our value proposition to different stakeholders.
Table 12: An Analysis of Value Proposition to Different Stakeholders
Students Parents Recruiters Government Society High quality High quality Industry-focused Serving public; Socially instruction; value instruction; curricula; high high quality at responsible for money; quality and affordable fees; citizens; Strategic Plan Page 19 personality employability; grounded scholarships; extension development; graduates; industry quality and services; socially employability; student care; ready graduates; equity in relevant entrepreneurship career relevant research education research guidance and consulting
Critical Success Factors
In the backdrop of the above discussion, one can understand the strategic intent of the university and its various strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and challenges present in its environment. First and foremost, the University has to become a student centric institution, focussing on student learning and development, consequently their employability, employment and entrepreneurship. The purpose of the University is to serve public, most importantly students.
A university is a prime mover of knowledge creation. Its reputation and contribution depend on research and innovation activities. It positively affects organisations and society at large through research projects, patents and publications. It necessitates that the university commits to certain amount of its faculty time and efforts for research and innovation. Research in our context has to be applied and translational. It should also support instruction. Additionally, the University has to grow in its size, budget, programme offerings, and impact on society.
In turn, the above two arch-goals entail that the University stresses and invests in faculty who are the providers of educational services and mentoring to students. Faculty should be sufficient in number, so that each faculty has requisite time to achieve institutional goals. Further, each faculty must be competent at subject mastery, pedagogy and research prowess, so as to perform his roles efficiently and productively. It requires the university to focus on staffing and retention on the one hand and development of faculty on the other.
STRATEGIC INTENT AND GOALS
We have developed the following strategic intent and goals for the next five years:
Strategic Intent
To be amongst top five private universities and amongst top 15 universities overall in the country.
Strategic Goals
1. To excel as a student centric institution 2. To attract and develop faculty for excellence in instruction 3. To promote a culture of research that supports instruction 4. To facilitate the growth of the University
Strategic Goal 1: To become a student centric institution.
Objective 1: To provide career opportunities to students (Matrix – Placement)
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Objective 2: To maintain high level of student satisfaction (Matrix – Level of student satisfaction measured through student satisfaction survey)
Table 13. Target for the Percentage of Placement of Enrolled Students in PG Programmes for Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of 25% 27% 30% 32% 35% Technology 2 Institute of 95% 97% 97% 97% 97% Management 3 Institute of 80% 85% 90% 90% 90% Pharmacy 4 Institute of 50% 50% 60% 65% 65% Science 5 Institute of Law 90% 90% 95% 95% 95%
Table 14. Target for the Percentage of Placement of Enrolled Students in UG Programmes for Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of 70% 70% 75% 80% 85% Technology 2 Institute of NA NA NA NA NA Management 3 Institute of 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% Pharmacy 4 Institute of NA NA NA NA NA Science 5 Institute of Law 80% 85% 90% 95% 95%
Objective 2: To maintain high level of student satisfaction (At least 80% student satisfaction with the different facets of services and facilities)
Strategic Goal 2: To develop faculty for excellence in instruction and research
Objective 1: To have sufficient faculty members (Matrix – Percentage of sanctioned positions)
Objective 2: To conduct faculty development programmes (Matrix – FDP in days)
Table 15. Target for the Percentage of Filled Faculty Positions vis-à-vis Sanctioned Positions in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 70% 70% 70% 75% 80%
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2 Institute of 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% Management 3 Institute of Pharmacy 78% 85% 88% 91% 94% 4 Institute of Science 75% 80% 80% 80% 80% 5 Institute of Law 65% 70% 75% 80% 90%
Table 16. Target for In-house Faculty Development Programmes (In days) in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 96 96 108 120 144 2 Institute of 12 14 14 14 14 Management 3 Institute of Pharmacy 12 12 12 12 12 4 Institute of Science 3 5 5 8 8 5 Institute of Law 30 30 30 30 30
Strategic Goal 3: To develop faculty for excellence in research.
Objective 1: To promote minor and major research projects (Matrix – Number of minor and major research projects)
Objective 2: To increase publications (Matrix – Number of national and international research articles)
Table 17. Target for the Number of Minor Research Projects in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 7 10 12 13 15 2 Institute of Management 8 12 16 18 18 3 Institute of Pharmacy 6 6 5 6 3 4 Institute of Science 3 2 1 3 1 5 Institute of Law 3 5 5 7 7
Table 18. Target for the Number of Major Research Projects in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 4 6 8 10 11 2 Institute of Management 2 2 2 2 3 3 Institute of Pharmacy 2 2 3 3 4 4 Institute of Science 4 4 4 2 3 5 Institute of Law 1 2 3 3 4
Table 19. Target for the Number of Research Articles in National Journals in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
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Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 5 7 9 12 15 2 Institute of Management - 4 (20) 6 (24) 6 (30) 8 (35) 10 (40) B and © Category Journals 3 Institute of Pharmacy 15 15 16 14 15 4 Institute of Science 2 2 1 1 1 5 Institute of Law 10 12 15 17 20
Table 20. Target for the Number of Research Articles in International Journals in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 25 60 75 90 110 2 Institute of Management 0 0 1 2 3 (A Category Journals) 3 Institute of Pharmacy 20 22 22 24 24 4 Institute of Science 11 11 12 12 12 5 Institute of Law 4 6 8 9 10
Table 21. Target for the Number of Patents/Published Cases in Different Institutes for the Next Five Years
Sr. Institute Academic Year No. 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 1 Institute of Technology 1 2 3 4 5 2 Institute of Management 4 6 8 10 12 3 Institute of Pharmacy 3 3 4 4 5 4 Institute of Science 2 2 1 1 1 5 Institute of Law 0 0 0 0 0
Strategic Goal 4: To facilitate the growth of the University
Objective 1: To increase programmes
Objective 2: To add modern infrastructure
Objective 3: To modernise labs, libraries and computing facilities
Table 22. Target for Increase in Programmes and Programme Divisions
Sr. Institute/Academic 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 No. Year 1 Management - 2nd Division 3rd Division of BBA-MBA of BBA-MBA Integrated Integrated Programme Programme 2 Technology Increase in Increase in programmes programmes and divisions and divisions 3 Law Increase in
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divisions 4 Pharmacy No change 5 Science No change 6 Architecture B. Arch 2nd Division M. Arch M. Plan & PhD of B Arch & (Urban (Urban program B Planning Design) Planning) me
Table 23: Target for the Development of Infrastructure from the Academic Year 2014-2015 to 2018-2019
2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Addition of 10 new classrooms in Institute of Technology Modernisation of all Modernisation of 25% Modernisation Modernisation Modernisation labs in Institute of labs in IT of 25% labs in of 25% labs in of 25% labs in Science IT IT IT
Modernisation of C Modernisation of C Modernisation Modernisation New central Block in Institute of Block in Institute of of C Block in of C Block in library Architecture (25%) Architecture (25%) Institute of Institute of Architecture Architecture (25%) (25%)
Architectural design Preliminary work of Commencement Progress of 80 new of New University NUB of construction construction classrooms in Building (NUB) of NUB of NUB the NUB
STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS, AND STAFF FOR IMPLEMENTATION
The Top Management Committee, consisting of Vice President, Director General, Chief Operating Officer, Director (General Administration and Academics), and Executive Registrar shall oversee the implementation of the strategic plan. They would make provisions in the annual budgets of the University to ensure that action plans are implemented smoothly.
In addition, University Co-ordination Committee (consisting of the members of top management committee and the heads of institutions) will also supervise and review the implementation of the plan. Dean (Faculty of Doctoral Studies and Research), Director (Academic Development and Research Cell), Head (University Corporate Relations), Director (General Administration and Academics) and Chief Operating Officer will assist Director General in implementing various change programmes.
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The review meetings would be conducted quarterly and action plans would be developed to ensure that strategies are implemented as per plan.
The salient aspects of the strategic plan would be shared with different stakeholders from time to time through the website, the newsletter and meetings. Their views for future directions would also be sought. In addition, educational leaders (Directors of the Institutes) would review their respective strategic plan every year and modify it accordingly.
Specifically, the monitoring scheme will be as under:
1. Implementation at Department or Area Level:
This would be done on the 4th Saturday of every month commencing from August 2014 by the HoD or Area Chairperson or the Section Head concerned and submit their report to the HoI and a copy to the DG, D(GAA), I/c ER. This report should include the following:
a) Whether strategy which we have evolved is proportionately progressing or not? b) If not what are the difficulties being faced? c) The probable solution for the same.
2. Institute level Monitoring:
The Institute will have review on the second Monday of alternate months, commencing from September 2014. A copy of the report of review should be submitted to the DG with details about extent of progress in each areas, difficulty if any being faced and probable solution with a copy to D(GAA), I/c ER.
The DG will monitor the progress four times in a year it will start from the month of September and the same will be done on the second Saturday of the month of September, December, March and June. When the meeting takes place at the University level, the comprehensive progress report of the institutions will be submitted one week before to the DG.
The pro forma of the reports may be devised in such a way at department and area level that all areas of Strategic Plan can be covered in terms of:
i) Area of planning presented ii) Progress made in terms of percentage wherever it is possible iii) Strategy of implementation applied (up to what extent) iv) Difficulty being faced v) Probable solution
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Institute of Technology, Strategic Plan (2014-2019)
PREAMBLE
Institute of Technology, Nirma University, earlier known as Nirma Institute of Technology, started in 1995 by Nirma Education and Research Foundation (NERF) was the first self- financed engineering college in Gujarat. Within 18 years of inception, Institute of Technology is a leading hub of education, offering multidisciplinary undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. programmes in engineering.
The Institute has a proven track record of framing and following the rigorous teaching- learning processes. The academic ambience of the Institute gives wide scope to students for plenty of group activities in the form of extra-curricular and extramural activities. It also provides opportunities to individual pursuits for development on preferred tracks. Students joining the Institute of Technology have, therefore, an opportunity to interact with the academic community of the entire Nirma University. The academic environment generated by the interaction between professional disciplines has a stimulating influence, especially in the formative years of young students. Exposure to such environment helps the students develop sound fundamentals, good communication skills, an integrated personality and greater competitive spirit. The dedication with which students and faculty have been working over the past eighteen years has paid rich dividends and this has made the institute the highly preferred one in the student fraternity. The alumni are placed on the key positions and now their presence is felt in the every part of the globe. The students of this institute are consistently securing top ranks in various competitive examinations. The performance of a student in the examinations is not the sole criterion of the quality of education acquired; nevertheless, it is an important indication of the effectiveness of the academic inputs.
The institute is ranked within top 25 self-financed engineering colleges of India in the survey conducted by various rating agencies. The faculty members and students of the Institute have won many prestigious awards.
The Institute of Technology is embarking on an ambitious plan focused on “Growth in Excellence” and creating the “Societal Engineer”. The Institute is now aiming to emphasize on Outcome Based Education (OBE), Experiential Education (through Project Based Learning), research in thrust areas with translational impact, and the creation of engineers as leaders in society.
To achieve the above strategic intent, thorough planning is required that shall be:
Consistent with vision and mission of the University, Widely adopted and supported by management of the University, faculty members, students and other stakeholders, Based on environmental assessment, and, Capable of guiding action plans to evolve expected growth.
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Need for Strategic Plan
Over the past few years, India’s higher education sector has witnessed tremendous growth. Today, the country has the largest higher education system in the world in terms of the number of institutions. It is the second-largest in terms of enrolment. While India has shown impressive growth in the number of institutes and enrolment in the country, it still faces challenges on several fronts, including low and inequitable access to higher education, a shortage of experienced faculty, deficient infrastructure as well as low-quality and inadequate research. Today, a key concern is the creation of an employable workforce to harness its demographic dividend to the maximum extent. To achieve this, an education system that can deliver quality in terms of a skilled and industry-ready workforce is required, without diluting focus on world-class research and innovation.1
Strategic Planning Process
To appraise the importance of strategic planning and to involve senior faculty members of the institute in identifying key strategic goals, several workshops were conducted at the University and Institute levels. Considering vision and mission of the University, availability of resources, environment analysis, SWOT analysis, and future projected growth, brainstorming sessions were held to finalize a strategic plan for the next five years. Direct and Indirect feedback from various stakeholders was also considered while preparing the strategic plan.
In today's highly competitive environment, budget-oriented planning or forecast-based planning methods are insufficient for a large Institution to survive and prosper. The Institute must engage in strategic planning that clearly defines objectives and assesses both the internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments as necessary to stay on track. A simplified view of the strategic planning process is shown in Fig. 1. It shows the cycle of strategic planning. As depicted in the Fig. 1, with the mission in the centre, strategic goals are set for the Institute keeping in mind the desired outcomes. Appropriate strategies are devised to achieve those outcomes. By time-to-time measurements of the outcomes, the improvements will be made / corrective actions will be taken to achieve the goals effectively. Hence, a closed-loop system is followed for the implementation of the strategic plan.
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1 [Higher Education in India: 12th Five-Year plan 2012-2017 and Beyond, FICCI Higher Education Summit 2012]
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Fig. 1: Strategic planning cycle followed while planning and execution
Organisation of the Strategic Plan
The strategic plan of the Institute of Technology consists of:
1. Environment Analysis
The section consists of International Scenario, Country Scenario, Education Scenario, Regulatory Framework and Governmental Role. Websites of reputed Indian and Foreign Institutes, 12th Five-Year Plan and other policy documents were studied to carry out environment analysis.
2. Educational Scenario The Indian educational scenario is presented in this section and the significance of the regulatory framework is discussed. Emphasis is also laid on the governmental role for the growth of the education sector.
3. Competitive Analysis Competition posed by International Scenario, reputed National Institutes and local Institutes is discussed in this section. Benchmarking analysis with reputed institutes is also done.
4. Institutional Analysis Analysis of the Institute with respect to Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat/Challenges is presented in this section.
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5. Strategic Goals For achieving the strategic intent, the key goals are identified in this section based on environment and competitive analysis.
6. Strategies to Achieve the Goals Various strategies for achieving goals are presented in this section.
7. Objectives of Strategies and Implementation Plan Various objectives of the strategies are reported in this section. A detailed action plan for achieving the strategic goals, including tentative duration is framed in this section.
8. Assessment of Constraints Constraints faced by the Institute and posed by regulatory bodies are discussed in this section.
9. Institutional Leadership, Systems, Structures and Staff for Implementation
Hierarchy of institute leadership is discussed. For the set goals and strategies, the formation of various committees and sub-committees at University / Institute / Department levels can be done keeping in mind this hierarchy and time-lines can be set accordingly for stages of implementation.
ITNU’s Thrust for Quality Enhancement
Institute of Technology, Nirma University continuously thrives for providing all the ingredients needed for the conducive environment for the all-round development of students. The Institute always inches towards quality enhancement to fulfil the aspirations of the students. Efforts are in turn also put for enriching the skills of the faculty members to acquire the needed quality enhancement. The motive is to create an institute where students and faculty members, both, feel satisfied and grow as a technically capable community for overall growth of industry and society.
Vision of Nirma University
Shaping a better future for mankind by developing effective and socially responsible individuals and organizations
Mission of Nirma University
Nirma University emphasizes the all-round development of its students. It aims at producing not only good professionals, but also good and worthy citizens of a great country, aiding its overall progress and development.
Within the context of the University as a self-financed, student-centred private university, the aims of the Institute are to provide outstanding programmes of undergraduate and postgraduate levels; offering continuing education programmes; to be a research leader advancing the frontiers of engineering and science through increasingly multidisciplinary initiatives; and to serve the citizenry and industry as an agent of technological, economic, and educational innovations and advancements.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Strategic planning is a dynamic process which needs frequent checks and time-to-time fine tunes of the strategies and its implementation plans / actions. It begins by articulating the purpose, values, and aspiration that guide the collective pursuit of excellence, as presented in goals, but it does not end with merely the statements of the goals. Rather, it continues under the process of ongoing assessment, including the evaluation of the conditions under which the plan is developed and implemented – conditions that may change over the five- year life of the plan. It is important to note that while the environment may shift and thus demands some adjustment of our plans, however, values, aspirations, and the goals to which we are collectively committed will remain constants.
International Scenario
Technology is a critical driver of economic development today, and globalisation promises to bring that relationship to all societies of the world. Engineers are crucial for effective technology management; educating engineers who can adapt successfully to the ever- changing fields and complexity of technology and technology-based systems are a significant challenge.
With the evolution of the Internet and the pervasive use of Information Technology, globalisation has become a potent force and powerful new multi-national companies have emerged on the global scene. The G-8 group of nations has evolved to G-20. Most of the societal grand challenges, such as energy, sustainability and cyber security, require global solutions. We must therefore prepare engineering graduates for this new environment.
The CAETS (International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences, Inc.) participants recognise that the Engineering Community has an essential role in promoting the central issues of engineering education, such as quality of education, accreditation of engineering qualifications, regional agreements, establishing substantial equivalence, curriculum (including interdisciplinary system-based subjects) and innovation.
Country Scenario
Today the world economy is experiencing an unprecedented change. New developments in science and technology, media revaluation and internationalization of education and the ever expanding competitive environment are revolutionising the education scene. A paradigm shift has been noticed in higher education now a days, from ‘national education’ to ‘global education’, from ‘one time education for a few’ to ‘lifelong education for all’, from ‘teacher- centric education’ to ‘learner centric education’. These changes make new demands and pose fresh challenges to the established education systems and practices in the country. Because of interdependence and integration of the world economy in the recent years, the Indian higher education system has a new role and a challenge to provide to the nation and the world at large, skilled manpower at all levels, having breadth of knowledge and confidence to effectively confront the social and economic realities.
It is worth noting that while India has the second largest system of higher education, next only to the US, the total number of students hardly represents about 18% of the relevant age group, i.e., 18 – 23 years, which is much below the average of developed countries, which is about 47%. Thus, access, equity, accountability and quality should form the four guiding principles, while planning for higher education development in India in the twenty-first century.
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Encouraging Private Participation
The Twelfth Five Year Plan emphasises on the facilitation and development of private sector in higher education (including technical). Private higher education accounts for about four- fifths of enrolment in professional higher education and one-third overall. This growth trend is likely to continue in the Twelfth Plan. Deserving private institutions could benefit with access to public funds in the form of loans, financial aid for students and competitive funding for research.
Research Culture and Faculty Issues
An ecosystem needs to be created that encourages research and innovation in a self- sustaining manner. Efforts must be put to bring back the ‘lost’ research culture of Indian Universities so as to create new knowledge and improve teaching standards. Collaborative research, setting up industry incubation parks in Universities and institutions providing more research fellowships, promoting innovation through interdisciplinary research in new and emerging fields, strengthening Inter-University centres, etc., need to be emphasised. This would require more funding for university-based research and funding policies that create the right incentives for quality research and promote collaboration among institutions. Related to this is the issue of faculty shortages which can be tackled through innovative ways, such as technology-enabled learning and collaborative information and communication technologies (ICT). Initiatives to improve the quality and availability of trained teachers in higher education need to be launched in a mission mode. With improvements in life expectancy, a growing pool of retired and elderly people is now available in the country. They have potential to enrich the teaching-learning experience and act as social capital for the society. It is possible to tap and convert their valuable acquired expertise into useful codified knowledge through their roles as mentors for the young faculty members.
Education Scenario
Higher education is an increasingly global enterprise; hence Indian institutions should embrace internationalisation that could provide them with new opportunities. The country’s rationale for internationalisation would be to enhance its soft power, improve standards of domestic provision and produce graduates with international competencies and skills. This can best be achieved by having more innovative partnerships. Given the historical advantage in higher education (particularly among emerging market economies) the wide spread use of the English language and low cost living, India can potentially become a global hub for higher education. We need to provide greater autonomy to our Centres of Excellence to enter into collaborative partnership with the best universities abroad
Regulatory Framework
In sum, with new regulatory arrangements and focussed action in key areas, particularly expansion and quality improvement. We hope to build a robust higher education system through the UGC, the AICTE, and Govt. of Gujarat that would sustain rapid economic growth, promote international competitiveness, while at the same time meet the rising expectations of the young enterprising Indians.
Governmental Role
India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world, with 25.9 million students enrolled in more than 45,000 degree and diploma institutions in the country. It has witnessed particularly high growth in the last decade, with enrolment of students increasing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 10.8 % and institutions at a CAGR of 9 %.1
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The private sector has played an instrumental role in this growth, with private institutions now accounting for 64% of the total number of institutions and 59 % of enrolment in the country, as compared to 43 % and 33 %, respectively, a decade ago. The Government has also given the required thrust to the sector in its Five Year Plans. During the Eleventh Plan period (2007 – 2012), India achieved a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 17.9 %, up from 12.3% at the beginning of the Plan period. Various legislative actions were also taken during this period, including the introduction of the Higher Education and Research Bill, the Educational Tribunal Bill and the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, to enhance transparency and quality in the sector.
However, in spite of the significant progress made during the past few years, India’s higher education sector is still plagued with several challenges, e.g., its relatively low GER, inequitable access to higher education by community, gender and geography, and lack of high quality research and education institutions, resulting in sub-optimal outcomes.
The Twelfth Five Year Plan recognises these challenges and proposes several initiatives around six focus areas to address them.
Expansion – augmenting capacity in existing institutions
Equity – creating targeted schemes for backward and minority communities
Excellence – building excellence through research and innovation, faculty development, and internationalization
Governance – enhancing institutional autonomy and transparency
Funding – increasing public and private funding and linking them to outcomes
Implementation and Monitoring – improving co-ordination across ministries and agencies.
Going forward, it is expected that the quality imperative shall be looked at more comprehensively by institutions and in line with their orientation: research-focused, teaching- focused, and vocational-focused. India’s higher education system can be expected to be better aligned to industry and global practices, and be more transparent and inclusive by the end of Twelfth Plan period, provided the Government is able to create an enabling regulatory environment and put in place robust implementation, monitoring and quality assurance mechanisms in the sector.
I. Competitive Analysis
Approximate Science and Technology manpower per 1000 population is as: India 4, China 8, South Korea 46, USA 55, Germany 76, Israel 76 and Japan 110. If India has to emerge as a developed industrialised nation, it has to expand access to professional education manifold. In China about 34% of the total number of University students are studying
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1 [Higher Education in India: 12th Five-Year plan 2012-2017 and Beyond, FICCI Higher Education Summit 2012]
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Engineering while in India about 6% are studying Engineering. At post graduate level, there are about 40% of graduate students in China, while in India about 4 % of graduate students pursue post graduate engineering studies. This shows low emphasis placed on engineering education at both the under-graduate and post-graduate level in India. If Indian economy has to catch up with other growing economies, the percentage of students entering engineering education must increase substantially.2
Today there are more than 150 private universities and more than 3500 engineering institutions in India. In Gujarat itself, there are more than 43 private universities and 135 engineering institutes. At local level also, in the close vicinity, there have been set-ups of few government / private institutions of national repute, such as IIT Gandhinagar, DA-IICT, PDPU, IIIT Vadodara, IIT RAM, etc. The Government of Gujarat is also supportive to establish more new institutions on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. This growth is expected to be there in the next decades to come. A very strong competitive environment has been created by this growth at the local level also.
Benchmarking
Gerald Balm defines benchmarking in the following way: 'The continuous action of comparing a process, a product or a service with a similar activity, known as being the best in that field, with the purpose of establishing ambitious but real improvement objectives and actions so as to become and keep the number one position among the best within a reasonable period of time'
Manipal University is internationalizing its education system by providing global exposure to students and faculty through “twinning” programmes, research collaborations, and teaching forums with international institutes.
The India - UK Advanced Instability Methods (AIM) Network has successfully created a platform for industrial and institutional partners to jointly conduct applied research for industrial purposes.
BITS Pilani provides its students work - integrated learning opportunities through collaborations with leading corporate houses through its “Practice School” programme. SRM University's International Advisory Board (IAB) is actively involved in building a stronger international dimension - in curriculum, research and teaching methodology - by bringing students and faculty from well-known universities overseas. The IAB has helped create an upbeat environment at SRM University, by opening up possibilities for students and faculty, and creating avenues for research and successful careers.
In the Thapar University, the Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Laboratories [SAI Labs] (a registered Society) were established in April 2011 with the main objective of having a central facility in the Thapar University Campus to carry out high end testing, consultancy and research. In addition to research programs, it was envisaged to have state of the art testing and characterization facility to cater to the high end testing needs of the industry, society as well as educational institutes. It is recognized as Environmental Laboratory by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoE&F) and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).
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2 [Gautam Biswas, K. L. Chopra, C. S. Jha, and D. V. Singh, “Profile of Engineering Education in India: Status, Concerns and Recommendations, Narosa Publishing House, 2010]
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In view with above benchmarking for different activities, the Institute of Technology envisage to be one of the leading Institutes in the processes of student support and progressions, faculty development, and research. In the long run the Institute will focus on benchmarking the developed IITs and International Institutes of repute.
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
Strengths
1. Excellent local and regional reputation with well-established national recognition 2. Young, dynamic and dedicated faculty and staff members aligned with institutional goals 3. Learner centric approach along with personalized attention to the students 4. Focus on synergy between teaching and all-round development of the students 5. Meritorious students with geographical diversity in undergraduate programmes 6. Well placed closed-loop feedback system for curriculum development encompassing all the stake holders 7. Globally compatible academic credit system with emphasis on continuous evaluation 8. Transparent management policies with well-defined procedures 9. Well-disciplined conducive academic environment and ambience 10. ICT usage for enhancing various academic accomplishments 11. Active linkages with nearby industries and research organizations 12. Continuous emphasis on faculty and staff development 13. Strong commitment and dedicated efforts towards continuing education and pedagogy
Weaknesses
1. Large proportion of faculty members with limited industry and research exposure 2. Increasing proportion of new faculty members with limited teaching experience 3. Failure in retaining the experienced faculty members resulting in huge space in middle level academic leadership 4. Absence of global exposure to faculty and students 5. Insufficient diversity of faculty and staff to strengthen learning environment and research 6. Deficiency of specialized laboratories for state-of-the-art research 7. Lack of conducive research environment and motivational policies 8. Inadequate collaborations with industry and research organizations for laboratory development 9. Limited research, consultancy, sponsored research activities, research publications and 10. patents 11. Minuscule interdisciplinary programmes and research 12. Inept placement of UG and PG students in the core engineering companies 13. Relatively high administrative load on senior faculty members 14. Weak bonding between alumni and alma-mater 15. Inadequate promotion of sports, wellness, societal and cultural activities
Opportunities
1. Placed in well-connected geographical location and growing industrial hub 2. Increasing demands of technical manpower because of infrastructural growth and globalization 3. Catering to the need of the industry by customized or tailor-made programmes and services 4. Well-defined and encouraging policies of state and central government for establishing centres of excellence in various disciplines, ICT usage, research, and academic autonomy
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5. Collaboration with Indian and foreign institutions of repute for benchmarking, research and academic activities 6. Developing interdisciplinary academic programme in emerging / thrust areas 7. Maximizing impact on teaching-learning through faculty enrichment by quality improvement 8. Recognition of faculty members as fellows of national and international academic and professional societies / bodies 9. Recognitions by excelling in student competitions across the country and abroad and research outcome of students at various levels 10. Emphasis on nurturing the talent of students and grooming them for competitive exams, higher studies and industry readiness / employability 11. Fostering social responsibility in higher education for holistic development 12. Strengthening intellectual property rights 13. Establishing the global presence through a large pool of alumni in diverse industries and institutions 14. Further strengthening of the networking with all the stake holders 15. Internationalization for getting new opportunities
Challenges/Threats
1. Establishment of educational institutions of repute in the vicinity providing local, regional and global competition 2. Attracting and retaining experienced faculty members and developing a wide spectrum of expertise across the disciplines 3. Lack of a sufficient number of quality students in the post graduate programmes with strong interest in engineering 4. To get adequate number of full-time motivated Ph.D. students for enhanced research outcome 5. Large number of students in a class hindering individual attention and one-to-one interaction 6. Rapid changes in all the areas of technology and correspondingly changing expectations from industry and society 7. Create and maintain campus facilities pertaining world class academic institutions 8. Difficulty in obtaining research grants from government agencies and bodies being a constituent of the self-finance university 9. Identification and counselling the slow learner students and orienting them towards studies and career 10. Implementation of strategically focused, cost-effective enhancements to the infrastructure for research, scholarship, creativity, and affordable education 11. Reducing the dependence on the tuition revenue by identifying and exploiting the sources of endowment for sustainable growth
STRATEGIC GOALS
To become a centre of excellence contributing skilled, socially responsible and educated citizens to the society through effective learner-centric processes and quality initiatives, and catering to the different needs of diverse stakeholders. This would be backed by an emphasis on relevant research and industry involvement.
Strategic Goal 1
Imparting outcome based education for better employability
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Strategic Goal 2
Increasing faculty strength at the senior level with good research / industry experience and enhancing the competency of the existing faculty
Strategic Goal 3
Enhancing the research, consultancy and interdisciplinary activities
Strategic Goal 4
Strengthening extension and societal activities
Strategies to Achieve the Goals
Goal 1
Imparting outcome based education for better employability
Strategies
1. Modifying curriculum in-line with the graduate attributes and Bloom’s taxonomy and devising mechanism for assessment of outcome based education 2. Enhancing the employability opportunities in core engineering industries
Goal 2
Increasing faculty strength at the senior level with good research / industry experience and enhancing the competency of the existing faculty
Strategies
1. Recruiting competent senior faculty members with strong research / academic background 2. Retaining competent senior faculty members 3. Increasing the competence level of the existing faculty
Goal 3
Enhancing the research, consultancy and interdisciplinary activities
Strategies
1. Build-up the technically competent teams and labs with various specialisations for undertaking the research activities 2. Developing the culture of interdisciplinary teaching-learning
Goal 4
Strengthening extension and societal activities
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Strategy
1. Enhancing the social responsibility amongst the students and faculty members
Objectives for Strategies and Implementation Plan
Goal-1
Imparting outcome based education for better employability
Strategy-1
Modifying Curriculum in-line with the graduate attributes and Bloom’s taxonomy and devising mechanism for assessment of outcome based education
Objective-1
To prepare Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) and Programme Outcomes (POs) for all the programmes, and to prepare Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) of all the courses in UG and PG Programmes
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation CLOs to be 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 % - Course prepared for of Coordinators will courses of courses prepare and UG and PG BoS chairman programmes will put for based on approvals of the PEOs various and POs academic bodies.
Objective-2 To evolve and implement assessments mechanism for imparting OBE
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Rubrics to be 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 % - Course prepared for of coordinators and labs, courses faculty advisors assignments, will devise the projects and rubrics and other mechanism. components Formalization 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 % - of the of mechanism courses for measurement of outcome for various courses
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Objective-3
To impart project based learning (PBL) for increased industry readiness
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Offer mini / 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 % 100 % Individual faculty minor / major will float more projects to the project definition all the and more undergraduate industries will be students from approached by second year the Department onwards and III-Cell Offer industry 30 % 35 % 38 % 40 % 42 % jointly. based / real life project definitions at major project level in UG and PG
Objective-4
To offer more value added courses focusing to increase technical / interpersonal skills
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Offer number 5 7 10 12 15 Department will of value float more value added added courses technical and encourage courses students to involving register in the hands-on with same. Report latest tools will be submitted and at the end of techniques every semester. Offer more 3 5 8 10 12 interpersonal skill development oriented courses
Strategy-2
Enhancing the employability opportunities in core engineering industries
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Objective-1 To increase the placement opportunities for students
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Rise in 5 % 7 % 9 % 10 % 11 % III Cell will put number of necessary recruiters efforts and (compared to present the 2013-14) results in annual Percentage 70 % 70 % 75 % 80 % 85 % placement of placement report. of enrolled students - UG (who opt for placement) Percentage 25 % 27 % 30 % 32 % 35 % of placement of enrolled students - PG (who opt for placement) Percentage 75 % 78 % 82 % 85 % 88 % of students to be placed in core companies of relevant branch wrt students placed
Goal-2
Increasing faculty strength at the senior level with good research / industry experience and enhancing the competency of the existing faculty
Strategy-1
Recruiting competent senior faculty members with strong research / academic background
Objective-1 To sanction and fill research chair positions
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 1 2 3 4 5 Search sanctioned committee will and filled identify the position of suitable person research and recommend chair* to the University.
* Figures are cumulative
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Objective-2 To recruit Professor and Associate Professor
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation % of filled 70 % 70 % 70 % 75 % 80 % Attractive positions policies to be against formed to bring sanctioned the senior posts faculty.
The following actions are to be initiated
Constituting search committee within two month comprising members from research organization, industry and academia.
Advertising the faculty position needs, with wide publicity at international level also, on every six months and keeping it open throughout the year.
Immediately develop competitive package for attracting senior researchers and publicize within next two month.
A search committee is to be constituted for each department involving Director – IT, head of the concerned department, and two experts (one from industry / research organization and one from academia).
Head of the department will be responsible for suggesting at least two experts each from industry / research organizations and academia to the Director – IT within one month for further approval and process.
Committee shall meet quarterly and decide upon the names of the potential candidates and recommend the names to the university authorities for inviting them for further discussions / appointment.
Hiring a suitable consulting firm and suitable web based job portals within next two months for head hunting of appropriate prodigy across the globe.
Consulting firm shall identify such candidates and produce the list of potential candidates to the institute at least once in every quarter.
Advertising the faculty position needs worldwide on various popular job portals, such as, Naukri.com, etc. and advertisements shall be floated continuously on the web portals.
Faculty openings to be kept live on the university web site and on-line applications are to be accepted throughout the year.
A University level committee is to be constituted for arriving and proposing competitive package plans adequately for national and international experts, within next one month.
The approved packages shall be published within two months on the web portals and by consulting firms in order to attract world class talent.
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Sanction and fill research chair positions, at least one per discipline within next six months.
Sanction at least one research chair position per discipline and provide necessary budget allocation for the same from the financial year 2014-15 onwards.
Appointing at least one research chair in every discipline within next six months.
Proactive efforts are also to be put for getting at least one industry sponsored research chair positions at the institute within next one year.
Strategy-2
Retaining competent senior faculty members
The following actions are to be initiated:
Identification of good researchers within the Institute and offering more academic flexibilities to them within next six months.
Providing conducive research environment by framing motivational research policies within next three months.
Emphasis to be given to fill-in all the sanctioned faculty positions within next six months so to reduce the extra load (routine teaching and extra-curricular) on the existing faculty enabling them to concentrate on research and innovative academic activities.
Identification of good researchers within the Institute and offering more academic flexibilities to them within next six months.
Potential researchers to be identified from the department faculty, within one month, based on the scores in Category – III (research) of PBAS forms of last two years.
Academic flexibility to be defined within next three months for such potential research oriented faculty members (academic flexibilities e.g., flexible timings, vehicle availability as per flexible time, reduction in general and academic administration duties).
Providing conducive research environment by framing motivational research policies within next three months.
A university level committee is to be constituted for arriving and proposing motivational research policies for the faculty members. The committee shall focus on the points like; incentive for journal paper publications, incentive for patent filing and grant, monetary benefits for getting funded research projects, etc. The committee shall frame the policies and put forward the same, within three months, for further considerations.
Allocation of provision for adequate seed money (Rs. 5 lakh to 10 lakhs per programme) in the budget for starting and supporting the research ideas.
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There must be an enforcement of existing provision of sabbatical leave, without bond, for various research activities (i.e., writing book, working with industry on live project, going to abroad to work with university professors, deputing at IITs, etc.). Outstanding achievements gained during sabbatical shall be rewarded appropriately. At least one senior faculty per department shall be sent once in a two years for the same.
Emphasis to be given to fill-in all the sanctioned faculty positions within next six months so to reduce the extra load (routine teaching and extra-curricular) on the existing faculty enabling them to concentrate on research and innovative academic activities.
Putting concentrated efforts to fill all the sanctioned faculty positions (especially positions of Associate Professors and Professors) of the department. In case of non- availability of suitable persons for senior or middle positions, Assistant Professors may be recruited against the posts of Professors or Associate Professors.
All the faculty positions shall be filled within next six months, preferably before the start of the next semester.
More positions of supporting staff to be created in the next financial year budget for enabling faculty members to concentrate more on research activities.
Strategy-3
Increasing the competence level of the existing faculty
Objective-1 To depute more faculty members for Ph.D. on full-time basis
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 1 1 2 2 2 Department will faculty forward the members to name of the be deputed faculty. for Ph.D. on Liberal policy to full-time be devised for basis the same at the University level.
Objective-2 To train more faculty members through Industrial Training, STTPs, Workshops, Seminars, Refresher Courses, etc.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 80 100 120 150 180 Faculty will identify faculty the course and members to submit the be deputed for willingness. such activities Department will In-house 96 96 108 120 144 forward and Institute faculty will depute. development programmes (in days)
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Goal-3:
Enhancing the research, consultancy and interdisciplinary activities
Strategy-1
Build-up the technically competent teams and labs with various specializations for undertaking the research activities
Objective-1 To develop state-of-the-art facilities / laboratories for enhancing the research activities Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of - 1 2 3 4 Department will stat-of-the art identify the area laboratories and put the to be proposal for developed* infrastructure and equipment.
* Figures are cumulative
Objective-2 To develop Centre for Excellence by the support of Government / Industry Participation Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Creating - - 1 - 1 Institute will centre for identify the area excellence and submit the through proposal. Govt. / Industry support
The following actions are to be initiated:
Systematic process for analysis and identification of thrust research areas of the department next six months.
A department level committee is to be constituted in order to identify the thrust research areas of the department.
The committee shall meet once in a six months and explore the possibilities of addition of any new thrust areas based on the changing expertise of the faculty (based on: new recruitment, improvement in the qualification of the faulty).
Inviting / recruiting distinguished researchers and creating research chairs for leading and strengthening thrust areas within next six months.
Identifying and appointing at least one research chair in every discipline within next six months.
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Proactive efforts are also to be put for getting at least one industry sponsored research chair positions in relevant thrust areas at the institute within next one year.
Make teams working for identifying and proposing the needs for conducting the research throughout the year.
Teams (from within the department / across the departments) to meet once in a month and have a pedagogy / brainstorming session on the cutting edge research topics in the identified area.
The team must estimate the need for conducting the research in the identified area and plan the proposals / budget according.
Enhancing mentoring system for junior faculty members for research orientation and active participation in research teams on regular basis.
Assigning a senior faculty member as a mentor to the group of junior researchers for the identified thrust areas. Same mentor may be assigned for more than one research areas also.
Department shall identify such mentors (amongst available expert faculties) and submit the list within one month. Subsequent process of mentoring the different teams should start immediately. However, the strong and fruitful mentoring system can only be established with full availability of senior faculty members / research chairs / mentors.
Develop sustainable research initiatives.
Development of intellectual property management system within next six months.
Conducting a patent awareness / IPR awareness seminar once in a six month at institute level.
Developing conducive research environment and ambience by framing motivational research policies within next three months.
Increasing research outcome in the form of papers in the prescribed journals (at least one paper per senior faculty per year) and patents (at least one per department in next five years).
Attracting more number of GATE qualified M.Tech. students and full-time Ph.D. students by offering them the stipends in-line with MHRD norms from time to time. The policy shall be formed within next six months and to be implemented from the batch entering in July 2014.
Planning and development of research laboratories.
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Based on the feedback of mentors and the brainstorming at team levels for different research areas, planning and budgetary needs of the research oriented labs will be done within next six months. The planning of the lab development to be done on continues basis for subsequent years also.
Development of laboratories for the identified research areas by assigning the responsibility to the individual teams with team leaders for every lab, within next three to five years – phase wise.
Objective-3 Getting Funded Projects and offering consultancy / testing Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Funded 4 6 8 10 11 Faculty to Major prepare the Projects from proposals and the external apply for funding funding agencies. agencies Reports to be (total ongoing submitted as per in every year) the terms of the Minor 7 10 12 13 15 Project. Research Projects (funded by Nirma University / GUJCOST / UGC etc.) Consultancy 40 50 60 70 80 Department will and testing take initiatives assignments for getting more from assignments industries and complete on time.
The following actions are to be initiated:
Getting Funded Projects and Developing Centre for Excellence: To start with, based on team development and environment scan, apply to government and other funding agencies for more and more research projects (at least two projects per discipline within next one year)
Apply for one centre of excellence at the institute level within in next two years
Increasing Industry Participation
Potential industries to be identified and at least 5 such industries to be approached by every department within next six months.
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At least one MOU per year per institute shall be signed for increasing industry participation for development of specialized laboratories and research facilities.
Providing customized consultancy services to the industry on live problems. At least two such consultancy assignments to be taken by each department per year.
Objective-4 To increase research outcome by papers, faculty exchange, and patents Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 5 7 9 12 15 Faculty member papers will do research published and write the (national) paper in reputed Number of 30 40 50 60 70 conferences and papers peer reviewed published in journals. International Conferences Number of 5 6 7 8 9 faculty members sponsored to present the papers in International Conferences abroad Number of 15 20 25 30 40 papers published in International Journal Number of 2 3 4 5 6 Faculty books members to put published efforts for writing with reputed books. publishing house Faculty 1+1 1+1 2+2 3+3 3+3 Faculty Exchange exchange MOUs with foreign to be signed by university* the Institute. Number of 1 2 3 4 5 Faculty will patents to be apply for the filed patent filing and the University shall extend all the support for it
*Faculty from IT NU will go to foreign University and same number of faculty from foreign university will come to IT NU under faculty exchange programme for 2-4 weeks duration.
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Strategy-2
Developing the culture of interdisciplinary teaching-learning
Objective-1
To identify and offer interdisciplinary programmes, courses and projects
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Interdisciplinary 1 1 2 2 3 Institute will programme at identify the area, UG / PG level do environment (a total number studies and of programmes proposals will be offered) submitted for the Number of new - 2 3 4 5 new programme interdisciplinary / courses. courses to be offered at UG Faculty will and PG level identify the Number of 15 20 25 30 40 project interdisciplinary definitions and projects to be motivate the offered at UG students for and PG level interdisciplinary (including IDEA projects Lab projects)
The following actions are to be initiated:
Identification and offering of interdisciplinary programmes.
Identifying the areas and exploring the possibilities of offering interdisciplinary programme jointly by various departments within next one year.
Developing the adequate laboratory facilities for the interdisciplinary programmes within next two years.
Recruiting faculty members having qualifications of appropriate interdisciplinary specializations gradually as and when needed for the interdisciplinary programme through the year for next three years.
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Encouraging faculty to go for higher studies in interdisciplinary areas and get Ph.D. degrees in next five years.
Identification and offering of interdisciplinary courses.
Identifying interdisciplinary courses in emerging areas and every department shall identify at least one new interdisciplinary course within next six months.
Offering more institute and department level courses of interdisciplinary nature every semester.
Encouraging Interdisciplinary Projects. Supporting the interdisciplinary ideas, nurturing and incubating them with initial seed money and extending after development supports for commercialization of the product. A policy and specific cell to be created within next one year for this purpose.
Identifying student projects of interdisciplinary nature by interdepartmental meeting. One such meeting to take place every six months, preferably before start of the semester.
At least 5 % of the total projects of every department every year shall be of interdisciplinary nature.
Joint mentors are to be assigned across the involved departments for such interdisciplinary projects offered to the students.
Encouraging and facilitating student to participate in national and international competitions of interdisciplinary nature. One such team per programme to be prepared, guided and deputed every year.
Goal-4:
Strengthening extension and societal activities
Strategy-1
Enhancing the social responsibility amongst the students and faculty members
Objective-1
To increase the linkages with NGOs for task identification Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 5 7 9 10 15 Institute level NGOs to be Faculty in- contacted for charge will linkages identify the NGO and activities will be planned.
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Objective-2
To increase the number of societal and extension activities Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of 50 60 70 80 100 Department activities to level faculty be carried coordinator will out (each instruct the student will group of spare 15 students and hours during monitor. the third or fourth semester of graduation)
Objective-3
To increase the penetration of the Institution by involving more faculty members and students in the societal activities Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Percentage 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 % 100 % Each student will of UG do at least 15 students hours of societal involved with service and will societal clear the activities supplementary Percentage 5 % 7 % 10 % 12 % 12 course. Faculty of faculty members will members also get involved involved with and societal consolidated activities report will be submitted.
The following actions are to be initiated:
Enhancing the social responsibility amongst the students and faculty members. Increasing the penetration of the Institution by involving faculty members and students in the societal activities
Signing MOUs to work with NGOs for defined societal activities. At least three such MOUs to be signed with NGOs per year.
Involving all the student associations of the Institute and financially supporting them for participating in the extension activities. At least ten such activities to be carried out per year
Conducting awareness programmes to inculcate social responsibilities amongst the students. At least one such programme to be taken by the Institute per year.
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Identifying and taking the societal project activities and help Government making policies for the social issues. At least one such project to be taken by the Institute per year.
Assessment of Constraints
Attracting and retaining experienced faculty members and developing wide spectrum of expertise across the disciplines is always a constraint. Strong HR policies and motivational measures are to be devised for overcoming this constraint. The programmes offered by the Institute are of non-residence nature, this also plays very vital role in hampering the boost in the research environment and productive research outcome. Difficulty in obtaining research grants from government agencies and bodies being a constituent of the self-finance university. Recognition of the university under section 12(b) of the UGC is a significant constraint coming while attracting research related funding and other grants. Dependence on the tuition revenue is also to be reduced by identifying and exploiting the sources of endowment for sustainable growth.
Institutional leadership, Systems, Structures, and Staff for Implementation
There exists a very streamlined hierarchy of the leadership, which is being effectively executed at management level, university level, Head of Institution (HoI) and Head of Department (HoD) levels, and faculty and staff levels.
University has various statutory bodies such as Board of Governance (BoG), Academic Council, Finance Committee, Board of Studies (BoS), etc. The university is headed over by the President. Other officers are Vice President, Director General, COO, D(GA&A), Executive Registrar, Deans of various faculties, etc. In addition to these, Academic Development and Research (ADR) Cell, Coordination Committee, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), etc. are also in place for smooth functioning of the academic and administrative affairs.
The members of statutory bodies of the university meet frequently. Meetings of BoS, Academic council, Faculties of various disciplines, Finance Committee, Board of Governance are normally held twice a year. Management council’s resolutions are implemented by the relevant authorities.
The administration of the University is decentralized. Under the university act there are three statutory bodies namely: BoG, Academic Council and Finance Committee. The Director General, D(GA&A), Deans of Faculties and Executive Registrar are the officers of the University. Decentralization is evolved with the proper delegation of powers with accountability to Director, Head of Institutions, Head of Departments and Section Heads.
For effective internal coordination monitoring, Director General interacts with HoIs and senior faculty members periodically. At university level, a monthly coordination council meeting of HoIs with Vice President and Director General is held for overall coordination. Respective HoIs interact with HoDs weekly where all matters including academic, administrative etc. are discussed for better coordination. HoD interacts with faculty members and supporting staff of the department regularly.
With this systematically structured hierarchy, the proposed Strategic Plan is expected to be implemented as per the schedule.
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Institute of Management, Strategic Plan (2014-2019)
PREAMBLE
Institute of Management, Nirma University, earlier known as Nirma Institute of Management, started in 1996 has made rapid strides in its 17 years of existence and it is now ranked consistently amongst the top 25 business schools in the country. It attracts high calibre students and top recruiters from across the country because of the reputation it has earned over the years. This was achieved due to strong foundation created through hard work and valued contributions of the management, faculty, staff, students and alumni. This foundation provides a vantage point from which it can position itself as one of the top 15 business schools in the country. Achieving this ambitious goal requires: (a) crafting a strategic plan that is consistent with the institute’s as well as the university’s overall vision, mission and goals; (b) widely understood and unequivocally supported by university officials, faculty, staff, students, and other key stakeholders; (c) responsive to the key competitive forces in the environment and (d) provides a powerful framework capable of guiding strategic decisions and action plans to constantly innovate and improve all aspects of institute’s activities.
Need for a Strategic plan
During the past two and half decades, management education scenario has undergone a massive change. While the demand for good quality management education has increased steadily, the number of B-schools has also dramatically increased. Though most of these are of dubious quality, quite a few good ones including a number of new IIMs have come up in recent years. This has resulted in an intense competition for high calibre students and management faculty. The major challenge in this scenario is: How can the institute build on its strengths to reach new heights as it completes its two decades of existence?
Strategic Planning Process
As a first step in the planning process, a workshop on developing a strategic plan was conducted. A committee consisting of all the programme coordinators and senior faculty members was set up to prepare a strategic plan for the IMNU over the next five years which is aligned with the institute’s as well as the university’s overall vision, mission and goals and capable of guiding strategic decisions and action plans.
Organization of the Plan:
The process was mainly focused on addressing the four questions:
1. Who are we as an institution? 2. Where are we now and where do we want to go? 3. How do we get there? 4. How do we know we are getting there?
The first question addresses the need to understand and interpret our vision and mission statement and identify the core values of our institution. The answer to this question will act as compass that will guide all strategic decisions and initiatives. This will be addressed in Section II. The second question refers to goals or directions (Strategic Intent) towards which the institute should work over the next five years (Section III) while the third refers to actions needed to move in these directions (Section IV). Assessing the results of the actions taken using metrics and indicators is essential to know the progress towards goals which the final
Strategic Plan Page 51 question seeks to address (Section IV). The infrastructure requirements and financial projections are given in Appendix A and B respectively.
IMNU’s Enduring Commitments
Institute of Management-Nirma University firmly believes in moulding students to become principled and socially sensitive business leaders. To provide context to the strategic plan, this section presents the vision and mission of the university and core values and enduring commitments of the institute.
Vision of Nirma University
Shaping a better future for mankind by developing effective and socially responsible individuals and organizations.
In line with Nirma University’s vision of developing effective and socially responsible individuals for better future for the mankind, IMNU believes in creating appropriate learning opportunities to students so that they can provide relevant solutions that consider not only business imperatives but social and environmental as well to the critical challenges facing business and society. This requires nurturing principled and socially sensitive leaders capable of leading organizations effectively.
Mission of Nirma University
Nirma University emphasizes on all round development of its students. It aims at not only producing good professionals, but also good and worthy citizens of a great country aiding in its overall progress and development.
The mission statement conveys the commitment of the university to train the students to be competent professionals and worthy citizens capable of contributing to the overall progress and development of the country. The university also recognizes the need to treat students as individuals with unique needs and accordingly provide the best possible preparation and training so that they can achieve their career aspirations and life goals. The IMNU’s mission, guided by university’s mission, is to nurture business leaders capable of influencing society positively.
IMNU’s Aspiration
To be recognized as one the top 15 business schools in the country, known for its high calibre faculty engaged in high quality teaching, training and research activities.
The institute’s aspiration articulates the need to become a holistic business school engaged in high quality teaching, training and research activities. The need to foster an academic environment by attracting and retaining high calibre faculty is vital for achieving this aspiration. Though there are several new niche areas that are emerging such as banking and insurance management, infrastructure management, healthcare management, etc., the thrust areas for teaching and research for IMNU will be general management and entrepreneurship. Focusing on general management and entrepreneurship rather than niche areas will provide broader range of placement opportunities for students.
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The Institute and Its Environment
This section presents information about the internal and external environment of IMNU that is relevant for the preparing the strategic plan. Topics considered in this section include trends in global and domestic management education scenarios that pose threats or provide opportunities, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the institute vis-à-vis other leading Indian B-schools and main strategic challenges and broad directions for the institute.
Management Education- Global Scenario
Business organizations across the world are relying on managers trained in new management tools and techniques to improve efficiency and productivity and innovate to stay competitive. The need to enhance management and leadership capability to cope with increased competition and continuous upheavals in organizations have spurred the demand for management graduates with relevant skills, abilities, knowledge and self-awareness. This coupled with low entry barriers has led to a boom in business education worldwide. There are approximately 900 universities in US alone which offer management degrees. The market for management and executive education is huge with executive education alone estimated to be $50 billion worldwide.
Some of the current trends in global scenario are presented below:
Increasing competition has led to many universities to globalize, focus on branding and offer niche and specialized programmes.
Computer and internet-based technologies have enabled E-learning, computer based learning packages, on-line courses, MOOC to make gradual inroads into traditional classroom teaching. Blended learning with classroom teaching supplemented by on- line or e-learning are gaining popularity.
There is a shift in B-school offerings from traditional MBA programs to more part-time or shorter duration programs and in-house company programs. Many business schools are expecting to use executive MBAs as a source of major revenue. Global education and training market will increasingly become important growth drivers for business schools. Short courses offered by consulting firms are gaining popularity and the research conducted by professional firms is becoming an alternate source of business research.
Innovative experiential teaching techniques are being increasing used to teach topics such as leadership, entrepreneurship, multi-cultural sensitivity, etc. Harvard Business school course on negotiations, for example, is based on understanding the thought process involved in negotiation and identifying common mistakes made by even experienced professionals to enhance the effectiveness of the course. Kellogg relies heavily on simulations for teaching negotiations, which initially start as one-to-one simple negotiations and gradually become more complex at later stages.
Collaboration between B-Schools and between B-Schools and the industry is increasing. For instance, Kellogg is working closely with the industry to continuously change its core curriculum to meet the industry needs. It also allows students to specialize sooner so that they can be more useful to the employers. Faqua School of Business collaborating with business school at Seoul national University to expose students to the realities of globalization is another such example.
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To sum up, the major trends in the global management education scenario are (a) B-Schools focusing more on branding and offering niche or specialized programme to differentiate themselves, (b) E-learning, computer based learning packages, on-line courses, MOOC gradually gaining popularity, (c) a shift in B-school offerings from traditional MBA programs to more part-time, shorter duration and executive programs and in-house company programs, (d) increasing use of Innovative experiential teaching techniques to teach topics such as leadership, entrepreneurship, multi-cultural sensitivity, etc., and (e) increasing collaboration between B-Schools and between B-Schools and industry.
Management Education- Indian Scenario:
According to Annual Report of AICTE (2011-12), there are currently 3541 MBA institutes and 308 PGDM institutes with annual intake of 346825 and 43023 respectively. In addition, there are a huge number of institutes which offer PGDM without the AICTE approval. The seats in the top 50 business schools have also increased significantly. In 2013-2014 alone, the total seats across the 13 IIMs have increased to 3,335. On the other hand, due to economic slowdown and high fee and low quality of the education offered by many institutes, the number of MBA aspirants has shown a steady decline during the past few years. In 2013, only 1.94 lakh candidates appeared for the CAT compared to 2.14 lakh candidates in 2012- a drop of nearly 10%. The declining interest in management degrees had a catastrophic effect on MBA programmes. About 140 schools offering MBA courses have closed down due to large number of vacant seats in 2013 with more expected to follow. To add to the woes of business schools, a 2013 MBAUniverse.com-MeriTrac employability study which covered 2,264 MBAs from 29 cities and 100 B-Schools (beyond the top 25) reported that only 21 per cent are “employable”. A paper on B-schools by industry body Assocham has also come up similar findings. The findings suggest that only 10 per cent of India's MBA graduates are employable. The paper also revealed that recruitments at the campus have gone down by 40 per cent in the year 2012.
Indian Management education, in contrast to US and other developed countries, has not evolved based on the local business context and culture. Even after five decades Indian management education is still based on alien context with few minor changes in the content. The quality of teaching and research lags far behind foreign universities judging by the global rankings of Indian business schools. While 52 US business schools, 14 UK schools and 6 French schools featured in top 100 world business schools for 2013 (for full time MBA programs), only one Indian business school, IIM Ahmedabad in 39th position is featured in the list.
A number of committees, notably The Nanda Committee, The Kurien Committee, The Ishwar Dayal Committee and The Management Education Review Committee have been constituted to look into issues faced by Indian management education system. All the four committees have identified the following systemic problems:
Shortage of quality faculty is a critical issue that needs to be addressed first. Most of the business schools neglect research. Very little effort has been put in to customize the content to suit the Indian context. Except for a very few reputed business schools, all others have poor library and IT infrastructure. Institute-industry interaction is almost non-existent in majority of the schools resulting in students having no practical exposure to industry practices. Indian business schools invest very little in faculty development.
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Despite the recommendations of these expert committees no corrective measures have been taken by B-Schools to rectify the situation. Managements of many B-Schools demonstrate apathy towards faculty development and a lack of commitment to upgrade the skills and capabilities of its academic staff. This is because sending staff for skill enhancement programmes in reputed national and international institutions is expensive and many of them are also worried about staff attrition after they come back from such programmes. Because of such short sightedness many of them do not invest in faculty development making faculty positions unattractive for individuals to join and stay with them. Another disturbing trend seen across many business schools in India is the lack of visionary leadership. Across many business schools, traditional top-down communication still exist, resulting in loss of effective communication and barring a few , a lack of trust between staff and management in business school establishments is quite prevalent.
While the trends discussed so far are distressing, the Indian B-Schools scenario is also witnessing some positive and interesting trends presented below:
Shift from general to sector-specific programmes: There is a perceptible shift from general to sector specific MBA programmes. Since the general MBA programmes are not able to attract recruiters, many business schools have started offering sector-focused MBA programmes in construction management, public health management, petroleum and energy management, retail management, etc.
Greater research commitment: B-Schools in India are investing more in developing research capabilities. IIM Calcutta and the Ivey Business School, Canada have recently signed a MoU to jointly develop and publish India-relevant cases. Similarly, other business schools are looking at enhancing their research capabilities either through national and international collaborations with academic and professional establishments.
Greater social orientation: Business schools in India are demonstrating greater commitment towards the society through several initiatives to promote social entrepreneurship. Among them, collaborations with NGOs, guest lectures from representatives from the social sector, and active project-level involvement of students in the social sector.
Online Programmes: During the past two decades, business schools such as Symbiosis, IMT Ghaziabad and Wellingkar and universities such as Amity, Sikkim-Manipal, Anna University, IGNOU, etc have introduced MBA through distance mode. However, these programmes have not become popular since quality of these programmes does not compare well with regular programmes and the industry perception of these universities is also poor. These programmes are also losing ground to IT and internet-enabled programme which have steadily increased in popularity. Reputed business schools such as IIM-C, IIM-K, IIM- Lucknow, XLRI Jamshedpur are offering various management programmes/ diplomas/ certificates in onsite mode through the satellite based education and training. Others such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, MDI etc, are also delivering such programmes through online web-based learning management system.
Use of ICT: Information and communication technology (ICT) has affected every aspect of MBA education like admission, teaching-learning process, examination etc. ICT has been leveraged in content development and delivery. Blogs and other tools of web 2.0 have made the faculty available round the clock for students.
Rise of Integrated MBA Programs: Five-Year Integrated MBA programme is an option available for students immediately after completion of class XII. The programme leads to a BBA degree and eventually to MBA degree by the end of fifth year. It is relatively easier for students to get admission to leading business schools through this course. Top B-schools
Strategic Plan Page 55 like IIM Indore, NMIMS, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Mumbai, DAVV Indore, VIT Vellore, BITS Pilani and Nirma University currently offer the programme.
Entry of Foreign Universities/ Institutes: Another notable development in the business school scenario is the opening-up of this sector for foreign universities. Indian government has decided to allow foreign universities to operate independently in India, set up campuses and offer degrees without having a local partner. The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) and the department of economic affairs (DEA) have agreed to allow overseas universities to operate as Section 25 or non-profit companies under the newly passed Companies Act. Under the proposed rules, foreign universities can set up campuses in India once they have been notified as ‘foreign education provider’ by UGC. An educational institution wishing to operate in India needs to be in the top 400 in one of three global rankings: the UK-based Times Higher Education Ranking; Quacquarelli Symonds ranking published in UK again; and the China-based Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings.
Greater focus on international accreditation: There is a sudden rush among business schools in India to gain international accreditations. Some of them including IIM-A, ISB, TAPMI, MDI, IMI-Delhi, SPJIMR, IMT-Ghaziabad, XIM-B, etc, have already been accredited by leading accreditation agencies such as EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA with quite a few of them at various stages of the accreditation process. Going by this trend, international accreditation may well become a big differentiator for business schools in times to come.
All the trends in both the global and domestic B-School scenarios discussed above present numerous opportunities and threats for IMNU. In such a turbulent situation, if IMNU can successfully seize the opportunities and overcome the threats it can emerge stronger and compete better.
Position of IMNU Vis-à-Vis Other Top Schools- Competitive Scenario
The Institute of Management, Nirma University, earlier known as Nirma Institute of Management, established in 1996 as an autonomous institute, became a constituent Institution of Nirma University in 2003. It started with offering PGDM (FT) and PGDM (PT) in 1996 with an intake of 60 students each. In 1999 it started its Doctoral Programme. In 2002, it added another section to its Full Time Programme. In year 2004, it started MBA (FB&E) programme. In the year 2013, it initiated a 5 years integrated BBA-MBA programme. Table 1 presents the various milestones in the institute’s journey thus far.
Table 1: Significant Milestones
Year Milestone 1996 Establishment of the Institute and commencement of PGDM (FT) 1996 First NICOM held 1996 Commencement of Part-time PGDM 1998 The first batch of PGDM passed out successfully 1998 Commencement of Fellow Programme in Management 1999 Commencement of EDP 2002 Second section of PGDM (FT) added 2003 The Institute became a constituent of the University 2004 Commencement of MBA (family Business and Entrepreneurship) 2006 Launched Nirma University Journal of Business Management Studies 2008 Commencement of External PhD Programme 2011 Part-time MBA closed 2013 Commencement of BBA-MBA Programme
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The Institute has been consistently ranked among the top 25 B-schools and among the top 15 private B-schools in the country as per various survey results published in Indian Management, Business World, Outlook, Competition Success Review, Business Today, The Times of India etc. The Institute has also received several awards such as 2 PALMES by The Eduniversal International Scientific Committee, Innovative Leadership Award” by DNA & Stars of the Industry Group, Bureaucracy Today Business School Award for the Best Institution and Student`s admission , Le Matinal Educational Excellence Awards, Dewang Mehta Business School Award, Competition Success Review Award of Excellence etc.
The B-Schools in the country can be categorized into different distinct groups based on programmes offered, admission tests used, general perception among students of quality and cost (ROI), placement record, or ranking exercises carried out by different agencies in the country. The older IIMs and some private B-Schools such as XLRI, SPJIMR and MDI belong to a distinct group because of their abundant and world class financial, physical and human resources and the image they enjoy. The new IIMs fall into another distinct group. They also have abundant physical and financial resources, but are currently deficient in human resources and do not enjoy the same image as their older counterparts. However, they were able to gradually attract talent not only from India but from abroad as well. They are providing tough competition to reputed private business schools including Institute of Management, Nirma University by drawing away quality MBA aspirants and top recruiters. They may eventually move to the first group or possibly create a new strategic group using their abundant resources. They also get funds for research from the government; have lower teaching loads for faculty, and also get good number of consulting assignments from both the industry and government. Many of them also have a number of student and faculty exchange programmes with foreign universities.
B-Schools such as IMT Ghaziabad, IMI New Delhi, TAPMI, NMIMS, BIMTECH, etc. which are ranked in the range 11-20 form the strategic group that IMNU competes with. Most of these are located in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, are relatively older, have been able to place students reasonably well, have good infrastructure, and are able to attract good talent because of consulting and research opportunities location. They are also able to attract experienced visiting faculty and have better access to the industry due to their location. Some of them have arrangements with foreign universities, invite foreign faculty, and send their faculty for training abroad. Student exchange programmes with foreign b-schools are also part of their programmes.
B-schools which are ranked between 26-50 also offer competition in terms of admission and placement. Some of them have location advantage which facilitates much better institute- industry interaction. Some of them also have foreign collaborators with whom they have student as well as faculty exchange programmes. Some of them also send their faculty for training abroad. They offer credible threat to IMNU in future. There are a large number of management departments in universities which have serious deficiencies in several areas and hence, do not offer any threat. They can at best be considered regional if not local players.
The B-School surveys conducted by various agencies provides a clear picture (though questionable) of IMNU’s position amongst Indian B-Schools. Table 2 shows the ranking of IMNU based on B-School surveys conducted by various organizations.
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Table 2 Ranking of IMNU in various surveys:
Source 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Indian Management / (SL-2) 10 (SL-2) 10 (SL-2) 11 Business Standard Business Today 34 30 23 Business World 25 29 20 The Week - 43 36 The Outlook 35 30 24 People Matters - - 25 CSR-GHRDC 19 17 13 (Private B- Schools) The Times of India - - 22 The Pioneer - 10 A+++ (highest ranking) CNBC-TV18 / HT 23
An analysis of the results of various surveys is presented below:
According to the Business Today survey for 2013, IMNU has been rated very well in terms of learning experience (rank 16), living experience (10) and selection process (19) and does poorly on placement performance (42). The overall ranking as per this survey is 23. The results of CSR-GHRDC B-School Survey for 2013 of top private business schools are quite encouraging with IMNU scoring well on all the four parameters, namely, (Parameter 1) infrastructure, (Parameter 2) faculty publication, research, consultancy and MDP, Parameter (3) admission, curriculum and delivery system and Parameter (4) Placement, social responsibility, networking and industry interface. The Outlook-Drshti survey results show that IMNU is not doing well in selection process (112.8/200), personality development (108/200) and is doing reasonably well in academic excellence (153/200) and infrastructure facilities (94.6/120). In the Business World survey, IMNU scored well on infrastructure and living experience (rank 4, 172/180) and intellectual capital (rank 18, 151/250) and reasonably well in placement (rank 31, 130/230) and pedagogy (rank 27, 85/150). However, it scored very low in industry interaction (rank 68, 85/150). Though the above findings are contradictory, it is clear that IMNU has to do well in pedagogy and learning experience, faculty research, industry interaction and placements. Though there are doubts expressed by experts about the findings of various surveys due to lack of standard methodology adopted to measure the performance of a business school, an attempt is made here, however, to analyse the findings and understand the broad trends and to know where IMNU stands vis-à-vis top business school on various performance parameters.
In addition to the analysis based on B-Schools surveys, a detailed analysis of IMNU’s position in relation to schools in its strategic group consisting of IMI-Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, BIMTECH, TAPMI, NMIMS, Symbiosis Institute of Management, XIMB, NITIE is presented in the Appendix C. These schools were rated on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (Excellent) on various parameters based on factual data and perceptions of the strategic planning group (wherever factual data was not available). A brief write-up on these schools including IMNU extracted from NHRD website is given in Appendix D. A SWOT analysis (Appendix E) was done based on the strengths and weaknesses of IMNU relative to other B-Schools in the strategic group and opportunities and threats for B-Schools discussed earlier in this document.
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IMNU offers a strong ‘value for money’ proposition because of the affordable fee structure and good placement opportunities for its students. The other strengths of IMNU include good library and infrastructure facilities (which needs to be augmented and upgraded with increasing intake), low faculty attrition, DPM program to support research activities, institute journal and Integrated Five Year BBA-MBA program which just a handful of B-Schools currently offer.
Some of the weaknesses include inability to attract good calibre faculty (especially at the senior level which is linked to current salary and incentive structure which is not very competitive), lack of exposure of existing faculty to academic practices of top business schools, lack of diversity in faculty pool, poor faculty research output and low faculty to student ratio (which is close to 1:18 compared to 1:15 recommended by UGC). Profiles and diversity of candidates joining various programmes is a cause for concern. The quality of placement and the number of recruiters coming for campus recruitment, low key media presence and low level of institute-industry interactions are other areas of concern. For the institute to move to the next level, it is imperative for the institute to collaborate with top B- Schools within and outside India to promote faculty and student exchange programmes. This will immensely contribute to development of faculty and students. The institute also needs to raise the bar and aim for internal accreditation which is a perquisite for a tie-up with any reputed foreign university. There are quite few opportunities and threats as well, which are mentioned in the SWOT analysis.
Based on the discussion so far, five strategic goals emerge. They are:
Strategic Goal 1: Equip students with knowledge and skills to make them industry ready.
Strategic Goal 2: Improve placement performance.
Strategic Goal 3: Attract high calibre faculty and develop them.
Strategic Goal 4: Increase research and publication output.
Strategic Goal 5: Enhance institute-industry interaction.
In order to realize the aspiration of being a top 15 B-School in the country, the above strategic goals need to be accomplished in the next five years. This requires setting up a clear array of objectives, and metrics for each goal which is dealt with in the next section.
Strategic Goals, Objectives and Metrics
This section deals with strategic goals, objectives and metrics. It is pertinent to note that the institute is currently making significant efforts and achieving success in several areas. Hence, including an objective already implemented only emphasizes the importance of such an objective.
Strategic Intent
To be recognized as one of the top 15 business schools in the country known for its excellence in teaching, training and research activities in the next five years.
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Strategic Goal 1: To equip students with knowledge and skills to make them industry ready.
Objective 1: To emphasize on application of contemporary managerial tools and techniques:
Metric 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Proportion Individual of faculty to sessions/ti include the me spent information in on 25% 30% 35% 40% 40% course audit application report. of tools and Will be technique reviewed by s in all Area courses Chairperson
Objective 2: To improve learning experience of students using new pedagogical techniques.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018- Implementation 19 Multimedia 10 15 18 20 20 Individual cases faculty to Simulations 6 9 9 9 9 include the On-line information in courses the course audit including report. Will be MOOCs reviewed by (Blended 2 4 6 6 6 Programme format) Chairperson. Action 5 5 5 5 5 Learning Projects
Strategic Goal 2: Enhance placement opportunities:
Objective 1: To place students
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementati on Percentage of Placement students to be Chairperson placed (who opt for will report placement) results in 95% 97% 97% 97% 97% annual Pre-placement 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% placement Offers report.
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Objective 2: To increase average salary of MBA students (in term of CTC)
Metric 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Percentage Placement Chairperson will increase in report results in average salary annual package (CTC) 12% 12% 12% 12% 12% placement year-on-year report. (YOY)
Objective 3: To increase international placements:
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation
Percentage Placement Chairperson of batch placed will report abroad (Final results in the placements) 1% 1% 2% 2% 2% annual International 1% 1% 2% 2% placement summer report. internships
Objective 4: To increase the number of recruiters coming for campus recruitment.
Metric 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation Number of Placement recruiters for Chairperson campus will report recruitment results in the 60 65 70 75 75 annual report
Objective 5: To develop in-house knowledge bank to track placement opportunities
Action: Continuously build knowledge bank through alumni and recruiters surveys, industry/sector reports, government reports, etc. Analyse trends and prepare action plan. To be implemented by placement officer.
Strategic Goal 3: To attract high calibre faculty and develop them.
Objective 1: To attract faculty and doctoral students from top 100 B-Schools in the country.
Action: Build and update database of all faculty and doctoral students in top 100 B-Schools and send newsletters and links to papers published by our faculty, connect over social network sites, send faculty advertisements, etc regularly. Build database of people in corporate training institutes. Make presentations of the activities of the institute in NICOM, Anvesh and other conferences. Offer attractive remuneration/honorarium to visiting faculty from the industry. Provide incentives increased book and periodical allowances, reimbursement of annual membership fees in professional associations.
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Objective 2: To train faculty
Metrics 2014- 2015-16 2016- 2017- 2018-19 Implementation 15 17 18 Refresher Programs 80 90 100 120 120 (Man days). Five days duration Faculty Pedagogical Development Workshops Group headed (TLE)(Man days) 50 60 70 120 120 by Chairperson will prepare a 2 days duration calendar of all Paper writing clinics the planned (Man days) during June- 50 60 70 80 100 April. Activities 1 day duration will be Industry exposure on- reviewed by the site /Faculty Director and Internship (Man days) 25 30 30 30 30 the group every National conferences 20 25 30 30 30 quarter. (number) International 2 4 6 8 10 conferences (number) Workshops/programs conducted by other organizations (Man days) 3 days duration 30 40 45 50 60 Workshop on 25 30 35 40 50 preparing project proposals (Man days) I day duration Vichar Vinimay (No. 25 25 25 25 25 of events) Faculty Exchange 1+1* 1+1 1+1 1+1 1+1 with foreign universities
* One faculty member each from IMNU and foreign university for the Faculty Exchange programme.
Duration 2 – 4 weeks approximately.
Strategic Goal 3: Increase research and publication output
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Objective 1: To increase number of minor and major research projects
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of Minor Chairperson- Projects Faculty 8 12 16 18 18 Development and No. of Major DPM Chairperson projects will facilitate the 2 2 2 2 3 process. Progress of proposals/projects reviewed at the end of every quarter.
Objective 2: To increase the number of journal articles and cases.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of DPM Chairperson articles in will compile a list of “A- 0 0 1 2 3 A, B and C category Category” Journals, report the Journals status of No. of publications in each articles in quarter to the “B- 4 6 8 8 10 Director and update Category” the database of Journals research No. Of publications. articles in “C- 20 24 30 35 40 Category” Journals Cases 4 6 8 10 12
Objective 3: To conduct workshops on case writing and publication in journals.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of case Chairperson- writing Faculty workshops 1 1 1 1 1 Development (Two-day along with DPM duration) Chairperson will Paper writing plan and clinics monitor the 2 2 2 2 2 activities. (One-Day duration)
Strategic Goal 4: Enhance Institute-Industry interaction
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Objective 1: To increase number of days of training.
Metric 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of days of 30 40 50 60 60 MDP MDP per year * Chairperson to review
*not including long-term training programmes
Objective 2: To increase sessions by guest faculty and alumni.
Metric 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of sessions 30 35 40 40 40 Program by guest Coordinators faculty/alumni will review the activities
Objective 3: To increase the number of lecture in CEO and institute lecture series.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of lectures in Programme institute lecture Coordinators series. 10 10 10 10 10 will review the CEO Lecture 2 3 3 4 5 activities. series
Objective 4: To increase institute-alumni interaction.
Metrics 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Implementation No. of lectures in Placement alumni series. Chairperson will 15 15 15 15 15 plan and review No. of alumni activities. chapters to be established 3 3 5 5 6
The following actions will be initiated.
The Director, IMNU along with concerned heads of various activities will monitor the progress quarterly. The Programme and individual (faculty) plans will be linked to the strategic plan. The progress of the plan will be monitored through the institute, programme and individual annual reviews. Coordination mechanism to ensure collaboration between different programmes, areas and committees will be put in place. Roles and responsibilities will be clearly defined. New initiatives and progress of ongoing initiatives will be communicated to all the faculty members and key administrative personnel. Changes in the planned activities will be communicated promptly to concerned people.
Strategic Plan Page 64
Resources Required:
The infrastructure and financial resources required to implement the plan are given in Appendix A and B respectively.
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Appendix A
Infrastructure Requirement
Facilities for MBA (FT), MBA (FB & E) and BBA-MBA
Particulars 2014-15 2015-16** 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Classrooms 13 15* 18* 21* 24* Tutorials 3 3 5 6 7 Seminar Rooms 3 3 4 5 5 Communication 1 1 1 1 1 Studio Study Rooms 4 4 6 8 10 (Seating capacity- 10 persons) *Includes one smart classroom. **One more section of BBA-MBA added
Facilities for DPM Students
Particulars 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Seminar Rooms 2 2 3 4 4 Cubicles 12 15 18 20 20
Facilities for Faculty
Particulars 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Office 48 60 68 76 84 Faculty Meeting Room (Seating 2 2 3 3 3 capacity-6 persons) Printing & Xeroxing 1 1 1 1 1
Faculty Lounge 1 1 1 1 1
Training Facilities
Particulars 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 MDP Rooms 2 2 3 4 4 Syndicate 2 2 3 4 4 Rooms Lounge 1 1 1 1 1 Dining 1 1 2 2 2 Rooms MDP Office 1 1 1 1 1
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Facilities for Placement Activities
Particulars 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Placement Offices 4 4 4 4 4 GD Rooms 2 2 2 2 2 Interview Rooms 3 3 5 6 6
Facilities for Administration (In addition to the current facilities)
Particulars Area Examination section As per requirement Store Rooms As per requirement
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Appendix B
Projected Budget
Sr. Programmes Current Proposed
No
2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 No of Amt No of Amt No of Amt No of Amt No of Amt in in in in in Faculty Lacs Faculty Lacs Faculty Lacs Faculty Lacs Faculty Lacs 1 MBA Faculty 40 568 40 653.00 40 751.00 40 864 40 994 Salary 2 BBA Faculty 8 60.40 16 145.87 24 255.83 32 372 40 537.85 Salary Total No of 48 628 56 799.00 64 1007 72 1236 80 1532 faculties and Salaries 3 Staff Staff 230.00 287.50 330.63 380.22 475.27 Salary 4 Stu.Training 24.15 27.77 31.94 36.73 42.24
5 Fellowship 27.00 36.00 45.00 60.00 64.00
6 Admission 132.00 145.00 160.00 176.00 194.00
7 Placement 18.00 20.00 22.50 25.00 30.00
8 Faculty 14.00 20.00 30.00 35.00 40.00
Development
9 Staff 1.50 2.00 2.00 2.50 3.00
Development
10 Research 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00
Development 11 Traveling Expenses for developing linkages with local companies / foreign universities boration with 10 10 10 10 10
Foreign Universities
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Appendix C: IMNU’s Position Parameters IMNU IMI-Del IMT NITIE NMIMS TAPMI BIMTECH XIM-B Symbiosis Faculty related Faculty Strength (Faculty-to- 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 Student Ratio) Faculty Profile (Ph.Ds., 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 Experience, Guest faculty) Faculty Salary 3 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 3 Faculty Exchange 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 Attracting new Faculty 2 4 4 5 3 3 3 4 3 Faculty Development 2 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 Student related No. of Applicants/Seat 2 4 4 4 3 3 2 4 3 Admissions Process (Rigour) 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 Student Profile 3 4 4 5 3 3 3 4 3 (Background/diversity) Student Diversity 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Pedagogy related Pedagogical Innovation 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 Learning Experience 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 Placement related Placement in Companies 2 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 Quality of Role (Job Profile) 3 4 4 5 4 3 3 4 3 Type of Companies/No. of 2 3 4 5 4 3 3 4 3 Companies Average Salaries 3 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 3 Programme & Infrastructure related Value for Money 5 3 3 5 3 3 3 4 3 No. of programmes offered 4 4 5 3 5 3 4 3 4 International Accreditation 1 3 3 1 1 5 1 2 1 Infrastructure 3 2 4 4 2 3 3 4 3 Library Resources (learning 3 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 resources) Living Experience 4 2 4 4 3 4 3 3 3 Research & Intellectual Capital 2 3 3 4 2 4 3 4 3 Journal 3 4 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 Conferences 4 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 Ph.D program 4 3 3 5 4 - - 3 - Social Responsibility 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Corporate Linkages 2 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 MDPs 2 5 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 Consultancy 1 4 4 4 3 2 1 3 2 International Linkages 2 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 2 Location 2 4 4 4 4 2 4 1 3 Media Relations 2 4 4 2 3 2 4 3 3 Alumni related Alumni Relationship 2 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 Alumni Profile 3 4 5 5 4 3 3 4 4 Legend Excellent : 5 Good : 4 Average : 3 Poor : 2 Very Poor : 1 Strategic Plan Page 69
Appendix D
Business Schools in IMNU’s Strategic Group
(Source: NHRD B-School Survey 2014)
IMI – Delhi: International Management Institute, Delhi, is one of the most preferred B-Schools in India. With a vision to be a truly global school, it seeks to create and nurture globally minded, industry ready, socially conscientious, ethical and value adding managers through its internationally accredited programmes and its innovative transformation process. The school has many programmes ranging from two-year programmes for young graduates to specialized programmes for working managers and subject specific management development programmes for middle and senior managers and Leadership Development Programmes for senior and top management including those at the Board Level of organizations.
Established: 1981, Top-scoring parameters: Governance, Faculty Profile and Academic Excellence
Differentiator: Corporate connect helps frame its pedagogy
NMIMS – Mumbai: Established 33 years ago, NMIMS has created a significant benchmark in management education in the country. More than 60,000 students applied for a 600 students’ batch this year. With the number of applications consistently increasing year on year, the institute remains a preferred choice amongst aspiring candidates who have to go through the NMAT (NMIMS’ own entrance examination) or GMAT to get admissions. The institute focuses a lot on its learning delivery, providing a right mix of academic and industrial exposure to its students and faculty. Special sessions facilitated by industry experts take place almost every day and alumni actively mentor students. About 60 per cent of faculty possess PhD and the rest have a rich industry experience. To encourage new and contemporary pedagogy, the institute focuses on providing immense global exposure to its faculty through world-class trainings. Fifteen faculty members have been sent to Harvard for training and two more will be sent this year to Harvard and one to London School of Economics.
Established: 1981, Top-scoring parameters: Governance, Academic Excellence and Faculty Profile
Differentiator: Contemporary pedagogy & unique MBA courses
NITIE – Mumbai: The institute is located in the corporate heartland of India and is among the favourite destinations for recruiters across the width and expanse of the Indian industry. Besides a leading-edge academic environment, NITIE offers several infrastructural and environmental benefits that offer students the opportunity to learn and explore the field of industrial research comprehensively. It offers postgraduate, management development and Fellow programs. It also offers tailored programs for entities in the field of industrial management called unit based programs (UBP). One of the notable facilities at NITIE includes the Ergonomics and Human Factors Engineering Laboratories. The laboratory is dedicated to study and research on physical ergonomics, occupational health and safety, industrial environment, environmental engineering and energy research. The fields and operating environments offered at NITIE are considered to be among the very few for the niche fields of study. Besides regular courses, the institution has conducted management
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development programs for private and public sector organizations. The institute is also responsible for the development and promotion of small-scale and medium- scale enterprises.
Established: 1963, Top-scoring parameters: Leadership & Governance, Faculty Profile, Infrastructure, Placements
Differentiator: Faculty with PhDs in niche areas of specialization
IMT – Ghaziabad: IMT Ghaziabad is a very popular and one of the most preferred business management institutions in the country. Students with a minimum of 90 per cent score in CAT, GMAT or XAT can apply for admissions. In addition to the regular PGDM programmes, the institute offers specialized collaborative programmes including a unique dual-country PGDM programmes, providing their students an exposure to campuses in India (Ghaziabad) and in Dubai. IMT Ghaziabad has recently launched a collaborative arrangement with Arizona State University’s Carey School of Business, under which their students get direct entry into some of the world’s most specialized Masters Programmes such as the ones in Business and Big Data Analytics. Dynamism is the driving force for the institute and the institute keeps its research and teaching agenda focused on their mission to transform intellectual talent into practical and economic powerhouses.
Established: 1980, Top-scoring parameters: Governance, Accreditation & Linkgaes, and Student Profile
Differentiator: Global experts to teach students and train faculty
BIMTECH: Spanning over two-and-a-half decades in the business education domain, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) is known for its innovative learning delivery model. The students are selected on the basis of their CAT score aggregated with the graduation and post-graduation scores, with an additional weightage given to any professional degrees and work experience. It has been very successfully and incrementally attracting competent profiles with a selection criteria ratio of 1:10. Its programmes match industry’s need for knowledge, skills and competencies. The institute has a unique pedagogy model where academicians interact with the industry to improve programmes at stream level such as marketing finance etc. It is achieved through specialized industry-academia working groups focused on improving the ratio of knowledge, skill and competency of the courses and delivery. Taking into account, the limitations of classroom teaching, the institute has introduced the use of online resources and learning methods to increase the learning outcomes and nurture an aptitude for lifelong learning. In its endeavour to balance out theory and practical application of it, the institute has many successful courses, which are practice based and demand a high level of professional interaction.
Established: 1988, Top-scoring parameters: Governance, Accreditation & Linkgaes, Campus Life
Differentiator: Innovative learning delivery model
TAPMI: TAPMI’s mission statement is to excel in post-graduate management education, research and practice, is part of the chain of educational institutions set up by the Pai family. It is run by a trust led by the father-son duo of Ramdas and Ranjan Pai, who also own the business venture, Manipal Education and Medical Group,
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(MEMG). The institute offers the following courses: Post Graduate Diploma in Management and Post Graduate Diploma in Management in Healthcare (PGDM- Healthcare). It is envisaging to introduce Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Banking and Financial Services (PGDM-BKFS) in 2014 and is awaiting regulatory approval for the same. It is the second B-School in India to get global accreditation to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) after Indian School of Business. In fact, in keeping with the current times, the school is planning to introduce a course in business analytics and launched a business consultancy course last year, which proved to be extremely popular. TAPMI has being graded by CRISIL as A*** (the highest) level for three consecutive years.
Established: 1984, Top-scoring parameters: Leadership, Accreditation & Linkages, Infrastructure
Differentiator: Second B-School in India to get AACSB
Symbiosis- Pune: SIBM has a rich pool of students, faculty and alumni. Both graduates and working professionals apply in equal numbers as the institute has unique courses to suit each category of students. While the regular MBA is offered in HR, Marketing, Finance and Operations, there is a specialized 30-month weekend course for working professionals. The admission process begins when students have to appear for the entrance examination SNAP and then undergo a PI-WAT (Personal Interaction and Writing Ability Test). The institute has the best in class infrastructure and is located in Pune. The pedagogy at SIBM is focused on ‘Indian and Global Corporate Sector Module’ wherein students are exposed to corporate practices through case studies and industry relevant sessions. Moreover, senior corporate leaders are invited to take sessions on real life cases. These sessions are not just treated like an additional guest lecture, but add a credit to the regular course. The concept is called ‘floating credits’, where 1 credit is added to the student profile for attending a 15-hour session with an industry expert.
Established: 1978, Top-scoring parameters: Governance, Campus Life, Student Profile, Infrastructure
Differentiator: Experiential learning and connect with alumni
XIM B: XIMB focuses on academic rigour, providing good academic infrastructure, and aspires to be on the leading edge of technology and innovation. As a result, XIMB supports its vision for academic and innovation excellence by building the right environment and the campus is considered as among the most technology intensive campuses in India. The institution also believes in continuous improvement through interactive feedback and self-evaluations. XIMB makes conscious efforts in having its students break away from an elitist mind-set and become effective professionals by having their eyes and ears on the ground. The institution’s industry interface is comprised as much by representatives from NGOs, villages, and youth organisations as they are from Chairpersons and MDs in top and middle level corporate firms. These industry interactions are either in the form of lectures and seminars, or in the form of management development programs and other training programs at the institute’s Center for Development Research and Training (CENDERET).
Established: 1987, Top-scoring parameters: Leadership, Faculty Profile, Infrastructure, Campus Life
Differentiator: Most technology intensive campus in the country
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IMNU: The institute has spacious campus, top-class faculty, well-equipped library, good hostel facilities, innovative course structures, industry collaboration and assured placements. Nirma University is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The university is a member of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and also Association of Common Wealth Universities (ACU). The institute has world-class infrastructure with air-conditioned amphitheater & classrooms, digital library with 24-hours online access, 24 hours internet access and connectivity through Wi-Fi and separate hostels on the campus for boys and girls. The green expansive campus of the university has facilities for indoor as well as outdoor games and a modern gymnasium located on the campus. IMNU offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level programmes in management. Among the various programmes offered by the institute, the two-year MBA (Full Time) programme with specialization in the areas of finance, marketing, OB & HR, information technology, operations and strategic management is the flagship programme.
Established: 1996, Top-scoring parameters: Leadership & Governance, Infrastructure, and Accreditation & Linkages
Differentiator: World-class infrastructure
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Appendix E
SWOT Analysis of IMNU
Strengths Opportunities
Value for Money New Pedagogical Techniques
DPM Programme to Support Research Use of ICT to Deliver Content/Experiential Library Resources Learning
Infrastructure Emerging Areas (Big Data/Cloud Integrated BBA-MBA Computing/Business Analytics)
Low Faculty Attrition MDP Opportunities in the State
Institute Journal Not many popular B-Schools other than IIM-A in the region Weaknesses Threats
Attracting Good Faculty New IIMs
Faculty Exposure Foreign Universities
Faculty Diversity Sector-Specific Programmes
Faculty Development Executive MBA/One Year MBA
Faculty Salary
Faculty/Student Ratio
Teaching Pedagogy
Research and Consulting
International Accreditation
International Linkages
Industry Interaction
Student Profile/Diversity
Low Profile/Media Relations
Number of Recruiters
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Appendix – F.1 - Educational background (2012 & 13 batch)
2012-2014 2013-2015 Out of Out of Out of Out of Total With Work Total Total With Work Fresher Freshers Batch Experience Batch Batch Experience Total Batch (No.) (No.) Strength (No) Strength Strength (No) Strength of of 172 (%) of 172 (%) of 184 (%) 184 (%) BE / B.Tech. 51 30 73 44 46 25 73 40
B.Sc. / M.Sc. / Mathematical 3 2 3 2 7 4 3 2 Hons. BBA / Bachelors in 12 7 0 0 9 5 1 1 Management Science B.Com. 21 12 2 1 22 12 6 3
B.F.Tech. / B. ------3 2 Text. B. Pharm. / M. 3 2 1 1 5 3 3 2 Pharm.
BCA 2 1 - - - - 4 2
BDS - - - - 1 1 1 1
Total No. of 92 53 79 47 90 49 94 51 Students
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Appendix – F.2 – List of industrial sectors representing our recruiters
Sector Students Placed %
2012 2013 2014
Automobile 3 5 0
Banking & Financial Services 36 28 47
BPO 3 2 8
Consulting 2 1 5
Consumer Durables - 5 1
Engineering/Mfg. 7 5 6
FMCG & Retail - 1 4
Healthcare & Pharma 2 3 -
Insurance 4 3 8
IT 37 30 42
Media - 2 -
Power/Oil/Energy 4 5 -
Service 3 6 11
Telecom - 5 -
Textile - - 4
100 100 100
Total No. of Students Placed 167 152 136
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Appendix F.3 - Role profiles generally offered to our students in different industrial sectors representing our recruiters
Specialization 2011-2012 2012-13 2013-14
No. of Profile No. of Profile No. of Profile Offered Students Offered Students Offered Students Placed Placed Placed
Finance 71 Analyst, 56 MT, Analyst, 49 CBRM/BBRM,ET, MT, Associate Associate ASA, Business Analyst, Consultant, Consultant, Team Lead, Research MT, AM II, Senior Associate, RM (H &I), ET, Manager, Associate Associate Consultant, Asst. Consultant, Analyst, Cost Analyst, Manager - IT, MT (Finance), Associate Busines Grade II, AM Grade II, Analyst, MT, Associate Business Analyst, Privilege Relationship Manager, Business Analyst, Equity Research Associate, Account Acquisition Manager, ET, Process Manager HR 7 AM, MT, 14 Associate 14 Analyst, MT, ET Associate Consultant, Consultant, MT, MT (in the cadre of Assistant Partner (L3) Marketing 83 Associate 74 Associate 61 Area Sales Manager, Consultant, Consultant Associate Consultant, MT, ET, AM TM2 (Sales), ASA, MT, II, Manager, AM Grade II, CBRM/BBRM, BD MT, MT, Senior (Sales, Business Marketing Executive - Analyst), Officer Executive, S2-2 Band, Trainee, ET, Sales Grade II, AM Associate Executive, Associate (MT), Deputy Business Business Analyst,
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Manager, Analyst, TM2, Product Privilege Manager, Relationship Manager, ET, Strategic Analyst, Sales Officer Trainee, Dy. Manager (Sales), Project Manager Operations 6 Associate 8 Senior 12 Associate Consultant, Consultant, Associate MT, ASA, BD, Business MT Consultant, Analyst, MT (in the cadre of Assistant Partner (L3), Associate Consultant
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Institute of Pharmacy, STRATEGIC PLAN (2014-2019)
PREAMBLE
The Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University was established with a view to promote excellence in the pharmaceutical education and to groom young pharmacists to meet the diversified challenges. We at IPNU aim to prepare young men and women to meet the challenges in the area of pharmaceutical industries, education, research and development and marketing. The Institute is poised to face global challenges of the pharmaceutical industry and education with the changed perspectives. We also look forward to develop a centre of excellence in order to cater to the human resource needs of the rapidly expanding pharmaceutical industry, educational institutions and research laboratories. We aspire to promote research in the high tech emerging and thrust areas of medicine and human healthcare. This will enable us to contribute towards fulfilling the national objectives in healthcare for the benefit of the society. For any institution to grow, it needs to plan its activities well in advance, decide its goals, define objectives and strategies to achieve those goals, so as to move ahead and develop into a centre of excellence. Keeping these objectives in mind, we have prepared a five year plan.
VISION
Shaping a better future for mankind by developing effective and socially responsible individuals and organizations.
MISSION
Institute of Pharmacy emphasizes the all-round development of its students. It aims at producing not only good professionals, but also good and worthy citizens of a great country, aiding in its overall progress and development.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Pharmacy Education International Scenario
In many parts of the world, pharmacists play a significant role in the provision of the pharmaceutical care services. In addition, it is also widely believed that pharmacists can make a great contribution to the provision of the primary health care, especially in developing countries. Their role varies in different parts of the world: some deal with the preparation and supply of medicines, while others focus on sharing pharmaceutical expertise with other health care professionals. In developed countries, like USA, Canada and Great Britain, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must be registered with their respective Councils and should have satisfactory knowledge and should meet their detailed requirements to work as a clinical pharmacist.
In developing countries, like Malaysia and Thailand, there is a concept of registered pharmacists and they work in the hospital settings. Other than this, pharmacists work in the pharmaceutical industry in different specialized areas, namely production, QC/QA, sales and marketing, regulatory affairs, formulation and research and development. However, in
Strategic Plan Page 79 countries like Pakistan, the concept of practicing pharmacists is still not developed and they mainly work in other sectors.
As per the workforce report of International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) 2012, the role of pharmacists is variable in different countries1. For example, in Australia, there were 46,539 personnel in the Australian pharmacy workforce, out of which 15,337 work as a pharmacist, 27,465 work as pharmacy assistant and 3,737 work as a pharmacy technician. The major areas of workforce and relative pharmacists working in that area for different countries are as follows:
Africa: Community pharmacists > Hospital pharmacists > Others > Regulatory > Industry
America: Community pharmacists > Hospital pharmacists > Industry > Others > Regulatory
Eastern Mediterranean: Community pharmacists > Hospital pharmacists > Industry > Regulatory > Others
Europe: Community pharmacists > Hospital pharmacists > Industry > Others > Regulatory
South East Asia: Community pharmacists > Industry > Hospital pharmacists > others > Regulatory
Western Pacific: Community pharmacists > Hospital pharmacists > Industry > Others > Regulatory
The Job profiles of pharmacists are mainly Community Pharmacist and Hospital Pharmacist across the globe, except South East Asia. In South East Asian countries, pharmacists are majorly working in Industry.
Pharmacy Education Country Scenario
Pharmacists play a crucial role in any health system as they are responsible for providing solution related to medication. The rapid growth and diversification of the pharma industry, coupled with the growth of the health sector, has provided ample opportunities for pharmacists.
From a market size of USD 12.6 billion in 2009, the Indian pharmaceutical market will grow to USD 55 billion by 2020, with the potential to reach USD 70 billion in an aggressive growth scenario. In a pessimistic scenario characterized by regulatory controls and economic slowdown, the market will be depressed and is expected to reach USD 35 billion (Figure 1).1
Currently, as much as 80 to 85 per cent of the market is being accounted for by the retail segment. Even in 2020, we expect the retail segment to remain the mainstay of the market. However, consumption in hospital settings will rise to a considerable 25 to 30 per cent share of the market. India will continue to witness a remarkable rise in medical infrastructure
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Figure 1: Expected growth of Indian Pharmaceutical market by 202018
throughout the next decade. Not only will there be a significant rise in infrastructure, the nature and mix of hospitals and care delivery centres will undergo major shifts. As a result, we expect the hospital segment of the pharmaceuticals market to grow at well above 20 per cent and reach a size of USD 14 billion by 2020 (Figure 2). 19
Figure 2: Expected growth of Indian hospital market by 2020
1. Workforce report of International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) 2012 2. McKinsey and Company Report: Bhadoria V, Bhajanka A, Chakraborty K, Mitra P. Indian Pharma 2020: Propelling access and acceptance, realizing true potential. 1-38
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As the Indian pharmaceuticals market grows in size and diversity, there are several opportunities that will scale up to their full potential. Five opportunities – patented products, consumer healthcare, biologics, vaccines and public health – appear to be emerging, and offer significant potential going forward. The biologics market is above USD 300 million and its growth is expected to be over 30 per cent. The biologics market has the potential to grow and can become much larger if industry can take bold measures related to physician education and confidence. At 2 per cent penetration, the vaccines market is significantly under-penetrated, despite suffering from a high burden of deaths by vaccine preventable diseases. The market is estimated currently at USD 250 million, with the private segment accounting for two-thirds share. We expect the vaccines market to grow to USD 1.7 billion by 2020. However, the upside in an aggressive growth scenario is significant. Active shaping by players could lead to higher than expected growth in both private and public segments, and help achieve a USD 3.5 billion size by 2020. Moreover, it is reported that sales representatives are getting crowded out of the doctors’ chambers, especially in the metro and Tier-I cities (Figure 3).2
Figure 3: Estimated number of doctors and sales representatives by 2020
From the above mentioned data, it is evident that the pharmaceutical industry as well as the hospital market will be growing by 2020. Moreover, there will be an increase in the number of doctors and representatives by 2020. This suggests that the requirement of qualified and skill pharmacy professionals will also increase by 2020.
The spectrum of the pharmacy profession in India is very wide, as it covers a myriad of opportunities in the Pharma industry—R&D, manufacturing and retail, healthcare sector, pharmacy education and regulatory bodies. The current availability of pharmacists in terms of pharmacist to population ratio compares favourably with that in a developed country. However, the number of registered pharmacists does not reflect the actual number of pharmacists currently involved in pharmacy practice.
Role of pharmacist in industrial pharmacy, where currently the maximum job opportunities are available are described below:
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Research and development: Pharmacists contribute to research, and their expertise in formulation development is of particular relevance to the biological availability of active ingredients.
Manufacture and quality assurance: The pharmacist’s broad knowledge of the pharmaceutical sciences ensures an integrated approach to quality assurance (including good manufacturing practice) through the validation of the various stages of production and the testing of products before release.
Drug information: The pharmacist has the knowledge and expertise to provide detailed information on medicines to members of the health professions and the public. Also, pharmacists provide an information service within the company.
Patent applications and drug registration: The pharmacist is ideally qualified to understand and collate the diverse information required for patent and authorization submissions.
Clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance: The pharmacist has the knowledge of drugs and health care provision required to facilitate collaboration between companies, health professionals and governments in relation to clinical trials and surveillance.
Sales and marketing: The pharmacist, whose professional ethics demand a concern for the interest of patients, can make a contribution to proper marketing practices related to health care and to the provision of appropriate information to health professionals and the public.
Management: The pharmacists are recruited at managerial positions in the pharmaceutical industries, so as to contribute to the overall growth of the industry.
Cosmetic Industry: Market of cosmetic products is increasing day by day and require pharmacists in manufacturing and product promotion unit.
Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs: Due to globalization, more opportunities are available for a pharmacist to work in the area of regulation of pharmaceutical products in different countries.
The concept of community pharmacy is emerging and the pharmacists are now being employed in the hospitals as clinical pharmacy. Several hospitals have now appointed a dedicated pharmacist for the monitoring of adverse drug reactions, drug interaction, performing prescription audit, patient counselling etc. However, unlike developed countries like USA and Canada, the practicing pharmacist concept is yet to evolve.
Pharmacy Education Scenario
Demand Side
The demand of pharmacy was very high few years back due to the growth of the industry within the country and outsourcing from abroad. Among the biggest factors fuelling the growth were contract research for Pharma R&D and contract manufacturing for global Pharma companies. Associated with these was the requirement of professionals with expertise in national and international regulatory affairs. Currently, the retail sector is witnessing growth due to entry of major retail chains. The growth of national healthcare spending to more than 12 per cent per annum will impact the availability, accessibility and the demand for drugs, which in turn will have a direct impact on the requirement of pharmacists. This will also have an impact on the requirement of hospital pharmacists and those getting into the insurance sector. The shortfall in supply of pharmacists in developed Strategic Plan Page 83 countries such as the US, Canada, Europe, etc. and lucrative opportunities for employment will give rise to migration of Indian pharmacists to these countries.
As per the annual report (2011-12) of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers4, the total number of employees in 2008 in the pharmaceutical sector are nearly 3,53,692. Out of these, 5-8% i.e. approx. 24,758 are Ph.D./M. Pharm./ M.Sc. and 15- 25% (approx., 70,738) are graduates i.e. B. Pharm./BA/BSc/BCom/others. Moreover, as per an article published Pharma Times20, nearly 2,53,445 personnel will be required in the public sector by 2022. Despite these, unfortunately since few years, the employability of pharmacists in India has decreased. This is because the pharmacists are not being employed in a proper manner. In most of the industries, science graduates are employed and in hospitals and health care centres, the pharmacists are not employed.
Supply side
The supply of pharmacists has been on the rise in the past decade. Currently there are 928 approved pharmacy colleges in India offering B. Pharm. Course21. Considering an average of intake as 60 (with few college having intake of 100), 55,680 students per year will graduate from these 928 colleges. There are 143 colleges offering Pharm. D. programme with an intake of 30 students accounting for 4290 students. Moreover, 5,648 students of M.Pharm. and Ph.D. are passing out every year (Table 1).22
In Gujarat, currently there is only one Government college offering B. Pharm. Course with the approved intake of 100 students and three grant-in aid institutes with approved intake of 135. There are 78 private institutions with intake of 4,890 students per year23. Thus, in total, there are 5,125 students with B. Pharm. degree, likely to graduate from Gujarat per year. The ratio of number of Government to Private Institutes offering B. Pharm. programme is 1:26, while the ratio of number of seats of B. Pharm. from Government to Private Institutes is 1:36.23. For M. Pharm. There are 168 seats approved for 3 Government and Grant in aid colleges, while 6,755 seats approved for 63 private institutions6. Thus, in total there are 6,923 approved M.Pharm seat in Gujarat. The ratio of the number of Government to Private Institutes offering M.Pharm programme, is 1:21 while the ratio of number of seats of M.Pharm from Government to Private Institutes is 1:40.21 (Table 2).
Table 1: Number of colleges offering B.Pharm. Programme and students in India
Programme No. of Colleges No. of students
B. Pharm. 928 55,680
Table 2: Number of colleges offering B.Pharm. and M.Pharm. Programmes and students in Gujarat
Programme No. of Colleges No. of students B. Pharm. 81 5125 M. Pharm. 66 6923
20 Vaidya R., Gaonkar K. Pharmacists in the public Health system in India. Pharma Times 2012, 44(9): 31-32 21 http://www.pci.nic.in/CollegesCourses/ApprovedDegreeinstitutionsus12.aspx
5. Annual report (2011-12) of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, Govt. of India 6. http://www.ldce.in/ACPC/ebook_ME_2013.pdf Strategic Plan Page 84
Opportunities
There are ample opportunities for pharmacists to work in India. Pharmacists can work in varied sections ranging from industries to clinical research organizations to academics. Pharmacists can work in the fields of sales and marketing, research and development, business development etc. in the industries. Several clinical research organizations employ pharmacists for their projects. In the Governmental sector, pharmacists are employed in hospitals and clinical pharmacy settings. The demand of pharmacists clearly states that there are ample opportunities for the pharmacist in the industry as well as public health sector. Moreover, pharmacists can contribute to the society by offering their services in the teaching profession.
In addition to above mentioned points, pharmacists have the potential to fill the gap created due shortage/unavailability of doctors and nursing personnel in health facilities in rural areas. This can be achieved through a policy initiative to redefine the role of pharmacists in the Indian healthcare system so as to better utilize their capabilities.
There is also ample opportunity in areas of drug discovery, Pharmaceutical regulatory affairs, Cosmetic Industry, Research and Development, Marketing areas of Industries
Challenges
The major challenge that is posed to the pharmacy profession these days is due to the fact that in the pharmaceutical industries, the majority of the science graduates is employed. There are more than 4,500 science colleges in India generating a huge pool of science graduates and post graduates who are ready to work in the industry with a lesser pay scale than pharmacists. Due to this, the job opportunities for pharmacists are consumed by science students. In addition to the science graduates, pharmacists have to compete with the Ayurveda and homeopathic practitioners. Moreover, with the amendments in the regulatory framework and patenting, there exists a challenge for the pharmaceutical industries to survive.
In addition to pharmaceutical industries, the other major area for pharmacists is public health system. However, in India although the pharmacists are suitable for the clinical functions, they are overlooked and are not provided adequate recognition. Unlike other developed countries, pharmacists are not a part of the core healthcare system. There is no role of a pharmacist in hospitals for patient monitoring, patient counselling, and adverse drug reaction monitoring. Pharmacists in India do not have any laid down norms on the competencies and quality of services. Unlike many developed countries, there is no system of evaluating a pharmacist’s competency. Hence, the level of competencies and the quality of services provided are likely to vary among various hospitals for pharmacists. Further, around 20% of Pharmacist posts are vacant throughout the public health facilities in the country. This is due to non-creation of posts and failure to fill up the vacancies24. The concept of community pharmacists is not yet developed in India. Moreover, there is a lack of proper training of clinical pharmacists in India.
The Indian pharmaceutical industries are majorly involved in generics and actual drug discovery and innovation is lacking. Moreover, innovative formulations are not being developed by the industries, all of which leads to decrease in the employability of
24 Vaidya R., Gaonkar K. Pharmacists in the Public Health System in India. Pharma Times 2012, 44(9): 31-32
Strategic Plan Page 85 pharmacists. After 2003, our B Pharm programme is not approved by US regulatory authority so B Pharm degree holder face problem in appearing exam for registered pharmacist in USA. All of these factors are lead to dwindling number of interested students joining the profession of pharmacy.
Regulatory framework
The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is the major regulatory body governing pharmacy education in India only for diploma pharmacy (D. Pharm.), Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm.) and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D). It is the statutory body of government of India constituted under the Pharmacy Act, 1948. The Council was first constituted on 4 March 1948. The Pharmacy Council of India is constituted by central government every five years. It is based in New Delhi. There are three types of members collectively forms a frame of PCI as under:
1. Elected members
2. Nominated members
3. Ex-officio members
The main functions of the PCI is to prescribe minimum standard of education required for qualifying as a pharmacist. (Ref.: Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act), framing of Education Regulations prescribing the conditions to be fulfilled by the institutions seeking approval of the PCI for imparting education in pharmacy. (Ref.: Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act), to ensure uniform implementation of the educational standards throughout the country. (Ref: Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act), inspection of Pharmacy Institutions seeking approval under the Pharmacy Act to verify availability of the prescribed norms. (Ref.: Section 16 of the Pharmacy Act), to approve the course of study and examination for pharmacists, i.e., approval of the academic training institutions providing pharmacy courses. (Ref.: Section 12 of the Pharmacy Act), to withdraw approval, if the approved course of study or an approved examination does not continue to be in conformity with the educational standards prescribed by the PCI. (Ref.: Section 13 of the Pharmacy Act), to approve qualifications granted outside the territories to which the Pharmacy Act extends i.e. the approval of foreign qualification. (Ref.: Section 14 of the Pharmacy Act), and to maintain Central Register of Pharmacists. (Ref.: Section 15 A of the Pharmacy Act).
Since pharmacy falls under a technical education, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) also governs the pharmacy education. However the regulations specified by AICTE should be strictly followed by the University. The AICTE was established with a view to promote proper planning and co-ordinated development of the technical education system throughout the country, the promotion of qualitative improvements of such education in relation to planned quantitative growth and the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in the technical education system and for matters connected therewith.
The universities are governed by the UGC. The UGC has the unique distinction of being the only grant-giving agency in the country which has been vested with two responsibilities: that of providing funds and that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education. The UGC's mandate includes:
Promoting and coordinating university education. Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities. Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.
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Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges. Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments and institutions of higher learning. Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary for improvement of university education.
Governmental Role
The higher education system in India includes both private and public universities. Public universities are supported by the Government of India and the state governments, while private universities are mostly supported by various bodies and societies. Universities in India are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. They provide funds and that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education, promoting and coordinating university education, determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities, framing regulations on minimum standards of education, monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges, serving as a vital link between the industry and institutions for higher learning, measuring necessary for improvement of university education.
The government also shapes the pharmaceutical industry through regulation. The primary agency involved is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which serves as a gatekeeper to determine which drugs may reach the market. To pass through the gate, new products must undergo years of clinical testing that assess safety and effectiveness. After approval, the FDA continues to monitor drugs for safety and to impose restrictions on marketing and promotion. The FDA-imposed testing process accounts for the lion’s share of the cost of drug development and sets parameters for the kinds of drugs that ultimately reach patients.
The government through the FDA also acts affirmatively to shape the private market for pharmaceuticals by developing and sustaining key sectors that might not otherwise exist. These efforts guide the market in directions it would not have taken on its own. Most importantly, the government has fashioned the competitive dynamics of the overall pharmaceutical market by facilitating the entry of generic drugs. These are products that include the same active ingredient as an existing drug, and they may be sold once the patent on that ingredient has expired. Generic copies usually sell at much lower prices than the original drug and thereby bring an important element of competition to the market that can help to control costs.
The government also lends drug companies assistance of a more direct kind. It gives them money in the form of tax credits. This financial boost lets pharmaceutical firms lower their tax bills, and thereby keep more of their income, by devoting resources to research. While the nature of the credits has changed over time with amendments to the federal tax code, the underlying mechanism of paying private companies to conduct research has remained.
COMPETITION ANALYSIS
Major competitors
Comparing with equivalent self-financed institutions (SFI), since we are SFI, at the state level, we do not have a major competitor till date. However, the Government funded Institutes like the L M College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, M S University, Baroda are major competitors for pharmacy programmes because of nominal fees and
Strategic Plan Page 87 establishment before fifty years. They also have influential and experienced faculty members, TIFAC-CORE for industry oriented research, Focused PG Centre etc.
At the national level, Manipal University is our major competitors. The major advantages with it are experienced and renowned senior faculty members, major funding from Government agencies, international collaborations, good high-end instruments, industry collaborations, alumni support, good placements, centralized infrastructure, centralized instrumentation facility, central Library, etc.
Benchmarking
We would like to benchmark Manipal University, which is also a private university like us offering graduate, post-graduate and doctoral level programmes. There are several reasons for benchmarking it as follows:
There are more number of faculty in each department, thereby the overall teaching workload and administrative duties are reduced. There are several experienced and senior professors who are dedicated to research. They are actively involved in research and publish papers in good impact factor journals and have filed many patents. They have collaborations and linkages with many industries and they carry out industry based projects, consultancy and sample testing work. A large amount of the budget is allocated for research every year, which enables the faculty to carry out good quality projects and dissertation work. A well-equipped laboratories are their major strength and they update and purchase newer instruments every year from the grants as well as from institutional budgets. The Institute is established fifty years before and so get the advantages of the same.
How we would like to position ourselves?
We would like to position ourselves amongst the top fifteen pharmacy institutions of the country imparting best of the education and professional skills to the students within a span of ten years. We intend to grow at such a level in the future that we can benchmark the international institutions and compete with them and at the same time all the current Indian institutes take our institute for benchmarking. We would like to position ourselves to a level wherein we can attract students not only from India but also from other countries.
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
Overview (General information and historical milestones)
Institute of Pharmacy was established in the year 2003 with a view to promote excellence in pharmaceutical education and to groom young pharmacists to meet the diversified challenges in the area of pharmaceutical industries, education, research and development and marketing with supreme professional standards.
It is a model Centre of excellence in pharmacy, conducting various graduate, post graduate, doctoral and research programme in pharmaceutical sciences. The institute is poised to face global challenges of the pharmaceutical industry and education with the changed perspectives.
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Our goal is to impart continuing education programmes and to develop a national Centre catering to the needs of pharmaceutical industries for raising the level of pharmaceutical education and research by training future teachers, pharmacists, research scientists and managers for the industry and academia. The major objectives of the Institute are to promote national/international collaborative research in the thrust areas of medicine and human healthcare with excellent industry academy interactions to meet the global challenges and to advance the curriculum and research by undertaking various research projects from governmental bodies and research centres to meet the set national objectives in the pharmaceutical education and technology.
The Institute Advisory Committee is constituted to have the constant guidance from eminent persons from the field of academia and pharmaceutical industries, for sustaining and enhancing teaching as well as research activities at Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University. Committee comprising members of National and International repute is constituted with the following members:
1. Prof. C.K. Kokate, Vice-Chancellor of the KLE University, Belgaum 2. Prof. S.K. Kulkarni, Former Pro- Vice Chancellor, Punjab University and Ex-Director, Bombay College of Pharmacy, Mumbai 3. Prof. Saranjit Singh, Professor and Head, NIPER, Mohali 4. Dr. Ganesh Nayak, Chief Operating Officer at Cadila Healthcare Limited (CHL), Ahmedabad 5. Dr. Vipan Dhall, Vice President and Site Head, Piramal Enterprises Limited, Ahmedabad 6. Shri. Ketan Patel, Chairman & Managing Director at Troikaa Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ahmedabad
Programmes offered by the Institute
1. B. Pharm. (Eight semester programme)*, Intake:100 2. M. Pharm. (Four semester programme)* with specialization (intake): a. Pharmaceutical Technology & Bio-pharmaceutics (20) b. Medicinal Chemistry (10) c. Pharmaceutical Analysis (12) d. Pharmacology (12) e. Phyto pharmaceuticals and Natural Products (10) f. Drug Discovery (05) g. Clinical Pharmacy (10) h. Quality Assurance & Regulatory Affairs (10) 3. Ph. D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Full time & External)**
*With Industrial Training, **With course work
Ranking of the institution and major achievements in last three years
Unlike other technical courses, the pharmaceutical science has not observed any definite and official ranking system. However, in the year 2011, one data-based ranking using Careers 360’s proprietary Input-Process-Output methodology, was published for India's Best Pharmacy Colleges. Further, as per the recent update on February 10, 2014 by Career 360 one listing of Top 75 Pharmacy colleges in India indicated Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University is the only pharmacy college from private sector along with more three pharmacy institutes from Gujarat.
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Research and Extension activities
A team of highly qualified and dedicated faculty is continuously skilled in the latest methods of educational technology and their fields of specialization. Faculty members are actively involved in research, consultancy and sponsored projects. The Institute has received research projects worth more than around 100 lakhs Rupees from GMDC (Ahmedabad), GUJCOST (Gandhinagar) and various Pharmaceutical Industries. Different departments have received support from government organizations for organizing various workshops, conferences and symposia of national and international level on recent advances in pharmaceutical sciences. Many faculties have received a travel grant from DST, AICTE and CSIR for their international participation and visits abroad for conferences. Total 25 students have been awarded with Ph.D degree from Nirma University in the disciplines of pharmacy till date.
Faculty Profile and Analysis
Faculty members at our institute are highly enthusiastic, dedicated and qualified (having Post doc degree- 02, Ph.D. degree- 18 members and 6 are pursuing Ph.D degree) faculties have diversified skills and contributing greatly in the innovative research and high impact research publications at the institute.
Table 3: Faculty Details of IP-NU
Sr. Category* Sanctioned No. of Filled No. of Vacant No. Strength Positions Post
1. HOI 1 1 0
2 Professor 7 4 3
3 Associate Professor 10 9 1
4 Assistant Professor 14 12 2
Student Profile
The criteria for the admissions is solely on ACPC (Admission Committee for Professional Courses) ranks for B. Pharm students and as per their GPAT (Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test) ranks for M.Pharm. In case of students without GPAT examination qualification, an entrance test is conducted by the institute at the time of admission and based on merit rank of that, the students are admitted. Similarly, there is a provision of entrance test for the admission of Ph.D students and admission is given on the basis of merit and presentation interview. Some of the data of students for the academic year 2013-14 are presented below with respect to their cut off marks, cultural diversity and girls to boy ration observed in a particular programme.
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Table 4: Cut-off in Centralized Admission Committee/University Admission
Sr. Programme Highest Cut Lowest Cut No. off marks off marks 1. B.Pharm 603 6679 2. M.Pharm (Cut-off min GPAT rank)
Pharmaceutical Technology & Bio – 577 Non-GPAT Pharmaceutics Medicinal Chemistry 1095 Non-GPAT Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance 577 1983 Drug Discovery 2934 Non-GPAT Pharmacology 849 Non-GPAT Phytopharmaceuticals and Natural 3634 Non-GPAT Products Pharmaceutical Analysis 401 Non-GPAT Clinical Pharmacy 1797 Non-GPAT
Table 5: Girls and Boys Enrolment
Sr. Programme Girls Boys No. 1. B.Pharm 72 31 2. M.Pharm in: Pharmaceutical Technology & Bio – 10 10 Pharmaceutics Medicinal Chemistry 4 2 Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance 7 3 Drug Discovery 3 2 Pharmacology 4 3 Phytopharmaceuticals and Natural 1 3 Products Pharmaceutical Analysis 10 2 Clinical Pharmacy 4 2 3. Ph.D 7 4
In M Pharm and Ph.D programmes, approximately 30-40% students are coming from outside Gujarat.
Institutional strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Enthusiastic, dedicated and qualified faculty members with diversified skills, innovative and interdisciplinary research and high impact research publications Good infrastructural (ICT, Wi-Fi enabled) and learning resources facilities Prestigious image for quality education Well defined management, administrative and institutional policies Rigorous Curriculum Development and continuous evaluation Continuous Staff Development through deputation and training Student Support Services for overall progress and development Industry Institute Interactions
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Weaknesses
Lack of major research funding from external agencies and high-end instrument facilities Lack of International and industrial collaboration and Linkages Fluctuation in the number of admission in PG courses
Opportunities
MOUs and research linkages Consultancies from Pharmaceutical Industries Expansion of Research facilities Rigorous Alumni involvement More research grants
Challenges
Admission and competitive scenario in pharmacy education and placement Research grants and patents Strong Industrial Network for more consultancies
Analysis of distinguishing and differentiating characteristics
Semester system with innovative and dynamic curriculum offering outcome based education be fitting the current needs of the profession in accordance with the norms of PCI and time to time updated with the provision of Area committee and Faculty of Pharmacy More emphasis on audio visual and computer aided teaching followed by continuous evaluation on the basis of term assignment in the form of quiz, tests, seminars, discussions etc. A variety of pedagogical tools are adopted for an integrated teaching learning experience. They include lecture-cum-discussion, laboratory work, tutorials, home assignments, seminars, and visits to pharmaceutical industries, leading hospitals, R & D centres, contract research organizations, blood banks and project work. The highlights of this approach include:
. Rigorous training and continuous evaluation . Emphasis on problem solving, case studies and interactions with the industry professionals . Student guidance and advisory system with faculty as counsellor. . Active participation of students in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. . Value added programme
Co-curricular and extracurricular activities play an important role in the all-round development of professional students. They indeed serve as an adjunct to the rigorous course work. Various student activities like cultural festival, ras-garba, quizzes, elocution, debates, annual day, class picnics, etc. are regularly organized by institute with adequate involvement of faculty members. Students at Institute of Pharmacy are actively engaged in varied type of co-curricular and extracurricular activities organized by institute or by the student association NIPSA (Nirma Institute of Pharmacy Student’s Association). They are exposed to and develop their managerial and active skills which in turn help students to emerge with diversified talents which can further be explored by developing student chapters of Pharmaceutical organization.
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Analysis of SVP (Stakeholder value proposition)
Institute of Pharmacy has a well-defined feedback mechanism from different stakeholders (Students, Faculty, Parents, Alumni and Recruiters) on the curriculum, systems and policies at the institute. The curriculum for courses of B. Pharm and M.Pharm is regularly updated with the crucial suggestion and involvement of industrial person in area committee and faculty of pharmacy.
Stakeholders Value Proposition Analysis
Stake- Expected Feedback on Stakeholders Impact if not holder outcome Organizational value proposition met and its performance level of impact Student Education and Professional skill Outcome based Major Impact overall development and learning on Admission development practical and industrial of students exposure Skill development
Training for all round development Faculty Career Well defined Systems Training and Medium level Advancement and policies development, impact, Work and Good Work conducive and pressure, Lack culture and research facilitating of updating with environment sophisticated recent advances instrumentation in pharmaceutical fields Staff Career Well defined Systems Better training and Medium level Advancement and policies skill development impact, Work and Good Work pressure culture, Parents Education Getting timely Industry oriented Impact on information about training and Image of performance, research Institute and Academic and environment, active Admission discipline rigour placement Alumni Brand Regular annual meet Sustainability of Impact on Ambassador good brand and Networking more involvement at different level Industry Skilled students Applied knowledge Competent and Impact directly and Pharmaceutical professional on Placement application and students with of Students knowledge diversified talent Society Responsible Health awareness and Responsible Impact on citizens drug development pharmacist and role social value of in health care the profession
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Student, recruiters, parents and renowned persons from industries and academia through area committee are involved in the analysis of practices and policies of our Institute which is followed by rigorous analysis for future implementation.
STRATEGIC INTENT, GOALS AND ACTION PLAN
Strategic Intent
To achieve recognition as a national centre of excellence in the field of autoimmune and infectious diseases and to be amongst top 15 pharmacy institutes in the country
Strategic Goal 1: To attract eminent faculty members of diverse competencies and develop them
Objective 1.1: To identify and recruit renowned faculty members of Pharmaceutical field
Action Plan: Identify Researchers, corporate personnel and renowned academicians and build database. Remain in touch with them via NIPICON, by sending university newsletter, Radiance etc. Providing flexi hours, incentives for book reimbursement, paper publication in high impact factor journals, membership fees in professional associations, etc. Identify and coordinate with the Foreign Professor for Short tenure teaching assignment, every year.
Objective 1.2: To train Faculty members
Action Plan Academic Year
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Deputation of faculty members for 2 2 2 2 3 training
Deputation of faculty members for 6 7 8 8 8 industrial visit
Deputing faculty members for 18 19 20 20 20 attending Seminars/ Conferences
Deputing faculty members for 1 1 2 3 3 attending International Seminars/ Conferences
Deputing faculty members for 2 2 2 2 3 attending STTP/FDP
Meetings with Institute Advisory 2 2 2 2 2 committee
Organization of Orientation 1 1 1 1 1 programme/ refresher programme
Strategic Goal 2: Based on need of society, build education programmes to meet the challenges of professional world and equip the students with required skills
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Objective 2.1: To motivate the students for learning and skill development
Action Plan Academic Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Offering of programmes based √ √ √ √ √ on OBE principals Blended/collaborative learning √ √ √ √ √ for B. Pharm and M. Pharm students MOOC (massive online open √ √ √ √ √ courses) courses for Ph. D/M. Pharm students Online examination for - - √ √ √ Admission Stipend to M Pharm students 5 5 All All All
(In Numbers) Stipend to fulltime Ph. D 2 2 2 4 4 programme (In Numbers) Scholarship to 5 meritorious √ √ √ √ √ students of B. Pharm and M. Pharm programmes Remedial teaching for slow Remedial teaching timetable will be prepared and learner executed for slow learners To start book bank facility at For For all For all Institute level financiall B. B. y Pharm Pharm backwar studen students d ts B. Pharm students Student projects sanctioned by 2 4 8 10 10 Idea lab (In numbers) Offering New programmes by institute M. Sc. in cosmetic technology √
M. Pharm –Ph.D. Integrated √ Programme M. Pharm by Research √ Pharm. D. with intake of 20 √ seats Post Baccalaureate with intake √ of 10 Increase in Sophisticated 3 3 2 4 4 Instruments (in Numbers)
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Objective 2.2: Development of curriculum with the help of stakeholders
Action Plan: Curriculum of B. Pharm and M. Pharm for all the course abreast with latest technological development with the help of stakeholder’s feedback by discussing in Area committee and faculty of Pharmacy meetings in each semester.
Strategic Goal 3: To establish sustainable partnership with Industry and to enhance placement opportunities
Objective 3.1: To involve Industry experts in teaching, learning and research
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Industrial experts as visiting faculty (In 30 35 40 40 50 numbers)
Industrial person as area Committee and 7 7 9 9 10 Faculty of Pharmacy member (In numbers) To invite industrial person as Research Each Research Progress Committee should Progress committee member for Ph.D have one member from industry students
Objective 3.2: To organize skill based training/workshop for industry personnel
Action Plan: Under the banner of Continuous Cell of education (CCE), skill based training can be proposed based on the need of industry at least once in a year.
Objective 3.3: Placement of the students in reputed companies with good pay scale
Action Plan: Contact will be developed and maintained with alumni and recruiters by corporate relation officer. After analysing trends and recruiters surveys, he will prepare action plan.
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Arrangement of campus recruitments (In 45 50 55 60 65 numbers)
Arrangement of Mock interviews (In 1 2 2 2 2 numbers) Arrangement of soft skill development 1 1 1 1 1 programmes Percentage of students to be placed out of 35% 35% 40% 45% 50% students enrolled for placement (UG) Percentage of students to be placed out of 80% 85% 90% 90% 09% students enrolled for placement (PG) Percentage increase in average salary 10% 10% 12% 12% 12% package every year Percentage of International recruitment 1% 1% 1% 1% 2%
Strategic Goal 4: To promote and sustain research activities
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Objective 4.1: To get research grants, projects and consultancies from various national agencies and industries
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Number of Minor Research 5 5 5 5 5 Projects Number of externally funded 2 2 2 2 2 major research project Number of collaborative and 2 2 1 1 1 interdisciplinary projects Number of interdisciplinary 2 2 2 2 3 research projects Relaxation in the other Based on number of research projects and numbers of administrative duties to active Ph.D students guided researcher
Objective 4.2: To increase publications in high impact journal
Action Plan: Faculty members will be motivated to publish research paper in high impact factor journal by giving some incentives, awards, etc.
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Number of Publications by faculty 50 55 60 65 70 members Facilitation for outstanding research As per the research policy document of the activity university Number of national/international 20 20 23 25 25 presentation within India Number of international presentation 2 2 3 3 3 outside India
Objective 4.3: To establish research collaboration with government laboratories/agencies and international organizations
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Faculty exchange with international - 1 1 2 2 institutes Student exchange with international - - 1 1 1 institutes Number of MOUs 2 2 2 3 3 Linkages with the research 1 1 1 2 2 organization of national repute
Objective 4.4: To increase patent filling by faculty members
Action Plan Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Number of patents filing by faculty members 2 2 2 2 2 patent filing awareness programme for faculties/ 1 - 1 - 1 Ph. D students
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BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS
Particulars Budgetary Implication (annually, in lacs) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Recruitment of senior and 30.0 30.0 15.0 15.0 30.0 renowned faculty Foreign faculty on visiting basis
4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 Industrial training of faculty 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 members Deputation of Faculty for STTP/refresher programme (in no) 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 In house orientation programme for newly joined faculty
0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Institute Advisory Committee 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.2
Deputation of faculty to attend Conference 1.2 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.2 Industrial Training for Students 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 Idea lab Projects 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.2 Honorarium to Industrial experts 1.0 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.8 ICT enabled classrooms - 2.0 2.0 2.5 - New labs - 10 15 - 15 Smart class rooms 2.0 - - 4.0 - Pharmacy Store - - - 10 1.5 Improvement in existing Infra 16 20 2 2 - structure Purchase of Instruments 33 60 90 100 120 HR meet with identified Industries 0.5 0.75 2.0 1.0 1.0 Soft skill development programme 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 for students Campus placement interviews
2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 7.0 Filling patent (In numbers) 02 02 03 03 04 Minor Research Projects for 3.75 4.0 4.3 4.5 5.0 Faculty Faculty exchange - 01 01 01 02 Student Exchange MoU with foreign University - - 01 01 02 02 02 03 03 03
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ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS
External:
Nirma University being private university, we are not eligible to apply for research grant to many government organizations like AICTE, UGC.
Internal:
1. Dynamic faculty member but they are young and hence lack of research experience.
2. Advanced research need many sophisticated instruments, we are lacking in it.
INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP
Leadership Teams
In order to plan and execute different plans and strategies, an Institute Advisory committee (IAC) has been constituted comprising of:
Chairperson – Director, IP-NU
Renowned Academician and Industrialists
All Heads of the Department
Student Section In-charge
IQAC Coordinator
Administrative Officer
IAC will monitor all the system and process of IP-NU.
All academic administration will be planned by IAC in consultation with the Dean and will be executed by HODs. The whole process will be monitored by the Dean.
Examination Committee (EC) monitors the schedule and conduct of examination and assessments.
IQAC, in consultation with HOI and HODs, takes review of the quality related aspects of teaching and learning process on a periodical basis. It identifies quality benchmarks for academic and administrative activities, identifies gaps pertaining to teaching learning and academic administration, documents all the major activities relating to teaching and learning and organizes quality Improvement programme (QIP) for faculty and staff.
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SYSTEM, STRUCTURE AND STAFF FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Systems:
Academic Review System (ARS) Examination System (ES) Internal Quality Assessment Cell (IQAC)
Structures/ Process
Activities will be guided through well-established policy documents.
Plan, implement and Review cycle will be used to coordinate the various improvement plans.
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Institute of Science, Strategic Plan (2014 - 2019)
Need for Strategic Plan
The Institute of Science, Nirma University has made rapid strides in its last nine years of existence. The institute is transforming itself from an academic institution to an institution which imparts its academic teaching through research. This requires crafting a strategic plan that is consistent with the institute’s as well as the university’s overall vision, mission and goals; widely understood and unequivocally supported by faculty, staff, students, and other key stakeholders and responsive to the key competitive forces in the environment; and provides a powerful framework capable of guiding strategic decisions and action plans to constantly innovate and improve all aspects of institute’s activities.
The Approach
The strategic plan is based on the overarching aspiration for the Institute: The ISNU will be one of the most sought after institution in the western zone, known for its high calibre teaching, training and research activities.
The main elements of the strategic plan include objectives, actions which define areas of focus and means for achievement. The plan develops a set of metrics for assessing institutional progress towards the objectives. The procedure for assessment should be developed and used at the time of implementation of this strategic plan and in consultation with the program and area coordinators.
The strategic planning process was initiated with a workshop in May-June 2013 in order to provide the institute with a road-map capable of achieving the institute’s aspiration. The process was mainly focused on addressing the four questions: (a) Who are we as an institution? (b) Where are we now and where do we want to go? (c) How do we get there? (d) How do we know we are getting there?
Organisation of the Plan
The first question addresses the need to understand and interpret our vision and mission statement and identify the core values of our institution. The answer to this question will act as a compass that will guide all strategic decisions and initiatives. The second question refers to goals towards which the institute should work over the next five years, while the third question refers to the actions needed to move towards the stated goals. Assessing the results of the actions taken using metrics and indicators is essential to know the progress towards goals which the final question seeks to address. The infrastructure requirements and financial projections are given in Appendix A and B, respectively.
PREAMBLE
Biological science has reached its height and has become multidisciplinary in nature. The success of human genome sequencing, with the emergence of systems biology, has revolutionised the field of biology and led to the rapid progress in understanding the biological phenomena at a molecular level. Personalised medicine is soon going to be part of our life style in managing human health. The technologies developed during the last two decades not only help us give new dimension to scientific innovations, but also reduce the cost of molecular diagnosis for many diseases.
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The Institute aims to introduce excitements in Modern Biology to the students and motivate them to take the challenge to make significant contributions to the knowledge and to develop novel technologies for solving the imposing problems of food demand, good health, clean environment, etc.
The programmes are designed to provide students with a good understanding of the concepts, ability to identify, analyse and address scientific problems. Our multidisciplinary approach of teaching is innovative and emphasizes hands on learning of the basic principles and techniques that are critical to understand biological sciences.
The students are guided towards acquiring the required standard of knowledge, comprehension and technical skills that will make them productive and thus help them achieve their goals.
Vision
Shaping a better future for mankind by developing effective and socially responsible individuals and organizations.
Mission
Institute of Science emphasizes the all-round development of its students. It aims at producing not only good professionals, but also good and worthy citizens of a great country, aiding in its overall progress and development.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO
The development of modern biological science in India is not an organic extension of the earlier tradition. It is an implant by the British in a language that was alien to its people. It needed nourishment and nurturing to be absorbed in the society. Science was looked upon as an appendage thrust by the British for their own benefit and biological science education was hugely neglected.
Internationally, the number of institutions with modern biological sciences has increased from 18% to 43% of the total fields of education provided. The biological output in terms of research output in the last decade has increased 19 folds in European, 21 in America and 27 folds in China alone.
Over the last decade, the number of students enrolled in modern biological science programmes has also increased. The major reason for the sharp shoot in the inflow attributes to growing opportunity in the biological sciences in research, industry and academies.
NATIONAL SCENARIO
Recognizing the crucial role played by S&T in the process of economic growth and social transformation, major emphasis has been given to higher science education during the early years of independence. For S&T education and training several institutions comprising the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), institutes of national importance like CCMB, NII, CDRI, central universities, many other universities and colleges were established.
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The demand for higher education in biological science has increased from 15% in 2005 to 21% in 2012. The level of higher education is determined by the size of institutional capacity of higher education system in the country. The size of higher education system in turn, is determined mainly by three indicators, namely number of educational institutions, universities and colleges, the number of teachers and number of students. Higher education in biological sciences has witnessed many fold increase in its institutional capacity since independence.
Supply
During 1950 - 2008, the number of universities has increased from 20 to about 431, colleges from 500 to 20,677 and the teachers from 15,000 to nearly 5.05 lakhs. Consequently, the enrolment of students has increased from a mere 1.00 lakh to over 116.12 lakhs.
Opportunity
The scope and output of the biological sciences in India are destined to increase considerably. The biological scientists in India are in growing demand owing to the exponential growth in the research and developmental activities in biotech and pharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutions and health sector. With the increasing demand for the health and agricultural initiatives for a safer and healthier tomorrow, the biological schools will be actively involved in providing scientifically active individuals.
Challenges
The major challenge poised for the biological science students in the potential placement opportunity after the completion of their education. Secondly, the salary structure offered to them are no where in comparison to those offered in the IT sector and management graduate. At most of the institutions, the curriculum offered are relevant to the programmes, but they are not sufficient and significant to fetch them a job placement. More emphasis is given to theoretical knowledge rather than providing actual practical and research skills. The technical writing skills are completely missing. This calls for a completely new and improvised curriculum which are designed and imparted by highly trained and experienced faculty members specifically at the senior levels which is vastly missing. a) Regulatory Framework
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States. In the future, India will be one of the largest education hubs. The regulatory body for the education in the biological sciences in India are University Grants Commission (UGC) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, New Delhi. These governing body has been involved only in the formulating the curriculum for the courses recognized by them rather than actually looking into the compliance with the laws and norms for the implementation of courses, qualification and number of the faculty members, maintenance of the required standard. Institute of Science adheres to the rules and regulations constituted by University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi for streamlining tie curriculum under various programmes and follows DBT guidelines for its research activities and appointments of research personals.
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From the early 20th century, there have been several high level commissions set up to provide policy orientation to the development of higher education in India. Higher education has received a lot of attention in India over the past few years. There are four reasons for this recent focus. First, country’s weak higher education system is being blamed for skill shortages in several sectors of the economy. Second, reservation quotas in higher education institutions, particularly the more reputed ones that provide access to high status and best- paid jobs became a highly divisive issue, central to the policy of inclusive growth and distributive justice, and hence politically very important. Third, in the backdrop of the first two developments, it began to be argued that the country would not be able to sustain its growth momentum and maintain competitiveness unless problems with higher education are fixed. Last, demand for higher education continues to outpace the supply due to a growing population of young people, gains in school education, the growing middle class and their rising aspirations.
To overcome all these hurdles, the government should promote Infrastructure and other financial support to ISNU and other government grant in aid colleges; more opportunity of absorbing students in the State and Central PSU's, providing research and infrastructure grants projects to ISNU and mediating foreign collaborations with international institutions for the overall development of the Institute.
COMPETITION ANALYSIS
Strategic Group
The Institute’s main strategic group is the academic institutions involved with post graduate academic teaching which offers hard core research initiated at the Dissertation phases.
Major Competitors
The major competitors for Institute of Science, Nirma University, are the Post Graduate departments of the state universities such as Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology at M. S. University of Baroda, Department of Microbiology & Biotechnology at Gujarat University, Department of Life Sciences, Central University Ahmedabad. Among the private universities, Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology at CHARUSAT, Department of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Department of Biotechnology, Ganpat University are our direct competitors.
Sl. Name of Department & Highlighting Feature No University 1. Department of First Preference; Through Common entrance test; Highly, Biochemistry, skilled and experienced faculty with diverse expertise; Microbiology & Strong Research background; National and International Biotechnology, M. S. Collaboration; Strong Alumni Base University of Baroda 2. Department of Second Preference; Fees is the major criteria, Highly, Microbiology & skilled and experienced faculty with diverse expertise; Biotechnology, Gujarat Strong Research background University 3. Department of Life Third Preference; Fees is the major criteria, Highly, skilled Sciences, Sardar Patel and experienced faculty with diverse expertise; Strong University Research background; Sophisticated Instrumentation; Strong Alumni Base
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4. Department of Life Fourth Preference; Admission through common entrance Sciences, Central by DBT, New Delhi, Sophisticated Instrumentation Facility University Ahmedabad 5. Department of Fifth Preference; Sophisticated Instrumentation Facility; Biotechnology and Faculty with diverse research Interest; Strong Industry Microbiology at Support CHARUSAT 6. Department of Life Sixth Preference; Sophisticated Instrumentation Facility; Sciences, Ahmedabad Strong Industry Support University
Benchmarking
The institute would like to benchmark on following aspects i.e., academic and research. For academics, Department of Biochemistry, M. S. University of Baroda is the benchmark for the classroom environment, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, skill development, and conduct of classes. For research activities, IISER, Pune will be the benchmark, based on their research education, research initiatives and collaborative research programmes.
Strategic Intent and Capabilities
Institute of Science is trying to make its foothold in an environment wherein the academic excellence should come with enhanced research aptitude. To achieve this, it is essential that the curriculum should provide the academic excellence at par the market requirement at the same time ensure that the research inquisitiveness is properly and systematically nurtured.
Capabilities: To achieve the strategic intent, the Institute has strengthened its curriculum by providing higher order thinking in teaching as well as research. Simultaneously, the students will also have overall development with a wide range of Co-curricular, extracurricular and societal driven activities.
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
Overview
Institute of Science, Nirma University was established in the year 2004. It aims to provide an alternative to the students who desire a post graduate degree and whose career objectives go beyond academic research. The Institute aims to provide students with a broad training and education in biological sciences encompassing science, business, legal, social and ethical aspects to enable them to explore wide career opportunities.
The Institute emphasizes on making the students scientists and academic educators in both academia and industry, members of decision making bodies, business and management teams in Government and Industries, Bio-entrepreneurs, public and private organizations that deal with social, ethical and legal issues in Biotechnology. To achieve its goal, it has reconstituted its Institutional Advisory Committee. The committee now constitutes of eminent academicians, researchers both at research institution as well as from industry and administrator involved in policy making decisions. The members are:
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1. Prof. Bhushan Bhatwardhan, Interdiciplinary School of Health Sciences, Univ ersity of Pune 2. Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 3. Prof. L S Shashidhara, Coordinator, Biology, Indian Institute of Science Educ ation and Research (IISER), Pune 4. Prof. M K Bhan, Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi 5. Dr. Himanshu Gadgil, Vice President (R&D), Intas Biopharmaceuticals 6. Dr. Bhaskar Chakraborty, Sr. Vice President, Cadila Pharma 7. Dr. Narottam Sahoo, Advisor and Member Secretary, Gujarat Council for Scie nce and Technology (GUJCOST)
Programmes and activities:
The Institute offers the following programmes which are recognized by UGC.
Post Graduate programmes
M. Sc in Biochemistry M. Sc in Biotechnology M. Sc in Microbiology
Fulltime and External Ph. D. programmes
Biochemistry, Biotechnology & Microbiology
Major Achievements in last three years
Research
Eight projects have been implemented, six major and two minor projects. A total of around Rs. 2.00 crore has been received through these projects. A total number of publications in the last three year is around 35, with a total citation index of more than 500.
Student Achievements
Ms. Harshita Chaudhary, Ph. D. student under Dr. Sriram Seshadri received Prestigious Indo-German Postdoctoral Fellowship for a duration of 3 years i.e., 2012- 2015 at Department of Molecular Neuroscience and Oncology, Centre for Molecular Neurobiology, Hamburg, Germany.
Mr. Bhavesh Kevadiya, Ph. D. student under Dr. Shalini Rajkumar received a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Centre of Excellence, Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (C-SOPS) & New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newarck, USA.
Pooja Debnath, Chandni Chovatia, Purvi Zaveri and Dr. Nasreen Munshi received 2nd Prize as well as a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- for Presenting a poster on “Effluent to Energy”, in the session "INNOVATION" of 5th Science Conclave of Nobel Laureates organized by Indian Institute of Information and Technology, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
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Student Profile
Post Graduate Programmes
NAME OF PROGRAMME NAME OF NUMBER OF STUDENTS COUNTRY Biotechnology 62 Biochemistry India 34 Microbiology 29 NAME OF PROGRAMME NAME OF THE NUMBER OF STATE STUDENTS Gujarat 57 Rajasthan 2 Biotechnology Jharkhand 1 Madhya Pradesh 2 Gujarat 27 Rajasthan 3 Biochemistry Karnataka 2 Maharashtra 1 Uttar Pradesh 1 Gujarat 19 Rajasthan 5 Maharashtra 2 Microbiology Tamil Nadu 1 Kerala 1 Madhya Pradesh 1
Programme State University/Board Total Nos. M.Sc. Biotechnology Gujarat Sardar Patel University 17 HNGU 06 VNSGU 11 Gujarat Uni. 16 Saurashtra Uni. 06 S.D. Agri. Uni. 01 Rajasthan Jaipur National Uni 01 Rajasthan Uni 01 Jharkhand Ranchi Uni. 01 Madhya Pradesh DAVV, Indore 02 M.Sc. Biochemistry Gujarat Sardar Patel University 04 HNGU 01 VNSGU 03 Gujarat Uni. 13 Saurashtra Uni. 05 M.S. University of Baroda 01 Rajasthan Mohanlal Sukhadiya 03 U.P. IGNOU 01 Karnataka Banglore Uni. 02 Maharashtra Uni. Of Pune 01
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M.Sc. Microbiology Gujarat Sardar Patel University 02 HNGU 04 VNSGU 01 Gujarat Uni. 02 Saurashtra Uni. 04 Bhavnagar Uni. 01 S.D. Agriculture Uni. 02 Kutch Uni. 01 Rajasthan Mohanlal Sukhadiya Uni. 03 Rajasthan Uni. 01 Jai Narain Vyas Uni. 01 Tamil Nadu Bharathiar Uni. 01 Maharashtra North Maharashtra Uni 01 Uni. Of Pune 01 Kerala Mahatma Gandhi Uni. 01 Madhya Pradesh Vikram University 01
SR. NAME OF THE MERIT RANK (GATE) NO. PROGRAMME FIRST MERIT AVERAGE LAST MERIT RANK RANK MERIT RANK 1. Biotechnology Rank No.: 1 Average Rank: 56 Rank No.: 111 2. Biochemistry Rank No.: 24 Average Rank: 75 Rank No.: 125 3. Microbiology Rank No.: 7 Average Rank: 57 Rank No.: 107
Doctoral Programme
Student Profile
Total number of students currently working: 22 Total male students: 11 Total Female students: 11 Total students from Gujarat: 18 Total students from Outside Gujarat: 04
Research and Extension
The Institute of Science has been very active in its research grant. The faculty members are actively involved in three broad areas of biological sciences i.e., biochemistry, biotechnology and microbiology.
Individual faculty are involved in their specialized areas of research which includes Microbial Diversity; Bioremediation; Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria; T Cell Immunology & Malarial Research; Hepatic and Colon Cancer Research, Correlating Mitochondria and calcium role of male reproductive physiology; Understanding and modulating the Gut Microflora in Type II diabetes and Inflammation; Anti-bacterial activity of plant extracts; Microwaves associated effect of microbial population; Protein structure-function studies; Neurochemistry of Epilepsy & Diabetes; Genetic determinants of human disorders and Genotoxicity assessment.
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12 Nirma University funded Minor Research projects and 2 externally funded Minor Research Projects and 1 externally funded Major Research Project successfully completed.
Currently, six externally funded Major Research Projects and two externally funded Minor Research projects are ongoing.
Additionally, the Institute also has an Institutional Ethical Committee to monitor and to contribute to safeguarding the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of all actual or potential research human subjects or using human samples.
The Institutional Bio Safety Committee of Institute of Science was constituted to monitor the use, import/export and storage of hazardous microorganisms and genetically engineered organisms or cells. The IBSC monitors evaluation, assessment and monitoring of adherence to the biosafety guidelines with overall oversight of the regulatory process, at the institutional level.
Faculty Profile
Prof Emeritu Asso Asst Mal Femal UGC Ph Pursuin From Outsid . s Prof. . e e -NET . g Ph. D. Gujara e Prof. D. t Gujarat Prof. 01 01 01 07 03 06 01 09 00 02 07
Infrastructure and facilities
Learning Resource Centre
The library at Institute of Science has a collection of more than 2000 volumes covering text books, reference books and general books. In addition, the Institute has access to more than 48 journals through print and online subscription. The institute also has a thesis repository of more than 180 theses which includes the M. Sc. Dissertation as well as doctoral thesis.
Campus Recruitment Cell
The Institute has an effective Campus Recruitment Cell which coordinates the recruitment activities, provides career guidance and professional training to the students in the form of Mock interviews, workshops, industrial visits and training programs.
Research Facilities:
As, Institute of Science is actively involved in research. The institute has sophisticated instrumentation facility with instruments such as DGGE, gel Documentation System, Biolog, Thermal Cycler, Stereo Microscope, HPLC, Fluorescent Spectrophotometer, -80 0C Deep Freezer, CO2 Incubator, Plant growth Chamber to name a few.
In addition, it also has Animal Cell Culture Facility, Insectarium for the malarial parasite research, Plant Growth Chamber and Animal Behavioural Study Facility.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Strong curriculum and Innovation in teaching and learning All the faculty members possess a Doctoral degree Strong research foundation during Master’s Degree in the form of In-house Dissertation, majority of the work has led to publications.
Weaknesses
Lack of Senior Faculty members Lack of trained technical staff Many local universities and entry of foreign universities restrict the student pool and quality
Distinguishing and Differentiating Characteristics
Balanced Curriculum comprising of basic, advanced and enrichment courses Research as an integral part of the teaching and learning Systemic and Continuous Assessment Excellent opportunity to showcase and to improve communication skills in the form of regular presentations and English enhancement courses and professional writting Students trained for professional training in the form of summer internship, co-curricular activities, extra-curricular activities and extension activities The opportunity to publish their findings in leading reputed journals, unique for dissertation research The opportunity to interact with leading researchers and academicians for career guidance and research related suggestions Students trained in designing, implementation and execution of research ideas Dedicated Campus recruitment cell and monitoring system
Stakeholders Value Proposition
Stakeholder Feedback on Stakeholders Value Proposition Organizational Performance Expected Service Student Good Excellent Learning Experience and skill development Faculty Satisfactory Strong training and development measures; Career oriented approach; Conducive environment
for research and training Staff Satisfactory Better environment; Streamlined Process
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Stakeholder Feedback on Stakeholders Value Proposition Organizational Performance Expected Service Parents Good Industry placement and training Alumni Satisfactory Sustaining good brand quality education Industry Satisfactory Competent and better performers
Expectation of the students
The expectations of a student registering for a Post graduate program are as follows:
He should be provided with latest updated theoretical information and should have practical know-how of using various instruments important for biological sciences. They should be able to apply the concepts and strategies within their professional career The students should be able to secure good placement within academics and industries based on the expertise gained during their two year post graduate programme
How to improve Student’s Employability?
The students of the Institute of Science will be provided with the following skills to improve their employability:
More emphasis will be provided in enhancing and master their basic skills of communication, work ethics and integrity Technical efficiency will be taken care during their higher semesters where they will be provided with Enrichment Course and CV preparation and interview facing trainings.
Faculty Development
Retention
Institute of Science is planning to appoint senior level research faculty members, preferably at the Associate professor and professor grade. In order to retain the existing faculty members and to attract research faculty, the Institute is proposing the following initiatives:
Providing research laboratories with furnished the basic equipment to carry out their research activities. Newly appointed research faculty will be provided with Seed Money to initiate their research activity These faculty will be allotted 2-3 Ph. D. students with University Fellowship
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Improving Quality
The institute will be taking following initiatives to make the existing faculty a better teacher and an active researcher:
Reducing work pressure and administrative load of the faculty members Constituting Institute Research Committee to monitor, evaluate and guide faculty members with their research projects and to plan the research strategy of the Institute Every faculty member will be allotted a mentor who will be part of the Institute Scientific Advisory Committee, who will be guiding faculty members with their research proposals to increase its fundability and to increase the quality of publication and research Providing a platform for the faculty members to short term training in various research labs across the country to enhance their research skills
STRATEGIC THEMES
Strategic Intent
To become a centre of excellence to pursue cutting edge research in the biological sciences as well as to impart quality education
Strategies
Strengthening the existing programmes and offering new PG & PhD programmes Expanding the faculty with specialized research interests Improving the infrastructure for research and teaching Initiating and strengthening National and international Collaborative Research
STRATEGIC GOAL 1
Strengthening the existing programmes and offering new PG & PhD programmes
Objective 1.1
Research Institute, Industry & alumni involvement in course design & teaching
Action Plan 1.1
Initially on a trial basis two Courses i.e., Fermentation Technology and Vaccinology which are directly relevant to Industrial application will be redesigned with industry inputs and taught by Industry experts. Later will be extended to three more courses i.e., Genomics & Proteomics, Animal Biotechnology and Cancer Biology.
Objective 1.2
Multi Centric Entrance
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Action Plan 1.2
Depending upon the inquiries from the students, two centres other than Ahmedabad will be selected i.e., Udaipur, Indore. Later will be extended to two more cities i.e., Raipur, Patna to attract more students from remote parts of the country.
Strategy Goal 1.
Objectives 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Research 1 Course 1 Course 1 Course 1 Course 1 Course Institute, Industry (Vaccinology) (Genomics (Animal & alumni (Fermentatio & Biotechnol (Cancer involvement in n proteomics) ogy) Biology) course design & Technology) teaching Multi Centric - 2 2 1 1 Entrance Translational Exploration Implementatio research to be n emphasized
STRATEGIC GOAL 2.
Expanding the faculty with specialized research interests
Objective 2.1
Attracting senior level faculty
Action Plan 2.1
Constituting a search committee and an Institutional Scientific advisory committee comprising of eminent researchers, academicians and industrial partners to identify and to attract senior faculty members from diverse field of specialization to strengthen the existing teaching and research of the Institute.
Objective 2.2
Attracting Research Scientists
Action Plan 2.2
Constituting a search committee and an Institutional Scientific advisory committee comprising of eminent researchers, academicians and industrial partners to identify and to attract senior faculty members with excellent scientific research from diverse field of specialization to strengthen the existing teaching and research of the Institute.
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STRATEGIC GOAL 2
Objectives 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Attracting senior - 2 1 2 2 level faculty Attracting - 1 - 1 1
Research
Scientists
STRATEGIC GOAL 3
Improving the infrastructure for research and teaching
Objective 3.1
Classrooms with ICT
Action Plan 3.1
Specially dedicated classrooms with ICT facility to be built to improve effective teaching
Objective 3.2
Improving Laboratory Facility
Action Plan 3.2
Furnishing all the teaching and research laboratories with basic and sophisticated instruments required to carry out high throughput research, from research grants. Applying for infrastructure grants for the purchase of high end equipment. Providing highly specialized Computer Lab & Bioinformatics Facility
Strategic Goal 3.
Objectives 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Classrooms with ICT - 2 - 2 - Laboratory - 3 - 3 1
Facility (addition to existing) Computer Lab & Bioinformatics - 1 (30 - 1 (30 - Facility capacity) capacity) Reading Room - 1 (30 - 1 (30 - capacity) capacity)
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STRATEGIC GOAL 4
Collaborative Research
Objective 4.1
Collaboration with National and International Institutes
Action Plan 4.1
Already initiated collaborative research with at least three Institutes at national level. International Institutes have been identified and will be involved in collaborative research soon
Objective 4.2
DSIR
Action Plan 4.2
Already applied for DSIR certification and awaiting for the visit of the expert team
Strategic Goal 4.
Objectives 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 State Institutes 1 2 1 1 1 National Institutes 2 2 3 3 3 International Institutes - - - 1 1
DSIR 1 - - - - Centre for Excellence - - - 1 - facility International Funding - - 1 - 1
Institutional Objectives over a period of five years
Institute of Strategic Objectives Academic Year 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 Percentage of placement of enrolled students (UG) Not Applicable Percentage of placement of enrolled students (PG) 50% 50% 65% 65% 65% Percentage of filled faculty positions vis-à-vis - 25 25 25 25 sanctioned positions Number of minor research projects 3 2 1 3 1 Number of major research projects 4 4 4 2 3 In-house faculty development programmes (in 3-5 3-5 5-8 5-8 5-8 days) Number of research articles (national) 2 2 1 1 1 Number of research articles (international) 11 11 12 12 12 Number of patents to be filed/Number of cases 2 2 1 1 1 published
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INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP
Educational Leaders
The Institute has a Head of Institution. As ISNU does not have different departments segregated, it has Programme Coordinator followed by Semester Coordinator and finally the Course Coordinator.
Leadership Teams
The Institute has various academic and administrative audit committees in place in order to plan and execute various plans and strategies. These committees has been constituted comprising of the following:
Chairperson – Director, ISNU Programme Coordinators Faculty Members Assistant Registrar Alumni and Student Members Industry Member IQAC Coordinator – Member Secretary
1. FUNCTIONING OF AUDIT TEAMS
Academic and Administrative Audit Committee will monitor all the system and process at ISNU such as Academic Delivery System, Examination and Assessment System and Internal Quality Assurance Cell.
All academic related administration will be planned by the Audit Committee in consultation with the Dean and will be executed by the Academic Delivery system under the supervision of the Audit Committee. The whole process will be monitored by the Dean.
The Examination and Assessment System monitors the schedule and conduction of examination and assessments.
IQAC in consultation with ADS and EAS takes review of the quality related aspects of teaching and learning process on a periodical basis. It identifies quality benchmarks for academic, administrative and research activities, identifies gaps pertaining to teaching learning, academic and research administration, documents all the major activities relating to teaching and learning and organizes Quality Improvement Programme for faculty, staff and students.
Academic and Administrative Audit Committee will review the implementation of all the strategies for overall qualitative development of the Institute.
Review Mechanisms
Monthly Review by Academic and Administrative Audit Committee Quarterly Review by IQAC Half Yearly Review by Research Progress and Review Committee Annual Review with Academic/Scientific Advisory Committee Annual Meeting with Advisory Council
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Communication of Plans with Stakeholders
This Strategic Plan of the Institute will be shared by all stakeholders as a vision document of the Institute. Newly admitted students will be oriented about the plan during the Orientation Programme.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
STRATEGIC GOAL 1
Strategy Objectives 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
1.1 Research Institute, - 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh Industry & alumni involvement in course design & teaching 1.2 New programmes to be - 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh designed & implemented based on the Industry and academic need. 1.3 Multi Centric Entrance - 5 Lakh 5 Lakh 5 Lakh 5 Lakh
STRATEGIC GOAL 2
Strategy Objectives 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19
2.1 Attracting senior level - 12 12 21 21 lakhs/ faculty Lakhs/ Lakhs/ lakhs/ annum annum annum annum (1 (1 (1 (1 Associate Professor Profess Profess Professor, ) or) or and 1 2 Associat Assistant e Professor) Profess or) 2.2 Attracting Research - 12 - 12 - Lakhs/ Lakhs/ Scientists annum annum
(1 (1 Professor Profess ) or)
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STRATEGIC GOAL 3
Strategy Objectives 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19
3.1 Classrooms with ICT - 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 1 Lakh
3.2 Laboratory Facility - 25 25 lakhs 50 lakhs 50 lakhs lakhs 3.3 Computer Lab & - 2 lakhs - 2 lakhs - Bioinformatics Facility 3.4 Reading Room - 2 lakhs - 2 Lakh -
STRATEGIC GOAL 4
No Financial Implications
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Institute of Law, Strategic Plan (2014 - 2019)
Preamble
Institute of Law, Nirma University (ILNU) was set up in the year 2007 and within short span of time ILNU has made it presence felt at the legal education map of the country. The Institute has potential to be recognized as Centre of Excellence for the legal education in the country. In the span of last 7 years, Institute has marked a distinct place and was conferred upon the “Institutional Excellence Award”. Commitment to excellence in teaching and public service made Institute of Law a preferred choice for the outstanding students.
Sustenance of the excellence requires carving out the strategic plan in consistent with the vision of the University Through this strategic plan ILNU is looking at bringing about a paradigm shift in delivery of legal education in the country. It aims to add new dimensions in legal education that would incorporate international standards thereby providing an environment which would enhance freedom and innovation in the dynamic pursuit of thoughts and civil society engagement to advance the law of the land. ILNU is committed to advance human dignity, social welfare, access to justice, through knowledge of law. We also look forward to enhancing research inputs in the education module thereby connecting students and faculty to the larger platform involving other national and international agencies and playing a pivotal role in framing socially relevant policies in the legal sector.
As we introduce our strategic plan after 7 years of our establishment, we hope to be visionary: “to be recognized as leading provider of justice education in the country and endeavours to prepare outstanding and ethical legal professionals through professional training and skill development”.
Need for strategic plan
Law schools today operate in a highly competitive environment as they vie with each other for the best students and faculty. Students, faculty and legal employers increasingly evaluate law schools based on their perceived standing relative to other law schools.
For ILNU to continue to thrive in an era of limited resources and increased expectations, it is essential that we thoughtfully and systematically leverage our strengths and concentrate our resources on the aspects of our program that will be most effective in distinguishing ourselves as an academic community of superior scholars, teachers and students.
Approach
Keeping in mind the vision and mission statement of the University we set our priority and based on the priority the strategic plan set measurable goals so that we could hold our accountability for implementing the plan. Accordingly we have developed a series of indicators of our progress. The plan is in two parts. Five overarching goals that are supported by varieties of strategies and implementation steps (actions).
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Strategic Planning Process
The strategic planning process was initiated in a meeting of ADR followed by a workshop on Strategic Plan at University and Institute level. At Institute level a Committee consisting of Area Heads, Programme Coordinators and Senior Faculty members was set up to prepare a strategy plan of ILNU for the next five year. This five year plan is the brainchild and the final outcome of a joint brainstorming process envisaged by the faculty members of ILNU to enhance the full potential of the institute, mobilize resources optimally and thereby integrating it within legal fraternity.
The plan is result of significant, hard work, creative thinking and careful deliberation on the part of our Strategic Plan Committee. A discussions were open an honest and in the spirit of moving our institution forward.
The Strategic Planning Committee presented the following model:-
STRATEGIC PLANNING MODEL
Mission Why do we exist? Who is our stakeholder? What are their expectation? What are our primary functions for carrying out our mission?
Strategic Priorities
Operating Principles
What are our organizational values and In what major directions will we focus our principles
efforts to advance toward our vision?
Are our strategic priorities in alignment with the
vision of University?
With whom will we link to accomplish these
Annually Annually Vision goals? How will we know we’ve improved? What do we want to be in next 5 years? What will we stop doing or do differently? What will be our stakeholders expectations?
Situational Analysis This step can be integrated throughout the process. Where are we now? What are our stakeholders’ needs? What do our assessment data tell us? What are we doing well? What can we improve? External opportunities / threats? What is happening in the external environment? Trends? Strategic Plan Page 120
One Year Action
Planning, Budgeting,
and Process
Figure 1.1 Strategic Planning Model improvement
Quarterl
Monthly
Weekly
y
Periodic Checks
Environment Analysis
International Scenario
The history of legal education in India started from the British period 1793 and most of the concepts have been based on the model followed in UK. UK has had very strong grounding but the current analysis shows that the curriculum is not covering global development issues that are required in a globalized world. There are very good institutes providing legal education and law schools have grown in numbers with the increase in demand. Only half of the law graduates in UK are able to find employment in legal sector. Law school enrolment has decreased by 18% in the year 2013 and 38% since 20101 , major reasons being fall in job opportunities and high cost of education. Few of the law schools are closing down or cutting down on the size of the class.
Legal Education in the US has been going through a rough patch. The primary reasons for the same is the decrease in the enrollment of students in the last few years. The enrollment of the students in the program in the year 2013 has come down by 11 percent and an overall decrease of 24 percent from that of 2010. The fee for the program is very high and it is difficult for people to afford the same. The prospects after the completion of the program is not very lucrative and hence this adds to the existing issues. American Bar Association Standards for rules of approval of law schools has undergone a change in the recent past and a committee was constituted to find out alternatives for the problems faced by legal education, the committee recommended that the fee for the programs should be reduced and scholarship options should be increased, in addition to it they are also constituting a team to find out additional avenues for employment, options are also being explored to foster further co-operation among legal educators, practitioners and judges for training and absorption of the student in the industry.
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National Scenario
Unlike the situation in UK and US and other countries offering Legal education, the situation in India is quite positive. The number of applicants have been increasing every year. The job prospects are quite good with the number of legal jobs increasing every year. Lots of new Law schools are also coming up with the increase in demand. A brief about the education scenario in the country is mentioned below:
Demand for law education has gone up, the number of CLAT applicant was 11000 in 2008and has risen to 29530 in2013.3 In five years the number of applicants has increased by approximately 168%. Supply – The total number of law schools in the country is above900 and there is an increase in the number of institutes in the recent past. Opportunities – Most of the organizations now are starting their separate legal department, that offers lots of opportunities of jobs in future. Reinvention of curricular strategies can help take the law schools to the next level. Constant increase in enrolment in law schools. Increase in influence of law indifferent spheres of day to day activities. Challenges – There is a possibility of decline in hiring at firms or a case of a mismatch in the number of law graduates and the availability of jobs in future. Industry heavily dependent on foreign market. Adding to this is the current teaching learning methodology used by most of the institutes which lacks in relevant skills training i.e. legal writing skills, research skills and argumentative skills. Another major challenge is that of lack of experienced and trained faculty, especially at the senior level.
Regulatory Framework
The regulatory body for legal education in India is the Bar Council of India. It ensures the compliance of laws and maintenance of professional standards, prescribes minimum curriculum required, carries periodic supervision of the institutes and conducts evaluation of teaching methodology
Government Role
Infrastructural and other financial support to NLU's and other government grant in aid colleges Absorbing students in State and Central PSU's Providing research projects to NLU's Foreign Collaborations
Competition Analysis
Major Competitors
Main competitors of Institute of Law Nirma University, are the National Law Schools. There are 15 National Law Schools in the country. Of the newly established NLU's, those in Orissa, Patna, Patiala, Assam, Ranchi, Kochiand Lucknow are not our close competitors as of date. Among the Private players we are competing with O. P Jindal University and Symbiosis Law University.
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Competition Analysis
Sr. Name of the Law School Status No. 1 NLSIU Bangalore First preference – CLAT aspirants, strong faculty base, PG Centre, Research Centre, Research team, Support from Ministries. Residential Program, Excellent Infrastructure, Good Library, International Collaboration, Human rights flagship course, Students Peer review system, Strong Alumni Base 2 NALSAR, Hyderabad Second preference – CLAT aspirants, strong faculty base, PG Centre, Research Centre, Research team, Support from Ministries. Residential Program, Excellent Infrastructure, Good Library, International Collaborations, Strong Alumni Base 3 NUJS, Kolkata Third preference – CLAT aspirants, Faculty base is strong, Residential Program, Excellent Infrastructure, Good Library, International Collaborations, Strong Alumni Base 4 NLU Delhi Does not participate in CLAT, Has locational benefits, excellent faculty base, Senior and Adjunct Professors, support from ministries, Residential Program, Excellent Infrastructure, Good Library, International Collaborations, Strong Leadership, 5 NILU Bhopal Fourth Preference – CLAT, Good Library, International Collaborations, cyber law research centre, world class library, Residential Program ,Projects from Ministries, Strong Alumni Base 6 NLU Jodhpur Fifth Preference – CLAT, good faculty base, International Collaborations, Strong Alumni Base, Residential Program 7 Hidayatullah, Raipur Seventh Preference – CLAT, good faculty base, Good Library, International Collaborations 8 Symbiosis Non Government, good faculty strength, adequate number of programmes at UG and PG and doctoral level. 9 O P Jindal Excellent faculty base and infrastructural facilities.
10 GNLU Sixth Preference – CLAT, good faculty strength, separate research cell, International Collaborations,
Segment/ Strategic Group
ILNU provides Five year integrated law program and hence do not compete in other segments offering the conventional three year course.
We also provide two year and one year Masters in Law program and doctoral program.
Strategic intent and capabilities
The plan sets out three manor initiatives for addressing the trends and challenges of present Legal Education System. First – We must effectively educate tomorrow’s lawyer with a curriculum that helps students develop a set of professional capacities and cultural competencies required of lawyers in today’s global society. Second – We must enhance
Strategic Plan Page 123 impact of our intellectual activities by bringing our faculties scholarship to practitioners and policymakers. Third – We must develop a system that aligns our teaching scholarship and extension activities for advancement of social welfare, justice and dignity of individual in society.
To target the market captured by the National Law Schools. In the next five years to become the superior preference of CLAT aspirants.
Through this process, we intend to contribute substantially to the quality legal professionals who provide ethical leadership to the country through social engineering.
Capabilities – In the process of achieving strategic intent the Institute will be leveraging on its current strengths that includes Strong curriculum befitting the needs of the our and for all- over development of students along with wide range of Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities through various students committees and clubs, Extension activity and enriching clinical programmes
Institutional Analysis
Overview
Institute of Law, Nirma University was set up in the year 2007. It aims at providing world class facilities to impart training and conduct research in the field of law.
Programs and activities:
The Institute offers the following under-graduate and post-graduate programmes which are recognized by `Bar Council of India` [BCI] and UGC respectively. Five year integrated law degree programme (UG flagship programme) One year LL.M. Programme (P.G. and Doctoral Programme)
Ranking of the Institution and Major Achievements:
In the short span of 7 years, ILNU has marked its present at legal education map of India. Institute has received Institutional Excellence Award from the Society of Indian Law Firms for contribution in innovative curriculum pedagogy and justice extension orientation programme. Faculty members of the Institute marked their presence through contributing research papers in various National and International conference.
Students have shown their outstanding performance in many national and international moot and debating event showcasing their professional training and lawyering skills. As a part of the Institute’s social responsibility and extension project, ILNU has made remarkable contribution in the upliftment of the under-trial prisoners through legal aid assistance by establishing permanent Legal Aid Clinic within the premises of Sabarmati Jail. Institute is aiming at Litigation Free Society in order to bring happiness and justice to the common man of rural India and so ILNU has started adopting villages to take care of their legal issues and mediating during conflict for peaceful resolution. Institute has large number of stakeholders intervention in all the activities carried out by the Institute
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Students Details
Competitive Test Cut Offs General category : 107
NRI Category : 79 Total Students strength 1038 Total Male Students 544 Total Female Students 494 Total Students from Gujarat 256 Total Students from outside Gujarat 782
LL.M.(BL) and LL.M. (LP) Total Students 8 Total Male Students 5 Total Female Students 3 Total Students from Gujarat 7 Total Students from outside Gujarat 1
Ph.D.
Total Students 2 Total Male Students -
Total Female Students 2 Total Students from Gujarat 2 Total Students from outside Gujarat -
Competitive Cut off- All India CLAT Rank U.G. Programme
General Category - 339-3635 Academic Year
NRI Category – 3906 - 18607 2013-14
Research & Extension:
In order to foster research in various fields, Institute has set up six Centres in the field of:
o Centre for Social Justice o Centre for Criminal Law and Justice o Centre for Corporate Research o Centre for Law and Governance o Centre for International Humanitarian Law Studies o Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution o Centre for Environment Law
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These research Centres primarily aims at inculcating the research skills amongst the young students and providing the opportunity for faculty members and engage themselves prepare with the research activities of their interested areas.
Major Project – One, funded by Gujarat Ecological Commission on Coastal Zone Regulation.
Training and Consulting
Gujarat Ecological Commission Gujarat Water and Sewerage Board Social Welfare Department, Gujarat Government Sabarmati Jail, Legal Aid Clinic
Faculty Profile
Assistant Assnt. Teaching & Male Female U.G.C.- Ph.D. Pursuing Gujarat Outside Professor Prof. Research NET Ph.D. Gujarat / Associates Associate Fellow Professor / Professor
3 29+2* 2+2* 24 14 20 13 12 14 24
* Appointment Order issued and likely to join
Infrastructure and facilities:
ILNU has state-of-art infrastructure with: Classroom; Air conditioned State of the art classroom with audio visual aids and ICT enabled. Cyber Lab; The Computer centre consists of one dedicated server and 30 systems inter connected by fibre optic cables and 8 mbps, leased lineinternet connectivity. Moot court Hall: The Institute of Law has state of the art Moot Court Hall which is equipped with all the modern facilities to give real life experience of mooting to the students. Seminar hall; The Seminar hall is well equipped with 200+ seating capacity. Research Centres: The Institute has seven centres for research and excellence as under: Centre for Social Justice Centre for Corporate Research Centre for International Humanitarian Law Studies Centre for Criminal Law and Justice Centre for Law and Governance
Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre for Environment Law
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Learning Resource Centre; The Library has state of art facilities with a collection over 9000 volumes covering text books, reference books, back volumes of journal and reports etc. It also contains separate reading rooms for students and faculty members and separate moot court discussion rooms. Students Activity Centre: The Institute has a separate student’s activity centre for preparing various conferences, seminars and moot competitions etc. Campus recruitment Cell: The Institute has an effective Campus Recruitment Cell which coordinates the recruitment activities, provides career guidance and professional training to the student's right from the first semester through various workshops, simulation exercises and training programs. Students Common Room; Separate common rooms for Boys and Girls.
Strengths Opportunities
Innovation in teaching and learning Consultancy and Training Value for money opportunities in the State Strong Brand image Not many law schools in the region Excellent Infrastructure Use of ICT to deliver content / Research Journal experiential learning Library Resource Centre New Pedagogical techniques Research Centre Library Resource Journal Diversified faculty
Weakness Threats
Lack of Senior faculty members Foreign / Global Universities Lack of foreign linkages New NLUs and new private law Not having an National Law schools University Tag Sector Specific Programmes Faculty Salary Industry interaction Number of recruiters Attracting good faculty Faculty exposure Faculty / Student ratio Low Profile / Media Relations Research and Consulting Faculty Development Faculty Diversity Teaching Pedagogy International Linkages
Strategic Plan Page 127
Distinguishing and differentiating characteristics
Unique curriculum academic rigour with clinical approach Integrated approach – good grounding in social science courses Excellent infrastructure with modern teaching aid and amenities Industry experience- internships and interaction with experts Rich Library Resource centre including International Law resource centre
Stakeholders Value proposition
Stakeholder Expected Feedback on organizational Stakeholders Impact if not outcome Performance Value met and its Proposition level of impact Function Expected Service Student Education Academic Good Rich Learning Low level Rigour Experience impact, and skill improvement Skill oriented development in quality of training teaching learning facilities and time.
Faculty Career Well defined Satisfactory Strong training Medium level advancement system and and impact and good work transparent development culture policies measures Work pressure
Require more Career Academic training oriented support approach system(printer, xerox, etc) Conducive environment for research and training
Staff Career Clear Cut and Satisfactory Better Medium level Advancement transparent environment impact and good work policies culture Streamlined Work pressure Work pressure Process Crisis Management Parents Education Getting timely Good Industry _ information oriented about training and performance. placement
Academic Strategic Plan Page 128
Discipline and Rigour
Stakeholder Expected Feedback on organizational Stakeholders Impact if not outcome Performance Value met and its Proposition level of impact Function Expected Service Stakeholder Expected Feedback on organizational Stakeholders Impact if not outcome Performance Value met and its Proposition level of impact Function Expected Service
Alumni Brand Value Appreciate the Good Sustainability _ overall of good brand contribution of institution.
Need more involvement in various processes Industry Well trained Apply Satisfactory Competent Low level students knowledge graduates impact
Need improvement in application of concepts Society Responsible Legal Good Legal aid and _ Citizens awareness and other welfare literacy interventions
Strategic Goals
Goal 1:
To be the Law School of Choice for diverse, talented and dedicated law students
Strategy 1.1:
Develop a Strong Faculty Base with diverse competencies
Objective 1.1.
Recruit experienced faculty and train existing faculty for enriching educational experience.
Strategic Plan Page 129
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Percentage of filled faculty 65% 70% 75% 80% 90% positions vis-a-vis sanctioned positions In-house faculty development 30 30 30 30 30 programmes(in days)
Actions for S 1.1
Constitution of search committee involving senior and networked faculty members to create database of potential and interested candidates and initiate interaction regarding growth option and career management at ILNU.
Search Committee to Identify and coordinate with the Foreign Professor for Short tenure teaching assignment. Redesigning recruitment criteria to attract talented faculty from industry and profession Revision of HR policies improvising perks and fringe benefits to prevent attrition and encourage commitment Train young faculty in various aspects of teaching learning process by organising orientation programme, refresher programme, faculty enrichment and development programme.
Strategy1.2:
To establish MOUs linkages with the different professional and academic institution for the purpose of students internship, faculty external-ship best practices sharing, placement training, collaborative research, collaborative teaching and for organizing programmes collaboratively such as Conferences, Seminars, Symposium etc.
Objective 1.2
a. Invite luminaries from legal industry and profession for expert talks and workshops for enriching student’s skills and practical know how.
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Number of students skill 1 2 3 4 5 development workshops
Actions for S 1.2
Identify legal practitioners, bankers, diplomats, corporate personnel and activists who are academically inclined and appoint them as adjunct professor, tenure professor Depute young faculty members for externalship programme for field training in relevant area. Institute chair with the support of industry in various disciplines to encourage faculty research and clinical programme.
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Strategy 1.3
Build education programme to meet the challenges of changing professional legal world and to offer solutions to the problems facing the society. Enrich learning experience through Blended learning, active and collaborative learning.
Objective 1.3
Curriculum and pedagogy design in sync with the demands of the legal world
Actions for S 1.3
Initiate area wise consultative process under the leadership of AAC (Academic Advisory Committee) involving all stake holders to design curriculum with global outlook and to develop professional skills.
Strategy 1.4
Strengthen Admission process.
Objective 1.4
Continue our excellent record of admitting meritorious students with strong interpersonal skills and leadership capabilities with increased diversity in geographic status, gender and ethnic origin.
Actions for S 1.4
Provide need and merit based scholarship and other financial aid to attract meritorious students. Provide excellent student services especially pertaining to strengthening student portfolio. Use of Online programme for admission, registration, examinations and host of other functions for easy access and better facilitation
Indicators of Progress
Increase in the Number of senior and experienced faculty. Increase in the student application to admission ratio. Improved all India CLAT merit rank cut off of admission Improved geographical balance
Goal 2:
Clinical pedagogy aiming at orienting the students towards justice education
Strategy 2.1
Embrace the Outcome Based Education Model
Strategic Plan Page 131
Objective 2.1
Develop well defined Program learning outcome, Course Learning Objectives and Graduate Attributes
Actions for S 2.1 Sound training to all faculty on OBE and monitoring of OBE implementation Have a right mix of enrichment courses to aid in overall development of the learner.
Strategy 2.2
Justice Education and Ethical orientation
Objective 2.2
Integrate Education, research and extension.
Actions for S 2.2
Integrate social justice and ethical issues in all relevant courses Develop ethical understanding and sensitise students on wider societal issues Expose students to real time legal issues of local communities
Strategy 2.3
Creation and nurturing of Critical think tank
Objective 2.3
Develop higher order thinking skills through wide range of activities as a part of teaching learning process
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018- 19 Panel discussions, seminar, talk 2 4 5 6 6 shows and symposium, etc.
Actions for S 2.3
Introduce course on critical thinking and logical reasoning Develop a spirit of inquiry and critical thinking on various socio-legal issues and policies through panel discussions, talk show, faculty and student seminar etc. Core thinking group to debate, deliberate, criticise and review the various socio legal issues and provide further possible solution and model to tackle them.
Indicator of Progress:
Feedback from various stakeholders Students standing/positioning in the professional legal world Feedback of society on extension activities
Strategic Plan Page 132
Goal 3
Strengthen support mechanisms for increasing the employability level of students through professional and skill based training and enhanced industry experience.
Strategy 3.1
Developing necessary capabilities in students that would distinguish them as exceptional legal professionals who can confidently navigate legal job market and translate their achievement into meaningful and fulfilling career options.
Objective 3.1
Train and orient students and assist them in the transition process from student to legal professional through professional development interventions.
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Percentage of placement of 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% enrolled students (UG)
Percentage of placement of 90% 90% 95% 95% 100% enrolled students (PG)
Actions for S3.1
Assess the suitability of the students for different areas of legal industry. Taking Feedback from the industry representative about the gaps in the knowledge and competency level of the students. Incorporate the gaps on the knowledge front in the curriculum and use relevant pedagogy for knowledge transfer and application. Arranging Professional training programs for students centered on the training need analysis based on feedback from experts, internship, faculty, self-appraisal and learning group evaluations. Provide opportunities to students to interact with legal professionals with remarkable achievement and learn through their case analysis. Career counseling by practicing attorneys. Creation of career library with books, directories, manuals and guides pertaining to employment in legal field.
Indicators for progress
100% conversion from registration to final placement. Better feedback from the employers of placed students. Improvement in Brand Image and creation of strong network across the legal market. Pan India and international Alumni presence with alumni representation in the nation’s top 20 law firms.
Strategic Plan Page 133
Goal 4:
Enhance the ILNU facilities and Infrastructure to meet the demand of the legal educational environment.
Strategy 4.1
Strengthen the technological support mechanisms and enhance existing infrastructural facilities
Objective 4.1
Identifying gaps in existing infrastructures and plan the superior infrastructure requirements and facilitates for upcoming years
Actions for S 4.1
Develop Smart classroom Increase the use of latest ICT tools in the classroom Improvement and development of the discussion rooms, reading hall, language lab, research centre and cyber cell. Better seating arrangement for faculty and staff with modest refreshing experiences
Indicator of Progress
Increased and effective use of ICT in teaching learning Use of Content developed in Cell for enhancing the quality of teaching. Increased contentment of staff and faculty
Goal 5:
Advancement of law through Strong Research Based Initiatives.
Strategy 5.1
Research and technology support for scholarship and learning and to develop sustainable research initiatives.
Objective 5.1
Improve LRC (Learning Resource Centre) and the technology infrastructure and to provide conducive environment to boost up research centre activity and to sensitize faculty for quality research
Actions for S 5.1
Create Research and review cell to provide training and support to faculty and students for research facilitation. Draft of well-defined research policies, IPM system and incentives for research Appointment of Research Chair Professors Establish linkages and MOUs to undertake research in relevant field offering solutions to problems society/legal industry facing
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Strategy 5.2
Enhance externally funded research and consultancy assignment
Objective 5.2
Increase the Institute’s visibility and communicate the Law school strength and core expertise to the outside world to attract their attention for funded consultancy.
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018- 19 Number of Minor research projects 3 5 5 7 7
Number of Major research projects 1 2 3 3 4
Actions for S 5.2
Research drive to carry out research writing proposal Carrying out need analysis of the major areas for offering consultancy services to different agencies which includes the Government, Semi-Government organization, policy making institutions, NGO’s and private enterprises, banking and insurance factors. Support and enhance faculty’s opportunities to develop various proposals for offering and designing consultancy program to various agencies. Better facilitation in terms of relaxation in the other administrative duties to active researcher at the Institute and decent treatment to carry out the research work Identifying the senior faculty members and motivating them to take up consultancy and the training work depending upon their core competency Conducive environment and facilitating in the procedure for take up such assignments.
Strategy 5.3
Develop scientific temper and research orientation
Objective 5.3
Adopt the mechanism for annual research plan for each faculty and senior students for quality research engagement and publication
Strategic Objectives Academic Year 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 Number of research articles(national) 10 12 15 17 20
Strategic Plan Page 135
Number of research articles (international) 4 6 8 9 10
Actions for S 5.3
Strengthening Research Methodology Training for faculty Better administrative arrangements thereby facilitation for research to faculty
Developing research skills in students through various workshops and conferences. Translating knowledge to action through active involvement of senior students in live research projects
Indicators of Progress:
Number of Projects – major and minor Increase in number of research journals in various fields Increase in research publication in national and international journals with high impact factor and improved citation index Increased number of faculty and student publication in recognized journals MoU with reputed institutes. Increased in consultancy and external training programme.
Goal 6:
Increase ILNU’s visibility in legal circles and create its unique identity
Objective 6.1
Marketing Communication Program
Strategy 6.1.1
Well defined System for image building of ILNU through various portals and processes
Actions for S 6.1
Establish a structured mechanism that documents and reflects major activities and achievements of ILNU on all relevant platforms Increased presence and participation of faculty and students in academic conferences, workshops and consultancies professional bodies and societies Arrange events biannually to reach out to various stakeholders and share with them the academic excellence and achievement. Improve the web presence through various web based activities. Build the Alumni Network and Leverage on its pan India and International presence Using special Task Group for International Collaboration /Linkages
Indicators of Progress:
Representation by faculty and students in various national and international events. Increased number of consultancies Contribution of Faculty and students in law and policy making. Strategic Plan Page 136
Build the Alumni Network and Leverage on its pan India and International presence. Alumni as mentors and advisors.
Action Plan for Strategy
Strategy Action Plan Actions Responsible Time-Line Targets Person/Department/Tea m Strategy Recruitment of a. Assess availability Search Committee & database – 1.1 senior faculty from various sources Dean March
b. Create Database Implementatio n- June Adjunct Identifying and Do June 2014- Professor/Tenure appointing for Dec 2014 Professor specialised course
Foreign Professor for short tenure in International Law Strategy Faculty Externalship Policy to be in place ADS in consultation with June-2014- 1.2 AAC Dec 2014
Instituting chair Identification and MOUs Manger Corporate June 2015 Relations in consultation with AAC and Dean Strategy Curriculum Series of area wise Area Head, Dean Initial Review 1.3 Review/Academic consultative process – Completed Structure with experts and stake Revamping to focus holders under the Implementatio on skill development guidance of AAC n from June 2014
Subsequent review every year in the month of December
Feedback form –courses –January 2014-18
Stakeholders feedback – April 2014-18
Suggestions incorporated – may 2014-18
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Strategy Action Plan Actions Responsible Time-Line Targets Person/Department/Tea m Strategy Scholarship Devising policy of AR June-2014 1.4 Scheme to attract scholarship and its talented students announcements
Strengthening Online and client AR and admission officer July 2014 Admission Process friendly admission in consultation with system and processes Director Strategy Creation of close Helping faculty to devise ADS in consultation with June-2015 2.1 circuit for designing and implement clinical the Dean clinical pedagogy method by providing sound training
Strategy Thorough training Monitoring of OBE Area Head, Dean July 2014 2.2 on OBE implementation
Strategy Ethical Integrate social justice Do July 2014 2.3 Understanding and ethical issues in all relevant courses
Strategy Develop higher Create critical think tank Do June 2015 2.4 order thinking skills and facilitate by for social systematic planned engineering activities
Strategy Develop superior AR & Estate Department June 2015 3.1 infrastructure and better facilities for Smart class room student’s faculty and staff ICT tools
Student recreation room
Improvements in existing infrastructure and facilities
Strategy Research and Strengthen Learning Dean in consultation with Continuous 4.1 technological Resource Centre University MGT and (2014-2019) support for RPRC scholarship Creation of Research June 2014 Progress and review
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Cell (RPRC) July 2014
Research Policy and Dec 2014 IPM Dec 2015 Research Chair Professor Dec 2014
Centre of Excellence
Initiate Consultancy after making need analysis and providing support system Strategy Enhance externally Carrying out need RPRC and Manager Dec 2014 4.2 funded research analysis for offering Corporate Relations consultancy services June 2015 RPRC in Consultation Research Drive for with Professor Emeritus Dec 2014 carrying out research proposal writing. AR in consultation with Director Better facilitation in terms of relaxation in academic and administrative duties to active researcher. Strategy Develop scientific Adopt mechanism for Dean Jan 2014 4.3 temper and annual research plan for research each faculty. RPRC with Professor Dec 2014 orientation. Emeritus Strengthening research Continuous( methodology training for RPRC 2014-19) faculty.
Developing research skills in students through workshops Strategy Brand Building Structured mechanism AAAC June 2014 5 Faculty and students On-going participation and throughout contribution in the year national/International events On-going throughout Organising major the year academic, curricular, extracurricular events On-going and extension throughout programmes the year
Strengthening alumni network Strategic Plan Page 139
Budgetary Implications – Other than ones proposed in Annual Budget 2014- 15(Annexure I)
Strategy Particulars Budgetary Implications (annually)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Strategy Appointment of: (In total 1.1 Numbers)
Senior Faculty 2 2 2 2 2 Adjunct Faculty 2 2 2 2 2 Foreign faculty 1 1 1 1 1
Strategy Faculty Externalship(for one 1 lac (2 1 lac (2 1 lac (2 1 lac (2 1 lac (2 1.2 month) person) person) person) person) person)
Instituting Chair Professor
Strategy Particulars Budgetary Implications (annually)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Strategy Scholarship 2 lac 5.5 lac 8.5 lac 11.5 14.5 1.4 lac lac Online Admission Process – 2 lac 2 lac 2 lac Software and other 2 lac 2 lac requirements Strategy Clinical Training 2.1 Strategy OBE Implementation 2.2 Strategy 3 Travelling Expense 2 lac 2.5 lac 3 lac 3.5 lac 4 lac
Expert – Consultation Fees 1 lac 1 lac 1 lac 1 lac 1 lac
Professional Training 2 lac 2 lac 3 lac 3.5 lac 4 lac
Inviting legal professionals 1.5 lac 2 lac 2.5 lac 3 lac 3.5 lac
Strategic Plan Page 140
Career Library and Resources 50,000 55,000 60,000 65,000 70,000
Strategy 4 Infrastructural Developments 20 lacs 20 lac
Smart Class 5 lac 10 lac ICT Tools Recreation Room Improvement in Existing Infrastructure
Strategy 5 Strengthening of LRC 49 lac 62 lac 73 lac 77 lac 83 lac
Research Chair Professor 1.5lac 3 lac 5 lac 6 lac 7 lac
Research Incentives 1 Lac 1 lac 1 lac 1 lac 1 lac
Research Publications 7 lac 8 lac 9 lac 10 lac 11 lac Strategy 6 Faculty Student Representation 8 lac 8 lac 8 lac 8 lac 8 lac
Organizing events
Brand Visibility – Print and 30 lacs 30 lacs 30 lacs 30 lacs 30 lacs Publications 10 lacs 10 lacs 10 lacs 10 lacs 10 lacs
Staff Requirements – Proposed in Annual Budget
Non-teaching staff recruitment Plan
Action Plan Actions Responsible Time-Line Targets Person/Department/T eam Recruitment of Annual assessment of new Assistant Registrar in November 2014/ Non-teaching staff Jobs/additional job going to consultation with 2015/2016/2017 arise during the next five Director years. Identification of general Assistant Registrar June 2014 administrative jobs as to be performed by faculty members and assessment of man power requirement to shift faculty burden
Non-teaching staff recruitment Plan
Action Actions Responsible Time-Line Budgetary Plan Person/Department/Team Planning Targets
Strategic Plan Page 141
Programme Officer Assistant Registrar in June 2015 Rs.475000/- consultation with Director Office Superintendent (Students Section) June 2014 Rs.345000/- Senior Assistant- Accounts
Junior June 2014 Rs.245000/- Assistant(Exam.)
Two PA Cum Stenos June 2014 Rs.165000/- Senior Assistant- Admission
Junior Assistant-Gen. Admin June 2014 Rs.240000/- Junior Assistant- Programmes
June 2015 Rs.245000/-
June 2015 Rs.165000/-
June 2016 Rs.165000/-
Institutional Leadership
Educational Leaders – Organizational Chart – Annexure II
Leadership Teams
In order to plan and execute different plans and strategies an Academic and Administrative Audit Committee has been constituted comprising of : Chairperson – Director, ILNU Members ALL Area Heads Academic Coordinator Chairman, ADS, Chairman, EAS IQAC Coordinator Assistant Registrar- Member Secretary
Functioning of the Academic and Administrative Audit Team
Strategic Plan Page 142
AAAC will monitor all System and process at ILNU viz. ADS, EAS, IQAC All academic administration will be planned by AC in consultation with the Dean and will be executed by ADS under the supervision of AC. The whole process will be monitored by the Dean. EAS monitors the schedule and conduct of examination and assessments. IQAC in consultation with ADS and EAS takes review of the quality related aspects of teaching and learning process on a periodical basis. It identifies quality benchmarks for academic and administrative activities, identifies gaps pertaining to teaching learning and academic administration, documents all the major activities relating to teaching and learning and organizes quality Improvement programme (QIP) for faculty and staff AAAC will monitor and review the implementation of all strategies for over all qualitative development of the ILNU
Systems, structures and staff for implementation
Systems – Academic and Administrative Audit (AAA)
Academic Delivery System (ADS) Examination and Assessment System (EAS) Internal Quality Assessment Cell (IQAC)
Structures/ Process
Activities will be guided through well-established policy documents. Plan, implement, Review, Improve (PIRI) Cycle will be used to coordinate the various improvement plans.
Review Mechanisms
Fortnightly Review by Academic and Administrative Audit team Monthly Review by IQAC Quarterly Review by Research Review Committees Half Yearly review with Academic Advisory Committees Annual Review with the Stakeholders.
Conclusion
Communication of Plans with Stakeholders
This plan will be shared with all stakeholders as vision document. And it will also be uploaded on website once it gets approved. Newly admitted students will also be oriented about this plan during orientation programme in the presence of their parents.
Strategic Plan Page 143