Emerging universities: Will they make a difference?

RESEARCH is what differentiates us from the rest of the colleges, are the words with which Dr K V D Kishore, Kumar, Director, Veltech group, an engineering college conglomerate in Chennai greet us. Though a two-decade-old engineering college, it attained deemed university status only in 2009. The college is ramping up fast on all fronts. The scenario is the same across all the  50-odd institutions that we have identified as emerging institutions, arranged alphabetically in the list alongside.

Some of them like ICFAI group have grown very fast in the last decade. In fact as we go to press the group has 11 operational universities. But the most prominent amongst them is the Deemed University, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education at Hyderabad which attained university status in 2008. Had it been a year earlier it would have been part of the rating process as well.

Great Infrastructure
What stands out in  most of these emerging players is the substantial infrastructure, in terms of land, buildings and equipment that they have put in place. In fact, for many of them, it is the major reason why they were able to obtain a deemed university status.

Being an affiliated college helps
Many of these institutions were earlier colleges affiliated to other universities. The experience has stood them in good stead in terms of putting in place a smooth academic process. The Chancellor of GLA university confirms the same in an interview elsewhere.

Good Faculty is the challenge
For most of the players, ramping up on  good faculty is the biggest challenge. While some universities like Sharada attempt to circumvent the process by bringing in international faculty, some others like ICFAI, attempt to build an inhouse robust PhD programme to create a pipeline of young faculty members.

Resource conundrum
Most Vice chancellors we spoke to, did complain that resources are always at a premium. Some, who did not want to be named, also contend that despite honest intent on their part, they did  not get a level playing field, especially with government funding. According to them, the common refrain of those in power seems to be: You are a private player, why do you need money?

Getting a research mind set
One of the most difficult tasks in many of these institutions is to reorient the faculty to think in terms of research, publishing and patenting. One Vice Chancellor did confide that a faculty member was aghast when he was given a target to publish at least one paper in a refereed journal. Creation of financial incentives to get them motivated is also another issue of concern.


Most of them are a concerned lot. Quite a few of them are making earnest effort to move into the league of top universities. More power to them.  

Mr. Ashok Saxena Vice Chancellor Galgotias University, Greater Noida Educational institutions do not like to deviate from the commonly accepted norms among the leading institutions and are, therefore conservative in adopting changes Prof. K. L. Sharma Vice Chancellor, Jaipur National University, Jaipur I give very high credit to both research centric and highly disciplined setting. What really matters to be top is your punctuality, discipline and high quality research skills Prof. Yogesh Upadhyay Pro-VC, ITM University, Gwalior Education systems are reformed where innovative thinking is embedded. At ITM a multidisciplinary approach helps craft the student experience. Dr. R Rangarajan Chancellor VEltech University, Chennai. We would like to see Vel Tech as a top tier research university, one among the best in the world with international reputation for outstanding research. Dr. N C Wadhwa VC, Manav Rachna International University The biggest challenges currently faced by the university are faculty crunch, increasing recurring cost, declining enrolment and low research aptitude of faculty. Ramesh Kanwar Vice-Chancellor Lovely Professional University, Phagwara Our vision is fixed on a slot in top 100 Universities by 2020. We are fast aligning our curriculum, pedagogy and education-delivery model with the best