Final Visit of the tour - Amrita University

The last leg of the India Odyssey and an amazing final visit. After a 45 min drive down roads shared with vibrantly painted trucks, cars, auto rickshaws, cyclists, ox carts, pedestrians, goats and dogs, we were kindly hosted for the day at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University at their Coimbatore campus. The campus is in a beautiful setting with a stunning backdrop of mountains, some limestone and others granite. The buildings are new, elegant and have a Mediterranean feel.

 

 

We had a full day of informative discussions with senior academics and mamagers hosted by Mr P Manoj, Head of Indo-Us and International Initiatives, and Nimmy. Following another good lunch in the palatial Guest House, we had a tour of the campus including the Olympic-sized swimming pool, all bathed in scorching sunshine.

 

The University is only 6 years old and was founded by the humanitarian Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi known as Amma whose is the Chancellor of the University. There are now 15,000 students over five campuses; first undergraduate teaching was grown then postgraduate study and now research is being developed. As a private University it has a good deal of autonomy.

The ethos of the University is influenced by Amma and the principle of giving their students a value-based education including service to the wider social good is embedded. This embraces a spiritual, but not religious, dimension; all first year students take yoga classes and students are not allowed to smoke or drink alcohol and haver curfews!!

The figurehead of Amma is attracting staff members back to India from across the world in order to be part of this development. Amrita University has achieved so much in a few years; it will be fascinating to see how this continues to develop. Their aim is to be world leading institution.

This is the final day of an exciting, stimulating, sometimes tiring at other times exhilarating AUA study tour of India. We are now going on our separate ways although we will all meet up in Warwick at the AUA Conference where we will be presenting sessions on our findings.. Thank you for following our blog and in the words of Amma ‘May all beings be happy!’

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Well, it's Monday so it must be TNAU.  Off fairly early for the short trip to what is regarded as the premier Agricultural University in the country.  We started with a round table session with the former Registrar and a range of senior officers from the University.  We then split off into parallel session where we each had an opportunity to talk with people from the University who were most able to deal with our individual topics.  This revealed an incredible amount of information but I think we were all most impressed by the amount of extension work the college does with the rural community.  They initiate a whole range of schemes to empower rural communities to deal with modern agricultural practice, including creating stock cultures of nitrogen fixing bacteria which are seeded into rice paddies to help to reduce artificial fertiliser use in these areas.  They also work with local groups to help to educate them about post-harvest processing - for instance pulping tomatoes when there is a glut and storing the pulp for sale at a later date.

The University is governed by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, and most of their income is from the State Government.  Theay also have a range of newer income generating courses. Like many of the institutions they have a 'reservation' for students from poorer backgrounds (there are various names for these groups) and their quota for these places is about 50% of their intake.  One interesting point - the VC, Registrar and all of the other managerial posts are taken by academics, on a three year term.  It is not usual for this to be extended.  There are 26 of them and they are all replaced by open competition from amongst the academic saff at the same time every three years! Despite the turmoil this must cause they all seemed happy that it generated the academic buy-in that they need.

The Univeristy are very keen to improve the standard of IT skills amongst their students and they are all required to posess a laptop pc.  The campus is wireless-enabled and so students can frequently be seen studying together in the cloister-like environment of the beautiful buildings.  The postgraduate students gave us a demonstration of their video capture skills in recording lecture classess for later use as an on-line resource for the undergraduates.

Another scheme they have to generate extra income for farmers is wine making.  Our hosts offered us a drink of their latest effort - date and honey wine.  Unfortunately we are all teetotal, so we politely declined, but we are reliably informed it is rather like a fine sherry in flavour.

Weekend in Coimbatore

Slight delay in posting due to internet access problems and the fact that we enjoyed a bit of a weekend off. Yes, we did schedule in some shopping and sightseeing on the trip!

 A bit of sari shopping

We left Bangalore Saturday morning and flew with Kingfisher to Coimbatore where we were met by one of our Coimbatore hosts, Tamil Nadu Agricultural College, who had kindly provided a bus and cars to transport us and our luggage to our hotel. We are residing at The Residency in Coimbatore, not too far out of the centre of town. We have been looked after incredibly well by TNAU and the wife of Prof Santhanakrishnar took us to an amazing clothes shop, selling fabric, sari, khurthi and a fantastic little handicraft shop.  Luckily transport was put on for us as there was a monsoon downpour that caused lots of flooding on the roads. The drive back was quite an experience and we saw some interesting improvised headwear along the route.

Our hosts once again provided transport, and very nice driver, for some of us to visit a meditation centre about 30km outside Coimbatore on the Sunday morning, while others chose to spend their day off with a long lie and relaxation at the hotel. Those of us who ventured out got a rare glimpse in to everyday life as our driver took us through many small communities on the route to the centre. The meditation centre was an experience. Many people travel there to bathe in the waters, although we went for the paddle rather than the full immersion and we also visited the meditation hall. As they have so many visitors the time in the meditation hall is limited but it would have been lovely to have longer. There was also a little shop selling inexpensive handicrafts and gifts along with more spiritual goods and a large canteen area. We all had a taste of the delicious energy snacks on sale there.

It has been good to have some time to relax and enjoy some touristy bits and pieces during our short trip to India.

Enjoyed the shopping and the trip to the meditation centre but highlight of the weekend, for the blog editor anyway, was my elephant sighting from my hotel room window!

IIMB, Bangalore

  

Another great day in India for us all.  We had an unexpected early delay which meant the morning was a bit less rushed than it might have been which is always welcome.  We then headed off in the coach to the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIMB).  Another joy, it was only about half an hour away front he hotel  which in Indian city traffic is also a joy!




 


Our first duty was to enjoy a tour around the magnificent campus.  The grounds are very beautiful, with many flowers and trees and a host of dragonflies and even termite mounds.  The buildings are built of concrete and local granite blocks which is architecturally very interesting too.

We spent the rest of the morning with the Chief Administrative officer Mr CV Indu Shekhar Vasisst, who helped us get to grips with the organisational structure of the Institute.  The Institute is an elite organisation and one of only seven in India.  There are only 400 or so students, who are selected from over 300,000 applicants. Competition for places is therefore huge and applicants have to sit the IIM Common Admissions Test and are also judged on their performance at 10th and 12th grade, their first degree and any additional experience they may have. Then the best 1500 get an interview and these take place at centres all over India.

After yet another lovely lunch we met with the Director Prof. Pankaj Chandra and a range of senior colleagues to talk about the work and structure of the Institute.  Of all the institutions we have visited, IIMB have shown the most interest in the development of their own administrative staff that we have seen.  They are especially interested in the administration of UK HE and were asking us what short courses might be available in the UK for their staff.  They also showed a good deal of interest in academic staff exchanges, perhaps for one or two weeks.  There is something we could learn about handling a selection process where the applications run into the hundreds of thousands!  These are things we will be taking back to the AUA on our return.

 

The Institute is almost completely autonomous.  It receives no funding from the government and has few restrictions placed on it by regulation.  Unfortunately they are still bound by the nationally imposed wage structure, which is not helpful in terms of recruitment of academic staff.  They are, however very attuned to the needs of industry, there are senior figures from the State (Karnataka) and major industrial companies (including Infosys, Reliance Industries, ITC, Castrol  India etc.) on their Board of Governors, which acts rather like our Councils do.

After our usual photo call (this feels like a two-week wedding!) we made it back to the hotel for a team meeting where we sorted out the details of our next trip, to Coimbatore tomorrow and into another State, Tamil Nadu!

Visit to Infosys, Bangalore

History of this company:

Founded by 7 software engineers with $250. Now an internationally renowned company with offices and clients accross the globe. Company now worth $28 billion with 8300 employees.

The Indian office is set in immaculate grounds (81 acres) and provides a vast range of recreational activities for staff including a gym, sports grounds and an outdoor swimming pool as well bars and cafes where colleagues can relax. There are many different architectural styled building as you will see in the photos.

Relationship with Universities:
On an annual basis the recruitment team visit Universities across India as well as the UK. In India following a company presentation to all interested students (generally Engineering students as well as Computer Science majors) they are then asked to take an entry level test (analytical and English skills) and then are shortlisted for interview. The selection process in the UK is solely interview based.

Those lucky enough to be accepted and offered a job will then go on to take a foundation programme within the company's state of the art training facilities. This programme over 3 weeks includes a HR induction and soft skills, generic courses in software engineering, specific technical streams and ends with further soft skills such as teamworking, communication and interpersonal skills. Approximately 20 thousand are recruited straight from college.

Development does not stop here. It is mandatory that all employees undertake continuous education and must complete this annually prior to their  appraisal. Infosys is regarded as the largest corporate university in the world.

Infosys also has a well-developed and extensive outreach programme which includes projects in schools and in rural areas aimed at raising aspiration levels and awareness of IT capability in daily lives.

It was interesting to gain an insight in to the Employers perspective on educational issues and had a very informative discussion with Infosys staff members.

We were also lucky to have a tour of their 81 acre campus on buggies, which excited some of us more than others and may remain the highlight of the trip for those lucky enough to ride on the back seat!

Rain and Fergusson College, Pune

Yet another amazing day. We visited Fergusson College in Pune today and despite the very wet weather we enjoyed the hospitality of the College staff. It seemed as if the Principal had mobilised all the College staff to meet the AUA delegation and give us a very welcoming reception.  The day began with tea and registration, followed by presentations from The Principal, the Head of Arts and Head of Science giving us an overview of the College and some interesting insights.

The Principal                                                                                                                                                 AUA Presentation

Our team was split into two groups – one concentrated on Arts subjects and one on the Science and we were taken on a tour of the various departments, including visits to some of the science labs.  We were warmly welcomed by all the faculty staff we met who were happy to chat with us and answer our many questions. 

Visiting the Physics Labs

We ventured on the Campus tour despite the heavy downpours, missing a cyclone that passed Mumbai but not avoiding flooded paths that made it quite adventurous. The Campus buildings are scattered on 65 acres of green land with beautiful trees. The building halls were buzzing with students sitting their term exams. A strange group of soaked smiling foreigners must have added to their nervous mood.

Rainy campus tour

We were also given the opportunity to meet with some students who answered our questions with great enthusiasm.  It was apparent that the students would love to travel overseas to gain international experience but the costs remain the main constraint. We all concluded that we will do our best to find additional funds through the British council or the Indian government for these young enthusiasts. Faculty were also very keen to initiate research links, which may be easier to facilitate. Talking with the students also gave us valuable information on the student experience.

The day was rounded off  when The Principal took us for a lovely lunch then we climbed back on our coach for the drive back to the hotel where we ended the day with much needed hot showers and a cups of strong black coffee.

Well, Fergusson College definitely left a great impression and very warm feeling in our hearts.

Practical exams in science labs                                                          Morning refreshments with delicious local snacks

Visit to IIT Bombay

After quite a lengthy journey through the Mumbai rush hour we went to the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) this morning.

We had a really interesting meeting with Shyamala Iyer, the Executive Officer for Alumni and International Relations, who was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the University's business.

We began with discussions about partnerships and Shyamala emphasised the importance of international partnerships to IITB.  She outlined a number of partnerships that they already have with institutions around the world, including a few in the UK.  She was slightly concerned that they do not get any incoming British students to IITB which is an interesting opportunity for UK HEIs.

We then moved on to discuss issues around learning and teaching.  IITB was very impressive in its provision of support for students, all of whom (along with most staff) live on campus.  There was an interesting discussion about the provision of places at IITB for people from minority backgrounds (tribal people, backward communities, the disabled etc).  The institution met its quota without actively seeking applications from such groups in the way that UK institutions would actively target minority areas, for example.

Finally, the group discussed with Shyamala the the Corporate Governance of IITB, which seemed to quite closely follow UK practice.  It was interesting to note that, in contrast with the University of Mumbai, IITB was able to approve its own courses and collaborations without reference to the AIETC.

After the formal meeting the Tour group were shown around IITB's campus, which was a lovely environment for students to study in and was very impressive.

At the end of the day the group travelled to Pune on a 5 hour journey through heavy rain and fog in a coach with no windscreen wipers - an interesting and tiring experience!

We've now checked into our hotel in Pune which is lovely and are just heading off to bed for a fairly early night.

First day a success. Long drive in rush hour traffic in to central Mumbai not as long as expected and arrived safely to a warm welcome from our hosts at the University of Mumbai.

University of Mumbai

We were astonished by the green Campus with the amazing architecture. The University put a lot of effort into gathering a big group of academics involved in our areas of interest who answered a lot of our questions with great detail and patience. We were also honoured by meeting the Vice chancellor who introduced the University and greeted us with lovely and colourful bouquets of flowers.

The Green Campus

After a very informative three-hour discussion we visited the University library and got to see some real gems of manuscripts from 11th and 14th century.

The discussion has equiped us with some useful background into a public university structure and we were ready to learn more about how their affiliated Colleges work. Later in the afternoon we met the Director of Intrenational Programmes from the HR College of Commerce and Economics, an amazing and very energetic lady who has travelled the world and gets involved in an amazing portfolio of projects with overseas partners. The meeting took place in the British Council offices where we also learnt a lot about their achievments.

Meeting at the British Council

What a day! We never expected that amount of informaton at the very start of the tour. We all feel even more excited than yesterday! India, here we come...

The manuscript from the 14th century that we were allowed to "flick through"