Dream University

Dreamers :

1. Mr. K. Muralikrisnan, Lecturer in CS Dept., NIT, Calicut (Moderator)
2. Dr. S. Ramkumar, Head of EC Dept, FISAT Angamaly. (During time of this discussion, he was Head of Instrumentation Dept, Rajagiri College of Engg, Ekm)
3. Ms. Remdevi, Scientist, DRDO
4. Mr. K. R. Ajayan, Asst. Prof., GEC Idukki
5. Mr. Shibu Mathew, Scientist, ISRO
6. Mr. C. V. Raghu, R&D Engineer, Tejas Networks, Bangalore
   
7. Mr. A. Jishnu, R&D Engineer, Tejas Networks, Bangalore
   
8. Mr. Nilesh Neelkanth Khude, PhD Student, UIUC. (During the time of discussion, he was Engineer at Beceem Communications, Bangalore)
   
9. Mr. S. Ashok Kumar, Engineer, Sasken. (During the time of discussion, he was with L&T Infotech)
10. Mr. R. Deepak, Lecturer, GEC Barton Hill.

Venue : NPOL Guest House, Kulamavu, Idukki Kerala
Time : 2200 hours, June 10, 2006

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I. Proposal :

Vision of the University

The vision of the university is to become an international center of excellence for the assimilation, creation, application and dissemination of knowledge for aiding the progress towards a more developed and egalitarian society. The university will be committed to becoming the most sought after center for learning, the most conducive center for research, the most competent center to make use of knowledge for industrial and societal needs and the most proactive center for dissemination of knowledge to the larger public.

Why do we need such a University?

Knowledge is an indispensable asset that has the potential to accelerate social and economic progress. For this, it is important that new knowledge is created, existing knowledge is efficiently stored, actively distributed and judiciously applied.

A quick survey of the eminent institutes in India and abroad, indicates that a residential, autonomous, and flexible system is what has delivered so far. The “sense of belonging” and “academic ambiance” that a residential system offers is invaluable for the vision envisaged. The academic freedom and possibility of inter disciplinary interactions that an autonomous and flexible academic system ensures is also inevitable. A good faculty to student ratio and confinement to masters and doctoral level of studies is necessary to build and sustain an environment conducive for quality research. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi are evident examples for it. The JNU is also committed to ensuring that its campus is a microcosm of the Indian nation, drawing students from every nook and corner of the country and from every group and stratum of society. This has helped it to become a more inclusive, tolerant, and socially conscious campus.

We believe that, if the excellence in Science and Technology of IISc and the excellence in Social Sciences, Literature, Arts, Language, Culture Studies et cetera and social consciousness of JNU can be grown in one campus, it can serve not only to the creation and learning of knowledge but also to its application and dissemination for the betterment of society.

Unfortunately, Kerala cannot boast of any existing center of knowledge that can be easily upgraded to meet these requirements. The Cochin University of Science & Technology in Ernakulam has already undertaken the efforts to upgrade itself to an IIT. This will demand more stress on undergraduate teaching and focus on engineering and technology. The Kerala University Campus in Thiruvananthapuram, if de-linked from the administratively overloaded Kerala University, might be a possible center in Kerala that can upgrade itself to meet this vision. But unfortunately, it is not a residential campus, and hither to, it has failed to attract students and faculty from outside Kerala.

Taking these into account, it might be expedient for the Government of Kerala to initiate on its own or persuade the Central Government to initiate the institution of the “Dream University” in Kerala.

II. Some points to ponder up on further :

To become the most sought after center for learning ...

The University must ensure highest academic freedom, least administrative overheads and sufficient financial support so that it can attract and retain eminent teachers and researches. Invited lectures and short term courses from visiting faculty can enhance the exposure offered to students. Flexibility of the curriculum and opportunities to diversify ones areas of research will allure promising students to join the institute. The University must provide adequate infrastructure in terms of connectivity, libraries, laboratories, hostels, messes, recreation facilities et cetera.

To become the most conducive center for research ...

The role of a residential system in ensuring a promotive ambiance for research is long proved. A pool of eminent faculty with healthful peer evaluation and 1:10 faculty to student ratio is necessary to ensure quality research takes place in the University. There should be periodic performance evaluation of the departments, which will factor in while deciding future fund allocations.

1. Residential system

2. A system that can attract and retain the best faculty

3. Faculty Student ratio

4. Peer evaluation among faculty

5. Performance based funding of departments

6. Inter-disciplinary collaborations

7. No undergraduates (Open labs, More responsible student of community)

8. Diversity of student community

9. Hosting international conferences

To become the most competent center to make use of knowledge for industrial and societal needs ...

1. Diversity of student community

2. Two way Faculty-Industry interaction cells

3. Two way Faculty-Society/NGO interaction.

4. The existence of a technological competence and social consciousness in the same campus,
   

To become the most proactive center for dissemination of knowledge to the larger public ...

(How do we ensure the dessimination of knowledge to public?)

1. Archiving lectures, coursewares and invited lectures and making them available to public

2. Periodic seminars for the larger public

3. Joint initiatives with socially committed organizations

4. University-run Kiosks to promote free lance research

5. Periodicals

6. FM channel

7. Local/Specific Knowledge portal

Why can't we improve the present university system to meet this vision?

1. We cannot upgrade the existing system to a residential system.

2. Faculty recruitment process and norms.

3. Faculty evaluation.

4. Facilitating inter-disciplinory interaction.

5. Faculty student ratio

6. An exclusive PG and PhD campus is needed to ensure a research focus.

7. [Arun] It is difficult to transform a culture

Is it a socially justifiable investment?

Tangible outputs from the university.

1. Citation index count per faculty

2. Student destinations

3. Socially relevant projects undertaken per year

4. Revenue generated through industry interaction

5. Conversion ratio (Applicants/Seat)

What are the weaknesses and strengths of the existing higher education system?

Weakness

1. Lack of social consciousness

2. Lack of research focus

3. Lack of peer evaluation

4. Lack of accountability

5. Lack of proactive measures to disseminate knowledge

6. Lack of proper knowledge management

7. Lack of industry interaction

8. Lack of academic freedom

9. Too many layers of administrative overhead

10. Failure to attract competent faculty.

11. Failure to make effective use of new educational technolgy

12. The knowledge created is not always available in the public domain.

Strengths

1. Diversity of student community

2. Good library facility

3. Fairness of enrollment process

4. Infrastructure

5. Quality Improvement programmes (atleast in engineering)

Desirable

1. Democratic control

2. Affordability

3. Effort to attract students from rural areas

How do we ensure the dessimination of knowledge to public?

1. Archiving lectures, coursewares and invited lectures and making them available to public

2. Periodic seminars for the larger public

3. Joint initiatives with socially committed organizations

4. University-run Kiosks to promote free lance research

5. Periodicals

6. FM channel
   

How do we ensure the accountability in the proposed university?

What will be the academic structure of the university?

What will be the administrative structure of the university?

1. supporting facility should be accountable

How will we evolve into the proposed academic structure?

1. Start with masters and PhD level research.

How will we ensure financial sustainability of the system?

1. Revenue generation through industry interaction

2. Government funding

3. Sponsored courses
   

How can we avoid a new university?

1. How is it different from CUSAT? - Only science and technolgy.

2. How is it different from Kerala University Campus?

Models to study.

1. Faculty recruitment in IISc.

2. Structure of Kerala University Campus.