Faculty shortage hits IITs

Source: The Economic Times, December 19, 2013

BITS, Pilani – Bit by bit, it evolves

Ask anyone from Rajasthan about Pilani and she will tell you what a premier seat of learning the small town is. Located in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, Pilani is home to a number of educational institutes and centres, including the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Birla Senior Secondary School, Birla Balika Vidyapeeth, etc. The list is long for the town the size of Pilani. And why just size, distance too. The nearest major city is New Delhi and getting to Pilani takes over five hours from Delhi by road, as road is the only option; the small town doesn’t even have railway connectivity.

So my first question to Prof. G Raghurama, the Director of BITS, whom I meet on the campus, is about connectivity. “Although we aren’t located in a major city, this is not an impediment to the true sense of the word. The only challenge is transportation. But that doesn’t mean limited access, because in today’s world of connectivity, physical distances don’t matter much,” he says.

But then connectivity some 15 years ago was nowhere to the levels it today is, yet BITS Pilani had its significance then also; there must be some advantages, too, I ask him. “You are right,” he says. “The sheer number of people living on the campus, from almost all parts of India, give the campus a unique character. As many as 4,000 students live on the campus and, unlike a metro city, all the students remain inside the campus, spending practically all four years within the campus, and that leads to better bonding between them.”

While walking towards his office, I notice considerable student activity on the campus and get a feeling that Pilani, indeed, is a kind of oasis in desert. Oasis, incidentally, is also the name of one of BITS’s annual cultural festivals, and it is on while I am there. That’s why so much of activity. So I take a detour and visit the Oasis stalls. A student tells me that this year over 100 colleges from different states of the country participated in Oasis, which had as many as 75 events, professional shows and games. Later, in the office, I ask Prof. Raghurama about Oasis. He says, “The fact that such festivals are managed totally by the students inculcates management skills into them. You must have noticed some 20-odd student clubs at Oasis—a drama club, a photography club, a club called Nirman, an art club, etc. All these add to learning.”

An institute of excellence, as it grows old, evolves. BITS, obviously, has evolved but then the global standards still seem far away, I wonder, while I read about Mission 2012 and Vision 2020 in the documents he hands over to me. So I ask him that although BITS has been recognised as the number one private technical university in the country, what is the next step? “Okay, we had grown, not only by developing unique curriculums but also by expanding; until the turn of the century we were at Pilani, then we went abroad, to Dubai, in 2004 we set up our Goa campus and in 2008 we went to Hyderabad. But some two or three years ago we got into the mode of looking inwards, debating and preparing a new strategic plan to grow, rather evolve.

That, in the changing world scenario, BITS needed to further develop a well defined strategy to realise its dream of being one of the leading universities in the world,” he says, before I interrupt, “So that’s why Mission 2012 and Vision 2020?” “Yes,” he says. “Through an intense collaborative process, involving faculty, students and (non-teaching) staff from all four campuses, a shape was given to a set of clearly articulated goals around three key domains: faculty development, curriculum development & pedagogy, and research. And in order to achieve these, we created three more areas to focus on: infrastructure & facilities, governance & administration, and campus life. This later became BITS’s strategic plan and Mission 2012 and Vision 2020 were born.”

Although BITS has been known for its high quality teaching but then simply having good teachers isn’t enough, I ask him. “You are right, while the focus on teaching remains, we aim to become among the finest research-led universities in the coming years. So now our faculty is engaged in PhD-driven research, which is funded in large parts by government agencies whose mandate is to fund research. And our PhD programmes are significantly supported by the research centres we have established,” Prof. Raghurama says. On the sabbatical policy of the institute, he says that BITS has recently announced a sabbatical policy that after six years of working at BITS one can spend an year anywhere in the world with a full salary paid leave.

Research needs funding and, unlike the western culture, we don’t have the culture where industry invests hugely into universities. “Part of the blame goes to universities also,” he says. “How?” I ask him. “Industry needs to be paid back, and I believe things will change once the faculty demonstrates its ability to pay back to industry,” he says. But industry is made up of alumni, of all the institutes of excellence we have, including BITS. “Towards that, we have to approach our alumni in a structured fashion. But then it doesn’t mean our alumni doesn’t support us! As a matter of fact, it is helping us out pro-actively; for instance, when the Internet wiring in this campus was being carried out, it was our alumni that provided us with as much as 50% of the money,” he says.

Coming back to faculty, and considering that fact that how many city-bred professors would like to stay on the campus, I ask him what kind of faculty crunch BITS is facing. “Although we aren’t facing a faculty crunch as such, still we are in a continuous hiring mode, and that doesn’t mean simply numbers, but quality, too. Getting the right faculty for any institute of excellence is always a continuous process. In fact, we have revisited our compensation structure and now an assistant professor could be getting a slightly better salary than his counterpart in, say, an IIT, Prof. Raghurama adds.

It’s time for me to leave. While coming out of his office, I see the logo of CEL, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership, on the noticeboard. The fact that Pilani is located in a rural area means that entrepreneurial opportunities are aplenty. “You are right, although they may not be monetarily as rewarding as in a metro city,” Prof. Raghurama says. “We take steps to sensitise the graduate classes that entrepreneurship is an option that they should consider at the time when they look for placement. And we support them, too. Creating a start-up in, say, Bangalore is one thing, creating it in a rural area, where it also provides for some kind of gainful employment to the villagers, is another. There is a BPO that operates out of the town of Pilani. You may say that BPOs are dime a dozen, but then how many BPOs operate out of a rural area such as Pilani!”
(This article is written by Vikram Chaudhary)

Source: The Financial Express, November 7, 2011

Coming Up: IIT, Bombay-New York

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, could be the first Indian institution to have a campus in the United States. The institute has submitted an “initial proposal to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)” for setting up a campus in New York City. The initiative by NYCEDC, launched in December 2010, seeks a university, institution or consortium to develop and operate a new or expanded campus in NYC.

IIT-Bombay plans to start post-graduate programmes in five disciplines at the proposed campus. “Having a campus there will make a huge difference. We will be able to engage with US universities on a closer basis and they too will be able to see our capabilities first hand,” said A Q Contractor, Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations, IIT-Bombay. Officials said a detailed proposal will be submitted by October-end.

“The proposed campus will lead to exciting possibilities of sharing human capital, research funding and infrastructure. It will create seamless twinning opportunity for students of New York and Mumbai campuses. The students at IITB-NY campus will receive excellent quality of education, exposure to Indian culture and business practices. Budding entrepreneurs at the proposed campus will find a landing space in India through a well-established business incubator and a window to an economy slated to be the world’s largest by 2050,” says the initial proposal accessed by The Indian Express.

“It will provide IIT-Bombay an opportunity to create an off-shore campus that will bring in much needed diversity…We expect IIT-Bombay’s experience in designing niche academic programmes will be very helpful to the US clientele at the proposed campus,” it adds.

The initial plan is to start masters’ and doctoral programmes in five core engineering disciplines. “They include electrical and communication engineering; computer science and engineering; chemical science; industrial design and aeronautical engineering. We have selected those five areas where IIT-Bombay has standing and strength and which are also areas where applied research today is most likely to translate into processes and products useful to the market,” said Devang Khakhar, IIT-Bombay Director.

The proposal talks about a “modest beginning” with around 50 faculty, 150 post-doctoral fellows and about 100 graduate students. Assuming that both land and building will be made available, an approximate estimate of the initial grant required is put at $100 million.

Further, the operating budget has been worked out to be $43 million per year. “The yearly operating budget for the campus for the first three or four years includes salary and benefits to faculty ($7 million), salary of 100 post-doctoral fellows and stipends for 150 graduate students ($9 million) and seed fund for new faculty ($12.5 million). While salary of 150 supporting staff has been worked out to be $9 million, overheads towards various services and running expense for labs, libraries etc have been estimated at $5 million.

“The proposed campus requires significant amount of funding. We are exploring the possibility of setting up a partnership with a well-established US-based university where the budget will have to be reworked in consultation with the partnering institution,” said Khakhar. Several other factors are being looked at by IIT-Bombay. “Setting up a campus in New York is not an easy proposition. We have to take into consideration several factors like funding, regulatory mechanisms and accreditation issues. Hence, we are looking at the possibility of having a local partner,” said Subhasis Chaudhuri, Dean, International Relations, IIT-Bombay.

The proposal says the focus will be on fundamental research leading to creation of knowledge and publications, technology development initiatives including those leading to patents and transfer of technology through start-ups, licensing or collaborative ventures with industries. The initial aim will be to actively support such initiatives so as to create at least five major initiatives that can attract large quanta of extra-mural funding.

From the given list of site choices for the proposed IITB-NY campus, some of the preferences given by IIT-Bombay include Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital campus; Roosevelt Island, Goldwater campus; and Staten Island, Farm Colony.

Source: The Indian Express, August 10, 2011

>Over 480,000 aspirants for 10,000 IIT seats

>Nearly 485,000 engineering aspirants appeared for the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2011 held across 131 cities on Sunday, while 37,411 candidates had registered for it in Delhi. Successful candidates will be eligible for nearly 10,000 seats in 15 IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) as well as Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU) and Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad.

From this year, scanned images of the answer scripts Optical Response Sheets (ORS) will be displayed with the candidates details on the JEE website after the results are declared on May 25. Answer keys to JEE 2011 questions will also be uploaded on the JEE website by May 15 after the evaluation of the ORS is complete.

Printing errors had marked the examination in 2010, but this year there was no major confusion. However, many of them admitted that they had a tough time attempting the paper. “I found the first paper of chemistry to be the easiest but the second one was really lengthy. I tried attempting as many questions as possible but if I don’t make it this time, I will try again next year,” said Nishu Jatain from Jind in Haryana who appeared for JEE in the city. The test was held at 1051 centres in the country as well as in Dubai.

JEE is held in two parts with three papers each chemistry, mathematics and physics. Part I started from 9 a.m. to 12 noon while Part II began at 2 p.m. and continued till 5 p.m. While parents waited outside the test venues, candidates came out exhausted. Some of them sounded very hopeful. “This was my second attempt and I hope to make it this time. And thankfully we will have our checked answer sheets available online now. At least, we will get to know our true performance,” said Aman Raj from Orissa, who had been taking coaching in Delhi for the last one year.

Though the number of candidates who registered in the entire Delhi zone that includes Delhi, Haryana, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Dubai could not be confirmed, 71,353 students had applied last year of which only 2,264 could qualify for counselling. This year, the counselling process will start on May 30.

Source: The Times of India, April 11, 2011

>IIT-Delhi among top 30 on world rankings for technical subjects

>The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have been at the helm of technical education for decades in the country. However, in what could be seen as their growing international stature, the premier central education institutes (CEIs) have featured among the top 200 universities in the first ever Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for technical subjects.

While the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tops all five rankings – computer sciences, chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering – the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) has bagged the 30th place in the Civil and Structural Engineering subjects.

IIT-D also bagged the 40th, 41st and 43rd places in mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; and computer science subjects respectively — the highest among Indian institutes.

The rankings by QS, a leading networking organisation in higher education, are based on employer reputation, academic reputation and research quality.

Source: Business Standard, April 6, 2011

>IIT-Bombay may set up campus in New York

>The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay could soon have a second address — in New York. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has invited the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) to submit a proposal to set up a campus in the Big Apple for applied science courses. The Mumbai institute will fill a lacuna that the city’s five boroughs have had all these years — a world-class facility for applied science teaching and research with a strong bent towards applied engineering.

A committee at IIT-B is firming up the institute’s pitch, which will be sent to NYCEDC by April. The host city will make a capital contribution, in addition to possibly providing land and other considerations. IIT-B Director Devang Khakhar, who was invited by The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to consider setting up a campus there, has said the concept is being explored. “Yes, we may start with something small there. My team is working on a feasibility plan of going to New York.”

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the city must optimize its business strengths. “The city is committed to finding the right partner and providing the support needed to establish such a facility because research in the fields of engineering, science and technology is creating the next generation of global business innovations that will propel our economy forward,” Bloomberg said. “New York City has all the ingredients to complement an applied science and engineering hub — a highly educated global population, an unparalleled financial and business community to provide capital and support for new ventures and existing top-notch institutions performing cutting-edge research. We want to capitalize on those strengths.”

Apart from inviting top institutes around the world to send in their offers, NYCEDC has also broadened its hunt by allowing institutes wanting a presence in NY to apply under this scheme. IIT-B’s Dean (International Relations) Subhasis Chaudhuri, said, “The proposal is at a rather nascent stage. But we are considering it very seriously.”

NYCEDC, which has received responses from a select group of top schools from around the world bidding for the same project, is likely to assess all the expressions of interest in April and later work toward setting up the school in a year. Terming this as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity”, Bloomberg said, “The impact of this initiative will be extraordinary.”

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), February 7, 2011

>Government rejects fee hike for IITs

>Aspirants for the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) can heave a sigh of relief as government has shot down a proposal to hike the fees of undergraduate programmes of the premier technical institutes by about four times. The Anil Kakodkar committee, which was set up to study the roadmap for the autonomy and future of the IITs, had recommended that the fees be raised from Rs. 50,000 per annum to Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 250,000 per annum.

However, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal rejected the proposal, saying it will act as a “deterrent” to aspiring students, said sources in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). The committee has been asked to rework the fee structure taking into account the aspirations of all sections.

The committee report came up for discussion at the IIT Council meeting here today, where Sibal announced the setting up of 50 research parks at a cost of Rs. 200 crores (Rs. 2 billion) during the 12th Five Year Plan Period. These could be set up on PPP mode encouraging private players to carry out research activities in collaboration with government institutions. One park is already in existence in Chennai.

Taking note of the fact that credit-based practices was being followed by different IITs for promotion of students from one semester to the next, the meeting agreed that academic bodies of IITs should consider acquisition of credits as a criteria for movement of students and grant of degrees to bring uniformity, said a statement issued by the MHRD. The observation came after the Report of Prof. S.G. Dhande Committee on the uniform/homogeneous criteria for promoting student from one semester to next in the IITs was discussed in detail.

The meeting also decided that the appointment of Directors should be made through a process of open advertisement so that a wider base is created for the purpose of selection. It also decided that in-principle approval may be granted for setting up an IIT in Mauritius with the help of the Indian Institutes of Technology, the statement said.

Source: The Economic Times, January 21, 2011

>Prepare to pay more for IIT degree

>The government is considering the possibility of transferring government subsidy for fees from undergraduate to post graduate programmes in IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). Beyond moving funds from the undergraduate level, the government is proposing to make more funds available at the post graduate and research level. This would be in keeping with efforts to improve research output at the IITs.

This proposal builds on the recommendation of the Anil Kakodkar Committee to raise fees for undergraduate courses in IIT. The report recommends that tuition fees in the 15 IITs be increased from the current level of Rs. 50,000 a year to nearly Rs. 250,000. The issue of raising fees at the undergraduate level will be taken up for discussion at the IIT Council meeting on Friday.

A senior official of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) said that the proposal of raising undergraduate fees is feasible. “The undergraduate programme can pay for itself, as students do end up getting high paying jobs. But this will not mean that the government withdraws from providing subsidy. We will have more freeships and scholarships at the undergraduate level, and we will put in more money at the post graduate level,” the official said.

The Kakodkar Committee is understood not to have suggested a similar hike for the postgraduate level. The rationale being that a higher fee could discourage students from joining at the postgraduate level. This in turn would impact the pool of researchers and faculty members. Shortages in both areas are already a cause of concern. The proposal to shift funding to the post graduate level addresses the issue flagged by the committee.

It is clear, that a substantially higher funding for post graduate and research programmes will have to come on the back of increased tuition for the undergraduate student. However, the decision to raise IIT fees is fraught with dangers. With the real possibility of the Reserve Bank hiking interests rates to tackle inflation, any decision to raise tuition fees would not find acceptance.

There is also the argument that the IITs have in the past been more democratic in their admissions, as compared to the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), and a higher tuition fee would impact that culture. To this end, the committee has suggested a easy-loan scheme for the poorer students. Even if the number of freeships and scholarships are increased, the government will need to consider the associated problems that students face when they seek to access this. Till date, the government has been squeamish about increasing fees. A February 2010 proposal by IIT-Kanpur to gradually raise tuition fees to Rs. 400,000 over a ten-year period is yet to be accepted.

Source: The Economic Times, January 21, 2011

>Studying at IIT may get costlier with fee revision

>An education from any of the premier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) may soon become a costly affair. You may have to shell out a cool Rs. 200,000 more to get that coveted degree from IIT. This is the key recommendation of the five-member Anil Kakodkar committee, which submitted its proposals on making IITs more self-sufficient to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) a while ago. The boards of all 15 IITs are expected to meet on Friday to study these recommendations.

Sources say the idea behind hiking the undergraduate fees from Rs. 50,000 a year to Rs 250,000 a year is to reduce the institute’s dependence on government grants.

Sources say the committee might also discuss the possibility of hiking fees at the postgraduate level in the near future. But for the moment, apart from a fee hike, Friday’s meeting will also deal with a proposal to push for lower interest rates on education loans — a move that will increase the number of students enrolling at IITs.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com, January 20, 2011

>IIT undergrad course to be research-oriented?

>A high-powered committee under T. Ramaswamy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, has recommended that the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) curriculum at the undergraduate level should change from uniform syllabus to system-based curriculum selection, making it research-oriented.

The IIT Council will discuss the report on Friday. The committee said course content at the undergraduate level does not inspire students to take up research in India. Its report expresses concern at the low level of IIT undergraduates opting for research and says at least 10-15% of them should be brought to do doctoral research in the next five years.

At master’s and doctoral level, the report says, IITs should align the curriculum to meet industrial needs without complications. “Since master’s and doctoral research activities are generally specific to the institutions and range of faculty strength, alignment to suit location specific needs may be more easily realised,” it says, suggesting an interactive portal could be established between IITs and industrial chambers. The portal should have problems faced by industries and students may be asked to select research problems for master’s and doctoral level research programmes.

The committee has also recommended setting up of a Research Support Technical Cadre. Creation of such a cadre, the report says, will allow IITs to undertake research projects that require continuity. At present undergraduate and research students have to provide research and development (R&D) support. The committee has also said that research councils of nine members be set up for each IIT before the next academic year. The council will play an advisory role in selection of research priorities.

Ramaswamy is yet to give the report on reforms in IIT-Joint Entrance Examination. Sources said the committee is working on a percentile-based scheme to bring all state boards on par. The scheme is based on the percentile-based merit list, formed across all the state boards, for Department of Science and Technology’s Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scholarships that go to the top 1% students (up to 99 percentile). IIT faculty members, however, say such a scheme is good for an INSPIRE merit list, where the decision is either ‘qualified’ or ‘not-qualified’.

Source: The Times of India, January 20, 2011