Legacy of Excellence: Altbach and Varghese in Higher Education
“Democratization of Education and research-oriented culture are two important facets for higher education institutes to pursue while aiming for global standards” emphasized Professor Altbach and Professor N.V. Varghese in their highly interactive and insightful session with the leaders and staff of Jio Institute.
Professor Altbach spoke about the key ingredients that go into “Making of a World Class Institution”– a research-intensive setup, Governance free of Government Interference, Autonomy on academic freedom, Strong Leadership and vision of the institution, sustained and adequate funding, and talent pool amongst many others. He also talked about the improvements that can be made in the public and private institutions, such as the involvement of industry-related experts, more autonomy for the top of the sector, better compensation and working conditions and many other ways, to create these pillars that could put an institution in the face of the world.
Professor Altbach and Professor Varghese had an open session with the faculty and staff of Jio Institute. Professor Varghese addressed queries on the dynamics between teaching and research for a faculty in an institution, the global standards set for rankings and competitive exams playing a big role in attracting the best students to the Institution.
The discussion delved further as both professors shared their opinions on how inculcating employable skills is not necessarily an institution's motive and their job is to create a foundation. They concluded the discussion with a positive note on how new Indian institutions are looking at Internationalization of higher education.
Professor Emeritus Philip G. Altbach was previously a Research Professor and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Higher Education at Boston College, where from 1994 to 2015 he was the Monan University Professor. He was the 2004-2006 Distinguished Scholar Leader for the New Century Scholars initiative of the Fulbright program, was given the Houlihan award for distinguished contributions to international education by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Bowen Distinguished Career award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He is the author of Global Perspectives on Higher Education, Turmoil and Transition, and Student Politics in America, among other books.
He was accompanied by Professor N.V. Varghese, the Director of the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), New Delhi and a Distinguished Visiting Faculty at Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies. He holds a doctoral degree in Economics with a specialization in educational planning. He was Head of Governance and Management in Education at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO), Paris till October 2013 and Head of its Training and Education Programmes from 2001 to 2006. He has directed several research projects; published more than 20 books and research reports, and nearly 150 research papers and articles in areas related to educational planning, financing and higher education.
After the session, professor Altbach and Professor Varghese were felicitated by Dr Ravichandran, Provost, Jio Institute, Dr Palak Sheth, Project Director, Jio Institute and Dr Raveendra Chittoor, Dean of Jio Institute.
The interaction provided the leadership and staff at Jio Institute with ideas, perspectives and strategies for developing a world-class higher education institute, research and academic focus in an institute and the dynamics between employment and universities.