Chandigarh
18 June 2021
DIVYA AZAD
Chitkara University today co-hosted first-of-its-kind initiative “Redefining Institutional Strategy for Excellence” (R.I.S.E) Event, Punjab Edition, conceptualised by QS IGAUGE. The event R.I.S.E gave a platform for the leaders in higher education in India to connect with their peer groups and discuss the current situation of education in their state. The aim of the event was to bring together the institutions within the state and also the ones outside to collaborate and brainstorm on the idea of quality in education.
Dr Ashwin Fernandes, CEO of QS IGAUGE, moderated the Big Higher Education debate– “India is diverse enough to not require foreign faculty and students.” He was joined by Thothathri Raman, Ranking & Accreditation Expert Chairman, SEAA Trust; who emphasised the importance of Indian teachers and their expertise. Whereas, Ravi Lochan Singh, President, Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) was of the view that international faculty has a different perspective that cannot be ignored.
Prof Dr Heike Schinnenburg, Professor of Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Germany, shared valuable insights as a keynote speaker on “Women in Leadership championing excellence and promoting quality”.
A panel discussion on “Benchmark Internationally, Implement Locally” was moderated by Dr Archana Mantri, Vice Chancellor of Chitkara University. The speakers for this panel discussion were: Prof Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar; Prof Dr Apala Majumdar, Professor, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom; Prof Paul Stapley, Head of School, School of Medicine, Associate Dean (International) Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia; and Ravneet Pawha, Deputy Vice President (Global) & CEO (South Asia), Deakin University, Australia. The speakers deliberated upon the importance of setting international standards.
Prof Dr Paul Inman, Pro Vice Chancellor (International), University of Reading, United Kingdom, pitched forth his views on “Building a World Class university: Case study of University of Reading”. In a Masterclass, Kapil Gandhi, Vice President of Digital Strategy & Innovation Genpact Digital, threw light on “Business Intelligence, Analytics and Data Science Workshop”. Another Masterclass was conducted by Narayan Ramaswamy and Gaurav Vohra, Managing Partner and Partner at KPMG, on the topic “Imperative to build resilient and agile Organisations”.
Delivering the key note address, Dr Madhu Chitkara, Pro Chancellor, Chitkara University said, “Due to globalisation and sudden disruption because of the pandemic, ‘access to education’ emerged as the single largest challenge for the education providers and education seekers. So, I call upon all the stake holders of education system to redefine the strategy to bring ‘access’ in forefront than ‘excellence’ and ‘impact’.”
While moderating the panel on “Benchmark internationally, implement locally”, Dr Archana Mantri, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, said, “With world of Education shrinking on the screens of mobile and laptops, there is a paradigm change happening in defining global benchmarks for education. Suddenly there are more exceptions to the rules than ever before.” She asked the panellists, “Do we need newer and spiral process in place for benchmarking or we continue to learn linearly?”
Speaking at the event, Dr Ashwin Fernandes, CEO of QS IGAUGE, remarked, “The R.I.S.E event was an excellent platform for the leaders of tomorrow to discuss opportunities.”
