Bengaluru, May 07, 2016: A university is rapidly moving beyond being just a teaching centre and becoming more of an ecosystem with several variables within and outside. If you look at it, universities are very complex organisations but not all that unique in being complex.
For us, and for any university for that matter, reputation and success are contingent upon effective stakeholder engagement. There are immense benefits to be had in developing a more co-ordinated, responsive and proactive approach towards all stakeholders, primarily the external ones. So who are our stakeholders? Students, obviously. But there are many others. There are partner schools, government organisations, non-government organisations and corporates. I would like to emphasise more on the corporates or rather the business relations and the corporate stakeholders.
The partnership with corporates is one of mutual benefit, because there is growing evidence that co-operation with business can increase the amount and the quality of research and publications for a university. What the university produces whilst helping to make teaching more relevant and engaging additionally improves understanding of current market scenarios and needs. So, the way we look at relationship with corporates is going to be much more. Bennett University is envisaged to be a research-driven university and the partnership with corporate India will help us create unique and local case studies.
So clearly, effectively engaging with corporates helps a university to keep its faculty and curriculum as relevant as possible. In effect, this partnership will lead to more relevant teaching, in turn producing industry-ready graduates. The problem of skills gaps is well known and recruiters have to spend a lot of time, energy and money on retraining fresh hires. Engaging with them at an early and every stage helps to avoid this problem to a large extent.
Another key aspect in corporate engagement is the Executive Education offering. We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world where business leaders face new challenges, demanding new levels of innovation and motivation all the time. Short-term refresher courses help open up executives to new solutions using the latest academic and research insights. It also provides for a meaningful exchange between business leaders and academia. The programs become an opportunity for the best minds from across the world to come together to solve practical, real world corporate problems. Additionally, corporates can work on research or thesis topics with faculty in the process and contribute more effectively to the business and economic scenario.
I cannot think of a more effective and mutually beneficial means of engagement. At Bennett University, we intend to set up the Centre for Executive Education and Consulting, wherein we would follow a portfolio method of resident faculty and visiting faculty. Besides quality and relevant programs, we would also be monitoring what is the after delivery impact of such programs, which is a vital element often overlooked by many service providers.
So in effect, universities and corporates should always be on the lookout for opportunities to collaborate more effectively. A university can be lot more than a recruiting source for a corporate and a corporate can be much more than a hirer for a university.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
