To sharpen and contemporise the mindsets of faculty at various B-schools, around 40 institutional heads, corporate and HR faculty of business schools in and around Mumbai converged at WeSchool campus. Welingkar Institute of Management hosted the initiative on July 25.
Sanjay Deshmukh, the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University, inaugurated the programme, titled ‘Merger of Minds’. VV Khole, Vice-Chancellor of Amity University and former VC Mumbai University, DY Patil, Director of Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Management & Research and Chairman, Forum of Business Schools, Judajit Das, chief HR officer, ICICI Prudential and President, NHRDN (Mumbai chapter) and several eminent educationists and HR practioners attended the do, which was a Forum of Business Schools initiative.
The purpose
The purpose of this collaborative platform was to craft a structured immersion experience for Faculty in Industry.
In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Government of Maharashtra, the effort will be directed towards modifying the faculties’ mind-sets, attitudes, knowledge and skills. Today’s classrooms entail that they move away from being “provider of knowledge” and instead facilitate student-centric learning requirements.
The immersion experience — initially planned for the faculty from HR — includes a variety of pedagogy, executed under the tutelage of an industry Mentor, and would be extended to faculties across specialisation and streams at a later stage. WeSchool Mumbai, is collaborating on this programme to be mentored by senior HR professionals from NHRDN, while Prof Vijayan Pankajakshan, Dean-HR at WeSchool, is actively leading this initiative from the institute.
Knowledge obsolescence
Prof Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool, outlined the challenges faced by educational sector and emphasised that “collaboration was the key to creating a better a future for thousands of students”. “The rate of knowledge obsolescence and dynamic environment changes makes collaborative models a necessity. Educational institutes have the responsibility to remain aligned and contemporary with the stakeholders, what is to be taught and how the same would be reflected in the behaviour and actions of our graduating students. This is the era of Mergers of Minds. Unless we come together to co-create the future for all stakeholders, things will be difficult. Today, while there is too much emphasis on academically qualified faculty, what educational institutes also need are the professionally qualified faculty. We must start a process of reverse mentoring by bringing corporate heads to our classrooms and sending faculty to experience and learn from the best practices in the corporate arena.”
Sanjay Deshmukh, Vice Chancellor of University of Mumbai, outlined his vision for the growth and development of education, with a special focus on reaching the un-reached. “‘Merging of minds’ will be possible when government, academia and industry join hands at all levels to develop a symbiotic relationship that creates room for innovation and sustainable development for all, especially those who don’t have opportunities.”
“As we progress we must also ensure we have bio-balance combined with economic stability, the world must become a bio-village.” He added.