Many Higher education institutes keep growing and only a few perish. Some however, grow miserably slow and manage to survive. Often the reason for such a poor state is the lack of missionary zeal and commitment of the founders and the Heads of Institution. Quite a few plough out a larger share of students fee for themselves.
Whereas, visionary founders envision the future and dare to institute radical reforms, invest and speed up outcomes to go past their competitors. A solid forward strategic push is powered by pumping in financial investment to hire quality faculty and build strong research and teaching ecosystem.
The reason why I write this blogpost is that those founders and leaders who think that it is okay to go slow, must stay cautioned that the new generation of students would make struggling institutions increasingly irrelevant. In the fast evolving technology world, students even in the remotest area and having meagre means have woken up to embrace emerging tech and AI and won’t settle down anything but the best. I say it having travelled in universities in Bihar and Jharkhand and have seen the ground realities from very close.
The wisdom therefore lies in staying ahead of the curve. Time to develop mindset to surge faster than you thought. Leaders who are laid-back render their staff and faculty useless. Time to reccaliberate and stretch the canvas.
A few priority areas subject to your SWOC analysis: ➡️ A lofty vision and high impact strategic plan backed by an operational plan and mechanism for assurance and risk management ➡️ Substantial initial financial Investment in intellectual capital and academic infra ➡️ On-board sharp n’ intelligent faculty n’ pay them well, develop them well, hold them in respect and move out non-performers suitably but surely ➡️ Forge highly productive Industry tie-ups for skilling. Plan no less than 500 annual industry visits ➡️ Hire academically bright, experienced and committed top and mid-level leaders ➡️ Invest substantially in labs particularly, research labs and go slow in equipping n’ furnishing admin block. Love small humble offices; instead, build smart tech labs in emerging areas ➡️ Develop centres of excellence in AI and other key emerging disciplines and sustain them
