Concept notes on the proposed Innovation Universities and attracting talent to them
September 22nd, 2009
Update: The revised concept note is discussed at https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4571. A local copy of it is at http://www.public.asu.edu/~cbaral/concept2.pdf.
The documents are at:
Following are some excerpts from the first document:
… What is required is obviously an admission process navigates the intrinsic problems associated with the adoption of a single admission system in its reliability to predict academic success as well as being discernable as credible, transparent, fair and reasonable. A mix and match strategy in the right proportion would deliver better results than a single methodology. A two stage testing process would be appropriate – a screening process in the first stage involving a standardized aptitude test in the broad areas of higher learning such as physical sciences, social sciences, humanities, languages, life sciences etc where the tests would not measure knowledge or achievement in subjects but would gauge the cognitive and analytic abilities of the candidate; and the second stage would require the candidates who have proceeded past the screening process to attempt examinations that measure knowledge levels through essay type questions. The score obtained would then be weighted by a factor indicating the performance of the student at the higher secondary level normalized suitably to account for variation in the content, structure and difficulty levels of the testing process across the country. The procedure suggested may appear cumbersome and complicated but necessarily the admission to a world class institution would require an approach that is a good predictor of inter se intrinsic merit that can flush out externalities such as deprivation or coaching that can mask the true ability of the student.
The Universities would have to adopt a different approach towards admission to post-graduate courses in comparison to undergraduate admissions. Existing world class institutions have postgraduate students in excess of the number of undergraduate students which provides the breeding ground for research to be taken up at higher levels of study. Postgraduate admissions have to be structured to avoid the risk of academic inbreeding, the scourge of several institutions. Therefore, opportunity to compete for courses at the postgraduate level has to be equitable for students from the university as well as other students from the country and abroad. The graduate scores are usually a better predictor of future academic inclinations rather than any other method. However, the only issue here is providing a frame of reference for comparing graduate scores across a wide variety of institutions. Standardized aptitude test scores can be used to weight the results achieved on graduation to resolve the problem. At still higher levels of learning i.e. admission to doctorate programmes, references from eminent academicians who have established themselves in the world of education or research could supplement the results obtained at the post-graduate level.
Affirmative action in a country which has seen intense stratification of its society cannot be wished away in the argument for what is seen as merit. Disparities in educational attainments are in some way related to the socioeconomic background of the individual. Obviously merit is conditioned by the exposure and opportunities that any candidate has had in his lifetime. Consequently, it would only be proper to weight the test scores with a measure for the socio-economic background of the candidate. The weight would depend on factors such as the educational attainments of parents, the earning capacity of the parents and the nature of the school from which the student has passed his secondary and higher secondary levels (whether rural or urban). This weight could replace the concept of outright reservations to represent affirmative action and the weighted scores could be used as indicators of intrinsic merit. However, Constitutional issues would arise in respect of the replacement of the present methodology of reservations on the basis of caste as a measure of deprivation and lack of access opportunities. Therefore, this issue would require to be dealt with according to the Constitutional allowance of what would be permissible. Needless to state, a university aiming to be of world class standards cannot afford to make any distinction except through a weighted merit system in respect of admissions. Consequently, admissions would be open to all applicants, whether from the country or abroad, belonging to the citizenry of humankind. The tests involved in the admission process should be conducted all over the country in at least all State capitals and metropolitan cities as well as in selected cities all over the world.
…
The Faculty Board shall have the freedom to prescribe the fee structure for the undergraduate programmes which should be sufficient to meet its expenses along with grants assigned at the faculty level. Fee structure for postgraduate programmes shall be prescribed at the University level on the recommendation of the Faculty Board. The University shall offer scholarships to the top 20% of the student community at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and educational loans would be available to those in need. Concessional loans may be provided to students based on socio-economic criteria. Research programmes shall be suffused with scholarships decided at the University level on the recommendation of the Faculty Boards. …
Adequate funding is essential to support the university’s research and teaching as well as its other functions and that such support must be consistent, predictable and long-term. A Research Endowment Fund of an adequate amount not less than Rs X crores per University shall be provided annually. The University shall also have the freedom to source funding from all other non-Governmental sources subject to the broad limitations that such funding shall not be from unverified or dubious sources or from sources with a biased outlook. Grants from this Fund shall be made available to individual research proposals emanating from the University. The research proposals shall be evaluated by an Academic Research Peer Group consisting of a collegium of eminent academics, not limited to those working in or part of the University, for deciding funding eligibility. Appropriate balance would require to be drawn between privately sponsored and public funded research. The Research funding shall not be apportioned according to disciplines or faculties but the intrinsic strength of a research proposal alone shall stand to test in the competition for discovery of ideas. Once approved, the Research Group shall have the freedom to utilise the grants according to procedures defined by the Group subject to the broad principles of objectivity and transparency in such procedures. This freedom shall include the freedom to procure aids and equipments required for research, freedom to appoint subordinate research personnel such as Research Associates and Research Assistants, freedom to decide an adequate remuneration to be paid to such research personnel. The only limitation that would operate is the total funding outlay approved by the Academic Peer Group for the period specified for completing the research. …
Autonomy over appointments, especially academic appointments, are crucial to the inculcation of an atmosphere of autonomy within the University. Consequently, the University shall have the freedom to define its own appointment criteria for making appointments to academic positions in the University. This shall include the freedom to make appointments by invitation, based on the recommendations of a Standing Search Committee3 consisting entirely of prominent and eminent academicians, from within the University or outside. Any Professor of the University shall have the freedom to refer an outstanding person with a proven capability to enhance the reputation of the University to the Standing Search Committee for appointment as a member of the Faculty at the Associate Professor or Professor levels. Recognising that brilliance is not a factor of age of a person or years spent in research, the appointment by invitation shall not be subject to limitations of age or years of experience of the considered candidate. Faculty at the level of Professor shall be offered tenured service to provide job security, whereas faculty at the level of Associate Professor or Assistant Professor may be provided tenured or non-tenured service, which will be appropriately decided by the University on objective criteria. The University shall also have the freedom to appoint adjunct or associate or visiting faculty involved in research in industry or in R&D establishments in the country and abroad. These faculty members will guide students and deliver lectures in specialised areas and bring their expertise in these areas to enhance value to the teachinglearning process.
The University shall also have the freedom to define the pay structure thru’ a negotiated arrangement, which shall be net of the tax payable, for its senior faculty i.e. Professors and Associate Professors, within a broad pay band to provide incentives to attract talent from over the world, including persons involved in path-breaking research in industry.
Liberal book grants equivalent to a percentage of pay shall be provided to Teaching & Research Faculty to update their knowledge constantly in a fast changing environment. The student-teacher ratio in the university shall be in keeping with the norms available in the best Universities of the world to be appropriately decided by the University, to account for the number of faculty members who would be involved in research work.
As has been discussed earlier, assignment of adequate grant incomes associated with predictability of such assignments based on formula based allocations driven by simple measures are essential to ensure financial autonomy. A vision in this respect is already enshrined in the Constitution in respect of devolution of income from taxes between the Centre and the States. A similar structure binding upon the Government and the universities over a defined term would be the best analogy to be drawn for the universities aiming at world class standards. A Commission on Financing Innovation Universities consisting of eminent academicians preferably Nobel laureates and National Research Professors in association with financial experts could work out a simple measure or set of criteria for provisioning such as per student expenditure based on global trends adjusted in purchasing-power-parity (PPP) terms and decennial research grants or any such composite measure that would be appropriate. The measure could be indexed to an indicator of the value of money such as inflation or any other suitable indicator to provide for adjustments in relation to developments in the decadal period. The recommendations could relate to criteria for fund disbursement by Government and would not work on a lump sum figure to be disbursed on a year to year basis. This would be in addition ro developmental expenditure over a ten year period after evaluation of the status of teaching and research in the university and the growth envisaged in the future years. The recommendations of this Commission would be placed by the Government before Parliament, and on its acceptance with or without modifications by Parliament, would be binding on the Government in respect of a minimum peg over a period of time, say ten years in so far as grant provisioning is concerned.
The University shall have the freedom to establish Chairs of Studies with funding thru’ non-Government endowments to be occupied by Professors of eminence. The Chair Professors shall be entitled to receive pay, if any, from the endowments in addition of the salary payable by the University. …
The amount spent by the University or its academics on research or teaching shall be kept out of the purview of audit scrutiny envisaged under the Constitution by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Accountability shall be ensured by reviews by the Academic Research Peer Group for research work and Academic Audit of Teaching thru’ a Peer Group for course work & teaching. To that end, scrutiny and accountability shall be defined by outcomes rather than processes. The two Audit Peer Groups shall be peopled by academicians of world-wide repute to be nominated by the Visitor in the same manner as in the appointment of a Vice Chancellor. …
While it is the quality of faculty and the standards of research that define a university of excellence, nevertheless provision of abundant infrastructural resources of the desired standards in the form of laboratories, libraries, classrooms, recreational spaces and adjunct necessities such as housing, schools for children, leisure and entertainment facilities, auditorium, lodging facilities for students etc. planned and designed in a manner architecturally pleasing and environmentally provisioned is a sine qua non for achieving status of a world class institution. The class room shall also be freed from the boundaries of physical space in that the electronic medium shall also function as a central element in the teaching-learning process. Good connectivity along with availability of the basic necessities of life such as electricity and water supply in environmentally friendly surroundings shall also need to be provided. The integrated township principle of planning, architectural design and construction shall form the basis for the extended university space. State Governments would need to be active towards providing the other facilities that link the university to the outside world such as good transport facilities along with emphasis on maintenance of law and order in order to ensure that the institutions flourish.
Entry Filed under: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri- Khurda area (1),Universities of Innovation,University of Innovation Bhubaneswar