HIGHER EDUCATION-RECENT ACTIVITIES

Recent Activities – 2

January 30, 2021: Higher Education Summit with the Higher Education Minister of Odisha

Global Higher Education community, facilitated by Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) and Department of Higher Education, Government of Odisha, had a productive meeting with the Higher Education Minister Dr. Arun Sahoo on enhancing the quality of Higher Education of public universities in Odisha. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Saswat Mishra, IAS, Principal Secretary of Higher Education

• Prof. Asoka Das, Vice-Chairman of Odisha State Higher Education Council
• Prof. Sabita Acharya, Vice-Chancellor of Utkal University
• Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, Vice-Chancellor of Fakir Mohan University
• Prof. Harihar Hota, Vice-Chancellor of Shree Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya
• Prof. Aparajita Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor of Rama Devi Women’s University
• Prof. N. Nagaraju, Vice-Chancellor of Gangadhar Meher University
• Prof. Kishore Kumar Basa, Vice-Chancellor of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja

Deo University

• Dr. Manas Pujari, Registrar, Odisha State Open University, Sambalpur
• Mr. Akash Dasnayak, Chairperson, Mo College program

Same as it is described in the webpage

The international committee was represented by

• Ms. Kuku Das, President of OSA
• Prof. Anil Patnaik, Vice-President of OSA
• Prof. Durgamadhab Misra, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
• Dr. Ajaya Mohanty, Deloitte & Touche, USA
• Prof. Chitta Baral, Arizona State University, USA
• Prof. Sanjib Kumar Panda, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

The Higher Education Minister Dr. Sahoo welcomed everybody and addressed current issues and challenges of Higher Education of Odisha. The summary of the discussions is as follows. (1) The international community is ready to give webinars including topics on institutional development depending on the need of various departments and universities. (2) The universities will facilitate the international student and faculty exchange programs starting with US universities. (3) As per the Higher Education Secretary’s report Government of Odisha is analyzing the WiFi broadband availability in the university campuses which is going to be upgraded expeditiously in all campuses. (4) As per the possible research collaboration, the faculty profiles, and their research interests will be clearly placed on the university websites so that Global/OSA HE Committee will facilitate the collaboration with the international faculty members and researchers. (5) The proposal of formation for an External Advisory Council for the universities was well received by the Higher Education Minister, Dr. Sahoo, Principal Secretary Mr. Saswat Mishra, and the VCs of various universities, starting with the inclusion of eminent individuals as Syndicate members. (6) Formation of a strong Alumni Database for each university is a requirement that was approved by everyone leveraging the forthcoming “Mo College” initiative. (7) Foster industry collaboration by innovation/incubation centers. (8) The Higher Education Minister Dr. Sahoo agreed for a follow-up meeting to be held quarterly with VCs for the exchange and implementation of ideas in the future.

Recent Activities – 3

During Global Mahotsav December 2020

YouTube link and the timings:

Main Seminar: 2020 Global HE Seminar 2:47:06 to 4:01:40

Summary: Global HE Seminar Summary (entire video)

A seminar for the OSA Higher Education was conducted on December 26, 2020, during the Global Mahostav with the objective: how to ensure “Quality higher education in Odisha for Future Generation” during the Global Odia Mahostav 2020. The higher education international committee constitutes of Dr. Ajaya Mohanty (Deloitte & Touche, USA), Prof. Durga Misra (NJIT, USA), Prof, Chitta Baral (ASU, USA), Prof. Sanjib Panda (NUS, Singapore), Prof. Pradip Mishra (Univ of Nottingham, Malaysia), Dr. Debendra Majhi (GoI, New Delhi), Dr. Himanshu Das (Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi) and Mr. Chinmay Panigrahi (Elsevier, Netherlands).

In this very first global seminar on Higher Education, Prof. Asoka Das, Vice-Chairman of State HE Council, Odisha; Prof. Ratnam V. Raja Kumar, Director, IIT, Bhubaneswar; Prof. Sabita Acharya, Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University; Prof. Sasmita Samant, Pro-VC, KIIT University; and Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, Vice-Chancellor, FM University participated as the distinguished speakers.

Based on the deliberations during the seminar, the following are recommended for immediate action.

1) Recruitment of excellent faculty should be at the top of the list. Create an international pool of faculty/Ph.D. level student resources with the help of global Odia contact. This will facilitate the placement of faculties and post-doctoral candidates in various universities.

2) Create campus-wide broadband and Wi-Fi digital infrastructure in the universities, along with the international level of ambiance, to foster international collaboration, remote e-learning, and academic visitor exchange programs.

3) Foster industry collaboration by establishing innovation/incubation centers and by connecting the faculty/researchers/scholars/students to research funding agencies nationally and globally.

4) Formation of an External Advisory Council for all public Universities and later expand to other institutions to advise and guide the VCs in the long-term as well as short-term goal-settings of the universities and monitor the progress.

5) A strong alumni network at each university needs to be established for tangible networking, implementing mentor/mentee relationships, and building the peer-to-peer brand perception of the university.

Feel free to rearrange in any way you want