HIGHER EDUCATION-RECENT ACTIVITIES

Recent Activities – 1

During the OSA Convention July 2021

The Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) hosted the webinar on Higher Education in Odisha on “Taking a Quantum Leap on Higher Education for Universities of Odisha and how the OSA community can help.” during its 52nd annual convention held in Houston, Texas.

The panelists were Prof. Prasant Mohapatra, University of California, Davis, Prof. Kishore Kumar Basa, Vice-Chancellor, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Prof. Sanjay K. Nayak, VC, Ravenshaw University, Prof. Sabita Acharya,  Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University, and Prof. Asoka Das, Vice-Chairman of Odisha State Higher Education Council and moderated the panel.

OSA President of OSA Ms. Kuku Das welcomed the guests and OSA President-Elect Mr. Gyana Patnaik strongly supported the higher education initiatives. Prof. Durga Misra of New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA Chaired the meeting and Dr. Ajaya Mohanty of Deloitte & Touche moderated the panel.

YouTube link and the timings:

2021 Convention HE Seminar 1:30:37 to 2:56:15

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

Recent Activities – 4

During the OSA Convention July 2020

During the virtual 2020 Convention of OSA a Higher Education (HE), a Seminar/Panel was organized on ” How to improve the ranking of the Universities of Odisha and how the OSA community can help.” The 2020 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was discussed. The criteria for NIRF ranking are mainly based on (1) Teaching and Learning Resources; (2) Research and Professional Practice; (3) Graduation Outcome; (4) Outreach and Industry; and (5) Perception. We believe the topic was, therefore, timely to address some of these issues.

It had Dr. Asoka Das, the Vice-Chairman, Odisha State Higher Education Council as the Guest Speaker. The panelists were Prof. Deepak Behera, Vice-Chancellor of Sambalpur University, Prof. Damodar Acharya, Chair, Advisory Board of SOA University, Prof. Soumendra Patnaik, Vice-Chancellor of Utkal University; and Prof. Chitta Baral of Arizona State University. Dr. Durga Misra of NJIT Chaired the session and Dr. Ajaya Mohanty of Deloitte & Touche moderated the panel.

For an immediate impact, OSA academic community can help Utkal and Ravenshaw Universities by initiating an international exchange program under RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan). It is important to bring the research scholars and faculty to North America on a collective or individual basis. OSA academic community can reach out to the faculty and administration of these universities to make it possible.

Feel free to rearrange in any way you want

YouTube link and the timings:

2020 Convention HE Seminar 1:00:45 to 2:02:40