Amity University, Vice Chancellor: Dr. TR Venkatesh Interview

An academician and administrator par excellence, Dr. TR Venkatesh is currently serving as the Vice Chancellor at Amity University, Patna. He is a Post-Graduation in finance, CFA, Ph.D. in finance and CAIIB with vast experience of banking and financial sector, and has authored several articles, edited books in the area of banking, finance, markets, institutions, instruments and regulations. Apart from having membership in professional societies like NHRD, CII and AIMA, he has designed and handled corporate training assignments in the area of communications, soft skills, and Investment Banking and Financial services. 

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“Proactive participation in various education related causes”

The key factors that keep me connected with the education sector are:

• My love and passion for teaching, learning and mentoring.
• My active involvement in research related activities for a long time.
• To play a key role in making the young students into success stories.
• My experience in academics and academic administration at various reputed institutions in India and abroad.
• To be serving for the important cause of betterment of the youth of our nation towards making India a superpower.

How would you describe your leadership style?

“Encouragement, approach and dedication”

Every leader has different motivations and a different leadership style and I believe in Distributed leadership. No matter whether our title is leader or manager, I believe that we can only be transformational by encouraging other competent individuals down the line. In my view, a true leader is one who is capable of leading the organization from one paradigm to the next including the way we think, the way we approach and do things to deliver the desired results. All our co-workers need to be freely able to lead us from the paradigm of the past to the paradigm of the future through their dedication, efforts and actions. 

According to you, what can an inbound student gain from studying here in India?

“Dynamic and global learning system that creates leaders”

A welcoming atmosphere, economical fee structure, non-discriminative approach and assured educational and career growth is what an inbound student can gain from studying in India. In my view, the rigorous way of teaching learning along with the practical orientation in India is unique. India has been and continues to be home to innovation, creativity and leadership. The strength of India’s education system may be gauged from the fact that the world’s leading companies are being helmed by products of Indian education system such as Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft an alumni of Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google Inc. studied at Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, Ajaypal Singh Banga, President and the CEO, MasterCard has a degree from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University; and Indira Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi Co. is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta.

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How does the curriculum ensure the best practice of industry?

“Student-centric teaching and wide industrial integrations”

We make a lot of effort in ensuring that our curriculum ensures the best practices as we

have user centred design in our curriculum development, i.e. placing students at the centre of everything we do, including course designing and set-up. Our pedagogy enables the students to learn and understand in the most innovative and interesting ways. Our curriculum also ensures the best practices of experiential learning including research, innovation and entrepreneurship, constant interaction, and interface and training with industry for holistic development of our students. All our systems and procedures are robust, time tested and futuristic to ensure best practices in all ways to ensure the satisfaction of the stakeholders of our university.

What are your responsibilities towards the University and the students?

“Establishing a global reputation and environment for overall growth of students”

• To provide leadership for efficient academic and administrative functioning of the university as per the principles of ‘Total Quality Management’ and developing a clear action plan to implement various strategies.
• To represent the vibrant face of the university externally, both within the country and overseas and benchmark the university against top universities in the world.
• To strive for triggering innovation in higher education by nurturing an ecosystem for creation of breakthroughs, promotion of the value system and connecting students and teachers with society and country.
• To provide the students with a conducive atmosphere for their holistic growth, and necessary knowledge and skills to make them successful and proud global citizens.

How is your University more welcoming to students of diverse backgrounds?

“Aiding supportive policies and financial assistances”

Since the beginning, we have incorporated many ways to ensure that we are the most welcoming and supportive team of individuals towards students in particular and every other individual at Amity University, Patna by our words and actions. Through our truly non-discriminatory and supportive approach and policies at all levels, we ensure that we can be a role model in this regard. We have many policies including various scholarships and other practices to ensure that no deserving student is unable to achieve quality education due to his/her financial constraints. Also, we have ‘Chancellor Covid -19 Support’ in which our Hon’ble Founder President and Hon’ble Chancellor has announced that the university will be helping students who have lost a parent or both and facing financial difficulty due to this pandemic of Covid – 19 by sponsoring all the remaining fee for them.

How far have you been in implementing the vision of the University?

“National recognitions with best placements and quickest online transformation”

The vision of Amity Education Group is building the nation and the society through providing total, integrated and trans-cultural quality education and to be the global front runner in value education and nurturing talent in which Modernity Blends with Tradition. Just to apprise, I would like to share that we have recently been awarded as the best private university of Bihar and also the award for promoting Industry academia interface was awarded to us by ASSOCHAM in the year 2019 and 2020 consecutively. Our 100% placement of our pass out batches with the good pay packages in very reputed organisations is also an indicator to our seriousness and dedication in regard to our vision. We are one of the first universities in Bihar to successfully switch to online mode of teaching – learning within a week since the breakout of this pandemic Covid -19 and continued with our online classes to our students with on time examination and result declaration as per UGC. We have also successfully completed Convocation 2020 (Virtual Mode). We have the best IT infrastructure and IT human resource to cater to student’s needs.

What would you like people to know about your university they may not know?

“Serious education and industry readiness for students and faculty”

Innovative processes adopted by the institution in Teaching and Learning: The implementation of Outcome Based Assessment Plans and the results of outcome assessment are integrated in the strategic planning of the university to ensure continued improvement in our academic processes and systems for better student learning. The University has a systematic process of collecting and analysing data on student learning outcomes and uses it to overcome the barriers to learning. The students are given opportunities to involve themselves in writing research papers through independent study and research courses in which students get credit for doing research work. Buddy System was introduced in the Mentor-mentee System, which is a unique initiative for the students holistic development.

Evaluation of Teaching Learning Process: Students class attendance on Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Semester basis; Time-table of activities to be planned and uploaded in the internet t for the information of students & all stakeholders; Conduct of classes; Results of the students; Students Feedback are analysed on a regular basis. The gaps are identified in the conduct of the process, and corrective and preventive actions are taken immediately.

Guidance for capability enhancement: Career Counselling, Soft skill development training, Language Labs, Various events, In house competitions and motivational sessions, Bridge Courses, Personal Counselling by respective mentors is being provided. 

Extensive Industry Interaction: Continuous interaction with industry, Sharing the industry experiences, Understanding their needs and providing required support to the corporate world, Guest Lectures, Industrial and Corporate Visits, Internships, Placement Meets & Job Fair, Alumni Meet, etc. are conducted frequently. 

Apart from these, we possess Automation of Examination divisions as well. Also, our faculty members have published 111 research papers in 2020, while students have published 32 publications in 2020. Three Patents are submitted by faculty and students of Amity University, Patna and till date three training/projects have been successfully completed by our team. 82 conferences, including three International Conferences were conducted and 05 FDP’s were conducted by faculty members in 2020. We have freedom, autonomy, world class systems, procedures, policies, and best leadership to make success stories out of every student and fulfil their aspirations and dreams. Amity University is ranked amongst top 3% Universities globally by QS- 2018 ranking.

What do you see as Amity University’s greatest strengths?

“High level of management and leadership approaches”

The greatest strength of Amity University is the commitment of the top management, dedication and hard work by every single member of the university and the robust systems, procedures, and futuristic policies. The humanitarian touch and empathy towards every single Amitian (Amity family) that makes this bond even stronger and thereby is also one of the greatest strengths of Amity University, Patna.

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What are some of the biggest challenges you see for higher education in India?

“The demand supply gap and systematic education outcomes”

India has a very low Gross Enrolment ratio which is a major issue. We need to motivate students for education in the country. Inadequate facilities and infrastructure, Research constraints and weak ecosystem for creativity and innovation and more concentration on theories rather than practical knowledge are other major challenges. Many of the issues like shortage of faculty, poor quality teaching, Traditional teaching methods, outdated pedagogy, and lack of accountability and quality assurance must also be resolved. For Amity University, Patna, enhancement of research impact for rural upliftment and societal development; attracting sizable research funds from the Government funding agencies and including foreign faculty are a few challenges. 

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth?

“Follow modernity with tradition and values”

Today’s youth is very advanced in terms of technological know-how as compared to the past generations, but not necessarily wiser than them. Our approach must be blending modernity with our traditions and values. Focusing and constantly working on various aspects of personal development is key to any student’s success.

How do you tend to establish healthy relationships within your university?

“Continuous and standard approaches for students and faculty to interact”

A positive relationship in a university is central to the wellbeing of both students and teachers and underpins an effective learning environment.

• Clear communication of expectations, rules, regulations and policies to all the stakeholders of the university
• Constant guidance and mentoring of students by their respective allotted mentors
• Initiatives like “Each One Teach one” (Student Coaching) brings the students together 
• Regular Industry Academia Dialogue –CRC/Placement & Alumni Committee
• Regular Conducting Amity Open Job Fair for the youth of Bihar for providing the best employment opportunities for them free of cost
• Faculty development programs and Weekly Intellectual capital sharing sessions are conducted regularly to incorporate the latest trends in teaching-learning
• Conducting various curricular and co-curricular activities for the holistic development of students
• Fun Friday is conducted for all teaching and non-teaching members of the university giving them an opportunity to interact 
• Conducting Annual sports and cultural event to participate and showcase their talents and encouraging them to participate in other events outside university 
• Constant interaction with the senior members of the university to share their views and feedback for necessary action.
• Active faculty and student’s participation in social service and service to Amity University, Patna Community including active support to others help and support during many instances including during floods in Patna and now during Covid – 19 in providing relief materials, Information and even medicines to the best of our abilities.