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Mumbai Sheriff's Education Delegation Visit October 28, 2008 University of Mumbai, India
Background The Mumbai Sherriff's Education Delegation visit to Georgia was part of a three-city tour of the U.S. for educational leaders from India at the invitation of the Visitor's Bureau, US Department of State, to Atlanta, New York City and Washington, DC. Mr. Ani Agnihotri, managing partner of the Atlanta-based U.S. India Business Research Center, coordinated the delegation's visit to universities in the Atlanta area. Dr. Indu Shahani, the 110th and 1st female sheriff of Mumbai, formerly Bombay, and the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra, lead the official delegation. Dr. Shahani, Principal, H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, has a strong interest in enhancing student learning and academia-industry linkages, which UGA is also developing through research-university interface. According to GlobalAtlanta.com, Dr. Shahani "holds an apolitical titular position of authority ranking just below the city's mayor."
Delegation Goals The purpose of the delegation's visit was to explore growing opportunities in the field of higher education between India and USA. Some specific objectives were:
Delegation Members
UGA Itinerary
Session 1: Welcome and Lunch, Institute of Higher Education The delegates' UGA visit began with a welcome lunch, co-sponsored by the Institute for Higher Education and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Surprised by the delightful aromas and tastes of their local cuisine that they missed, delegates enjoyed the meal offering smiles in gratitude as noted by Dr. Shahani.
Dr. Glenn Ames, Director of the Office of international Public Service and Outreach, said a few words of welcome and highlighted some of the reasons for the excitement about their visit.
Dr. Ames then introduced Dr. Indu Shahani who, in turn, introduced the members of the delegation and thanked IPSO for organizing the UGA visit. She also stated "the visit has been a very meaningful one and not least because of the personal ties such as those of graduate student Rita Mathew, an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, department of Microbiology, and Prof. A. Verma of the JJ School of Architecture, Mumbai." Dr. Ames then introduced Dr. Robin Tricoli, Associate Provost of Strategic Planning for UGA. Dr. Tricoli welcomed the group on behalf of the UGA administration and proceeded to discuss the importance of the strategic planning process for UGA. She provided the delegates with an informative handout outlining the UGA Strategic Plan and a list of best practices currently under review or being implemented. Dr. Tricoli was instrumental in setting the tone for the rest of the visit when she stated that UGA has a lot to learn from Mumbai University and that we look forward to sharing and exchanging the best each institution has to offer.
Deborah Gonzalez, Assistant Director of IPSO, was then introduced by Dr. Ames to make the rest of the UGA host committee introductions. Ms. Gonzalez began with a review of the notebooks provided to each of the delegates which contained biographic information on all the individuals the delegation would meet during the day, plus relevant information about UGA and the different units being visited, as well as useful resources. Dr. Libby Morris, Director of the Institute for Higher Education (IHE), began this session with a brief overview of IHE's mission and some of the international programs run through the Institute. Although IHE currently has no programs relating to or in collaboration with India, it is a geographic region that they would like to explore and see what can be possible. Dr. Morris described some of the international programs in China, Croatia, Mexico, Oxford, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda, to name a few. She invited the delegates to further converse on possibilities for exchange and collaboration.
Dr. Morris introduced Dr. Chris Morphew, Graduate Advisor for the Institute, who elaborated a bit on their international programs. Mr. Chris Moder, who as director of the Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP), facilitates community and economic development and described the ICAPP program and the way it connects industry and university resources. Important to the delegation's core objective of setting up faculty and student exchanges, Ms. Jane Gatewood, Associate Director of International Affairs for the Office of International Education, spoke next. Delegates were provided with information about setting up International Cooperative Agreements (ICA).
Another key component to the goal of the delegation is learning and understanding the process for Indian students to study abroad. Dr. Michael Johnson, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, was on hand to provide information and answer questions relating to this issue. Next to be introduced was Dr. Gordhan Patel, Emeritus VP for Research and Dean, Graduate School. Dr. Patel's words inspired confidence in the UGA institution, noting that although he is retired, he has not left Athens and continues to remain active in educational projects relating to India and UGA. This trio was completed with a few words from Prof. Amitabh Verma, of the College of Environment and Design, himself an alumni from the University of Mumbai, where he received his Bachelors in architecture.
The last faculty to be introduced in this session was Dr. Uttiyo Raychaudhuri, from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Associate Director, UGA Studies Abroad in South Pacific and Caribbean. On his way to the airport where he was to go to India on an exploratory for various programs, Dr. Shahani asked "Why are you going? We are all here!" Dr. Raychaudhuri was followed by Mr. Anuj Sinha, Director of Finance and Administration of the Warnell School of Forestry and Faculty Advisor to the campus Indian Student Association. Mr. Sinha emphasized the university-community partnership through student activities, etc.
Assisting the delegates as guides and translators where the IPSO Student Ambassadors, five exceptionally talented academic professionals who embody the future of India and Georgia's interconnected future. Representing the Terry MBA Program, the Department of Geography, Pre-Pharmacy, Department of Psychology, and Physics, Durlabh, Rita, Masooma, Vijay and Shruiti Narang did an excellent job showcasing UGA. During the visit Rita emphasized that "in an age of globalization, geography and geographers play a critical role providing a solid foundation on which to base future developments."
This session concluded with two presentations by the Mumbai delegation to its UGA hosts. First Father Mascarenhas, Principal of St. Xavier's College, gave a moving speech in regard to "one of the signs of greatness is humility." He then emphasized that based on his experience so far, UGA is great. Father presented a book on the History of the University of Mumbai to several key UGA officials. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Vijay Khole, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai, of a pictorial history of the University to Dr. Ames and Dr. Tricoli.
Session 2: Business and Commerce, Terry College of Business Session 2 focused on the interaction of industry and university through a number of UGA programs focused on business and commerce. The session was moderated by Dr. Richard Watson, Interim Head of the Department of Management Information Systems (MIS) of UGA. The session began with a presentation by Mr. Adolfo Prieto, Minority Business Consultant for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Mr. Prieto described the various ways the university interacts with the business community through SBDC programming, including technical assistance with business planning, securing loans and capital; and various trainings, including cultural competency for entrepreneurs.
The SBDC presentation was followed by a more informal conversation with Dr. Christopher Cornwell, Head of the Department of Economics, and Dr. Santanu Chatterjee, Faculty of the Department, about the different programs focusing on Economics and emphasizing the department's mission: "We strive to promote high-quality research and scholarship, and to provide students with an excellent education in economics that gives them a conceptual framework for understanding the world, a set of skills for pursuing leadership in the world's private enterprise system, and a foundation for advanced study and research."
Ms. Marisa Drexel, Associate Editor of the Global Text Project, presented next, offering the delegation their first look at an innovative textbook creation and delivery system that promises to make a difference in education in developing countries. Funded by the Jacobs Foundation, the project will create open content electronic textbooks that will be freely available from their website. Distribution will also be possible via paper, CD, or DVD. Their goal initially is to focus on content development and Web distribution, and they will work with relevant authorities to facilitate dissemination by other means when bandwidth is unavailable or inadequate. The goal is to make textbooks available to the many who cannot afford them.
Dr. Watson concluded the session with information about the MIS programs offered by Terry College and a brief question and answer session. Session 3: Innovation and Engineering; Bioconversion Education & Resource Center The final site visit of the day was the Bioconversion Education and Resource Center, administered by the Faculty of Engineering. Presided by Dr. Brahm Verma, Associate Director Emeritus, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty Fellow Emeritus, Artificial Intelligence Center, this session offered the delegates a glimpse into the making of a UGA Engineer who has technical superiority, humanistic consciousness, and innovative curiosity. The program included presentations by Dr. Nadia Kellam on Engineering Education; Dr. Jason Locklin on Bio-Nanotechnology and Dr. Joy Peterson on Bio-refinery, Bio-energy and Bio-conversion.
Dr. Brahm Verma's presentation, "Integrating Disciplines/Blurring Structural Boundaries," provided an overview of the Faculty of Engineering that serves the functions of a school of engineering at the University of Georgia. Its unique organizational approach overcomes difficulties found in rigid academic structures for building fluency between disciplines and preparing students for careers devoted to the integration of discoveries from multiple fields. These aspects are especially important for engineers whose design solutions are never restricted by disciplinary boundaries. Faculty of Engineering degree programs are designed to educate engineering students in a liberal arts environment. UGA graduates engineers whose profile and habits of minds are a result of interweaving of superb technical competence, innovative curiosity and humanistic consciousness. They are the engineers whose qualities will be in great demand for building future systems. Dr. Nadia Kellam, Assistant Professor of Engineering, presented advanced work in engineering education for educating engineers of 2020.
The guiding principle of the Faculty of Engineering for research is that the inquiry should be inspired simultaneously by consideration of use and by the quest for fundamental understanding. Dr. Jason Lockin, Assistant Professor of Engineering and Chemistry, gave a very short overview of cutting-edge research in bio-nanotechnology where researchers from multiple disciplines have developed new nanostructures and nanomaterials and are developing advanced technologies useful in many fields. Dr. Joy Peterson, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and leader of the University-wide Biofuels, Biopower and Biomaterials Initiative (B3i) introduced the research in basic sciences and engineering devoted to developing alternative sources of energy and materials from biomass. These two research programs were presented as examples that were built with the Faculty of Engineering initiative.
The Faculty of Engineering's Outreach Engineering unit expands application of cutting-edge technology that integrates socio-economic, environment and natural resources for sustainable development. Mr. Ryan Adolphson, Director of Outreach Engineering, gave a brief tour showing the pilot scale biorefinery thermo-chemical and fermentation process research and demonstration facilities producing biofuels from algae and other biomass. He also explained how the Engineering Outreach has assisted start-up companies producing of biofuels in Georgia.
Suggested Future Actions There was enough time to engage the delegation in a discussion to identify range of potential collaborations between UM and UGA. However, based on questions and expressed interest by several members the following areas of collaborations/actions in education, research and outreach are proposed.
Before going on a tour of the facilities, Dr. Rakesh Singh, Head of the Department of Food Science and Technology, gave a brief presentation on department's teaching and research activities, including upcoming research projects. The last speaker of the day was Dr. Rob Williams, Senior Fellow of the Fanning Institute. Dr. Williams spoke about his expertise with leadership and education innovation, of special interest to the group. He also discussed a University of Missouri Academic Leadership Program. Next Steps
Student Ambassador Observations Masooma Rae: "I had a rewarding experience assisting with the delegation. Many of the visitors were interesting to talk with and had much to offer. They provided me with a better insight as to the education system in India and the future possibilities presiding in the country. The delegates were pleased with their visit to UGA, just as we were to have them on campus for the day."
Vijay Veeraghattam: "I had really a great time yesterday. It was nice meeting some people who can make some policy decisions back home in India. Looking forward to such opportunities in the future." Contact For more information contact: Deborah Gonzalez, Esq., Assistant Director, International Public Service and Outreach, 706-542-6654, dgonzale@uga.edu.
Special thank yous to Mariea Toutasakis from IHE, and Sarah Stack and Jackie Roberts from IPSO. |
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