HiEd Log

There is an intriguing, imperceptible, even interesting, cold war on with the affiliating universities on the one side and the affiliated colleges on the other. Intriguing because in the affiliating model the two can't survive without each other and the symbiosis is expected to contribute to not only mutual growth but also to the growth indices too. The Colleges, affiliated units of HE, too need the shade and warmth of the the Universities for guidance and support in many forms. But the question is what happens when both are caught in a battle for survival. Both brace for the uncertain future in sight  with a plan which promises to encroach into each other's territories and to provide causes for discomfort but on legitimate grounds! With the kind of decline in enrollment we have been witnessing in Higher Education scene, this is a tussle which will end in the disappearance of many HEIs.  This is played out at many levels. The Universities in Kerala are searching for means to h...

The category called 'for-profit' institutions are similar to what we call self-financing here. The difference is that in 'for-profit' category there is a clear, legally sanctioned room for profit while in our 'self-financing' category, there's no such written provision as such, but it does generate profit. 'For-profit' is a label which directly indicates 'profit' as a clear  objective of these institutions and for us, there certainly is a degree of discomfort as the profit part is made so evident. It foregrounds the profit part disturbingly and many who are part of the system squirm a bit at the drop of the term. But the way the HEI leadership is paid in self-financing institutions makes one  wonder  whether the 'for-profit college' label is more appropriate. Except for a handful of HEIs, to the best of my knowledge, the leadership of these colleges are grossly underpaid. The Principals, Vice Principals and IQAC coordinators and Heads...

In-charge is an interesting hyphenation, particularly when it comes designate positions. It says that the person concerned is in charge of a role or a responsibility but not exactly! In my part of the world it represents temporariness. A principal in-charge or a Department Head in-charge is a person who is temporarily assigned to hold that seat and the reasons may vary. Either because a better fit is on the way or the one given the 'charge' is too young to be anointed as the one to really take charge. Though at times there is a possibility in the air that the in-charge will be regularised removing the 'In-charge' tag, it is not always the case. Many put in diligent hours as they are supposedly on the way to 'full-charge' only to realise that the goalpost has been shifted when they got close enough.  This tendency to put people 'in-charge' at the high leadership positions is done in many HEIs for monetary reasons. The idea is to pick a young person with s...

A three-page document I came across in a college was for documenting events they organise. It carried three stages like pre-event, event and post-event. Each part carried a number of columns to collect information which was indeed quite detailed. I am sure that many who feel like organising an event will be put off by this and might kill the very thought! What surprised me was that much of the  information sought is never warranted to impress upon any body that the college has indeed organised anything. It looks like in the fever to push documentation to its limits, the ones in charge leave no stones unturned. Perhaps under the impression that the more columns a document carries, the more impressed the assessors will be!  The unanimous cry of complaint against the office of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) that it triggers overdocumentation is not always misplaced. It deserves to be seriously looked into as on objective analysis this is found to be true. Overdocument...

Jumping right in, around 90 percentage of those in leadership in the Higher education scene in Kerala right now are Asst Professors. They occupy key leadership roles, whether it is that of the Head of the Dept. or IQAC coordinators or Vice Principals. It is not uncommon to come across Asst. Professors who hold the position of Principals too. This spreads to membership of boards of studies and similar bodies too at the next level.  Lack of regular appointments for a decade in the past has left a vacuum in the hierarchy and this has led to this tricky scenario. From 1996 to 2007 there was an appointment ban in the State in the govt and aided colleges and this has precipitated a situation which is unprecedented. The senior faculty members have retired while absence of regular input in the form of young recruits have left a vaccum. While those academics who reach 56 years of age retire from colleges in Kerala, the next seniormost one to take the leadership chair could be someone much,...

  A common faculty argument during Faculty Development Programmes is that the student expectations do not agree with their good intentions and get in the way of their desire to innovate and experiment. This creates an interesting question as to what exactly is the job of a teacher? How does he/she help raise expectations in terms of the institutional practices or the faculty's instructional design?  Here when I speak of teacher expectations, I confine to matters related to the ways course content is transacted, though it can mean much more than that. When I urge the faculty where I worked, lead or where I visit for talks or trainings, the common burden of the song is, 'students expect us to lecture so how can we not? The students expect only pen and paper test, then how can we....?'  One thing the HEI leadership should ensure is that the Student Induction/orientation programmes conducted at the beginning of the academic year is an opportunity to also communicate to the ...