Established in 2010, the growth of Noida International University is enormous. How would you describe your decade-long journey?
The decade-long journey of NIU is absolutely phenomenal, rewarding and motivating. Starting with just a few class rooms and labs to having a lush green campus with world class infrastructure providing students from across 30 different nations a world class education with 12 different schools offering more than 150 programs in various streams motivates me more towards achieving my goal of providing world-class education to the world through NIU. Today, NIU offers an array of UG/PG/Doctoral Programs in the areas of Medical, Engineering & Technology, Sciences, Liberal Arts & Humanities, Law, Journalism & Mass Communication, Architecture, Nursing & health sciences, Fine Arts, Education and Business Management, duly approved by their respective statutory bodies. We at NIU are fortunate to have got great contributions all through this journey by eminent personalities like Dr. Hari Gautam, Former Chairman UGC, Dr. Vikram Singh, The Hon’ble Chancellor NIU. The University is committed to achieving global standards of excellence in each of its field with highly qualified faculties and state of art infrastructure.
The motto of “NIU” is to be recognised as a global educational institution disseminating the latest trends of knowledge through cutting-edge technologies and innovative methodologies. How successful have you been in terms of admissions and placements?
We are committed to impart quality education. Marching towards excellence and perfection, NIU has acquired remarkable growth which is reflected in the strength of its students who are working in reputed MNCs in various industries across the globe and few have even turned into successful entrepreneurs. The objective of various courses offered at NIU is to provide market-oriented education and to shape their skills which helps in their career progression. The students have the option of choosing a career exclusively in the area they have equipped themselves since the curriculum of these courses are based on current trends, relevance, and value in the job market. Personality development focuses on how to develop organised pattern of behaviour, traits, attitudes, etiquettes, and manners that prepare and equip the students for their personal and professional life. These courses help students being inline with the current market demands and their suitability. It provides students a practical perspective on the world of work which helps them to get first-hand information and to gain industrial skills. We tirelessly endeavour to make our students develop as a good human being. In terms of numbers, I am proud to say that around 25 thousand have got passed out of NIU since its inception and around 7000 are part of campus at present.
What are the challenges in creating a world-class educational institution in India? How Covid-19 pandemic is reshaping the education industry?
They are various challenges that in creating a world-class educational institution and we have been taking various measures at NIU in tackling these each to be a truly world class university ourselves:
The Gap between Education and Industry Requirement
Less emphasis on personality, innovation, or creativity
Quality Teachers and Sincere Students
Technology and Innovative Practices
Poor Teacher-student ratio
Shortage of training
Wastage of resources
Gender, Races issues, Cultural Challenges
Students lack the motivation to learn beyond the curriculum
Pedagogical E-learning Challenges,
Time Management Challenges
The Covid 19 has thrown the world into turmoil, leading to health and economic crisis and hampered the education system as well.
Having said that, on the other hand it has resulted in quick and renewed focus on innovation and technology enabling people to become technically savvy and further empowered. We at Noida International University showed agility in adopting new and innovative teaching and learning methods using the best available platform like Google meet, MS Teams, etc. The faculties were provided with proper workshops and training to use these tools effectively and efficiently.
More than 50 National and International Webinars were organized during this period, in which National and International subject experts from diverse fields interacted with the students. University also offered virtual laboratories for the students to compliment lectures & tutorials and to better understand the subject. So in a way, Covid-19 is really reshaping the industry in an albeit positive way where got used to a lot of new innovations and unique and interesting ways of imparting education.
How have you adapted to the New Normal?
NIU has adapted very well to the new normal. NIU swiftly adopted online examination, online classrooms, and our students and teachers are well adapted to it. The students can now engage in academics at their own timings and the online platform has also given us the luxury of better time management. Examination has become more streamlined and transparent. Indeed it has been a great blessing to work and learn online. Also, the security and health of students, faculty and staff members are of paramount importance to us and that is why top most priority is given to that. The classroom laboratories and the premises are regularly sanitised thrice everyday. The adjoining Noida international Institute of medical sciences that caters to any medical emergency and medical requirement of medical aid that may become necessary. We have a dedicated team of doctors 24X7 and therefore we are one the most well equipped campus to handle the challenges of the pandemic.
Education and capacity building were central features of India’s development cooperation with Africa. How do you see this partnership growing?
The development partnership with Africa occupies an important position in Indian strategy and its external economic policy. Indian development partnership is clearly manifested through the institutional mechanisms build over decades as well as specific development cooperation Programmes, projects and soft credit lines.
Clearly, education and capacity building has to play an important role in this quest and we are really privileged to be in a position to be contributing to this novel hostinghundreds of students from Africa.
Please tell us about your institute’s evolution as we know it today.
Noida International University has grown into one of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education, a dynamic, vibrant and prominent research university that is “in and of the city” with an academic presence that spans the globe. Attracting students from more than 30+nations and global collaborations from more than 30+ top universities of the world, NIU today offers a great nurturing field for young talent to grow and explore their true potential.
What is your future plan?
NIU constantly focuses on giving education and courses that are futuristic yet holding relevance to the current demands. NIU focuses on diverse education pedagogy that enables students to pursue education abroad. NIU has collaborations with 30 foreign universities and the students are constantly guided to pursue this diversity.
Apart from this NIU has a separate medical institute namely Noida International Institute of Medical Sciences (NIIMS Greater Noida) founded with an endeavor to produce specialists in the Medical field. The Institute concurrently runs with NIIMS Hospital, a 350+ bed super-specialty hospital, founded to cater to the healthcare needs of the society and making affordable healthcare accessible to the masses.
What sets NIU apart from other educational institutions? Are there any international collaboration?
There are many factors that, I think set NIU apart from other educational institutions, like:
Education with a touch of compassion: Focus on teaching in small groups, and even focus on individuals to bring the equality among students. Individual attention helps them get well challenged and excel in their academic development.
Our profound experienced faculties: Our faculties have rich and wide experience (a mixture of both academic and industrial) and we put special emphasis on the practical exposure. It helps students generate unique ideas and think out of the box.
Practical exposure driven approach: We provide professional consultation by the members coming from top consulting firms so that the students can groom their skill set as per industry standard and we provide assistance at every stage of their prowess.
Commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion: As we know the racism continues to play in education and society, we seek to engage in honest reflection, and increasingly identify and address policies, practices, and behaviours that lead to inequitable outcomes for students who have been historically denied opportunity.
Yes we have many international collaborations. Few of them are as follows:
- Harvard Business Publishing Education
- King’s University College at Western University, London, Canada
- New York Institute of Technology
- Academy of Governance of Fujian Province
- Regional State Enterprise with the right of business ” Sarsen
- Amanzholov East- Kazakhstan State University ” , Republic of Kazakhstan
- University of International Business Almaty kazakhstan
- Fort Hays State University
- Crimean Business Institute, Crimea
- Erzincal Binali Yildirim University
- Tbilisi Open University
- Bureau of Cultural Heritage Ministry Of Culture Republic Of China ( Taiwan)
- Yaroslav-The-Wise Novgorod State University Novgorod, Russia
- Swiss Institute for Management and Hospitality
- Aimst University Malaysia
- Abu Ali ibn Sini Bukhara State Medical Institute, Republic of Uzbekistan