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| Edited By: Tanushree Bhatia |Source: DNA |Updated: Jun 28, 2018, 03:10 AM IST
In a conversation with Tanushree Bhatia, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Director Errol D'Souza talks about the changing role of the institute in the present times, the pros and cons of the IIM Act, attempts to cross a century in terms of faculty numbers, and his days of being a mountaineer.
Globalisation has affected the institute. At one level, you come across leaders in multiple countries who have taken extreme positions and are yet immensely popular. Although globalisation was meant to open up economies, we are witnessing an increasing number of trade barriers. India has also put up trade barriers. Transnational migration has turned out to be an issue and that is affecting business and the way in which people live in different countries. As an institute, we have decided to look at these issues and expose students to these problems and think about possible ways of influencing decision makers about what they should do. All this is being done through workshops and courses. We are also in the process of looking for faculty who actually work in these areas. For our School of Public Policy, we are looking for a Sociologist to essentially broaden the horizon of what we teach the students and what type of advice we give the government and other organisations. The idea is to accommodate the change.
It is the autonomy that has been devolved to the board of the institution; any board would actually devolve some of that to the faculty. With this, the onus on the faculty and the institute. Secondly, the institute would have the freedom to expand the scope of its programme offering and some of these would be degree programmes.
After the Act came into effect, the ministry said that the degrees granted must be notified by the UGC. We think this is a step backward. The ministry has to empower us. We have never been accredited by the UGC or AICTE as we are considered a benchmark institute and it is superfluous to accredit benchmark institutes. And now we have been told that the degrees have to be approved by the central government and notified by the UGC. We have set standards of excellence and our programmes are recognised around the world and we should not be regulated by conditions that apply to universities.
Secondly, the constraint that the government has put on hiring, is based on the Centre's regulations that apply to the bureaucracy. In some ways, it gives a certainty to the way we hire, but if we aim to become a global institute of excellence, we need the flexibility to hire. I hope we're given some flexibility. They are mulling over granting flexibility to certain academic institutions of eminence. I wish it was there in the Act rather than doing it as a sideline for some institutions. The institutions should be made responsible for the way they act and the way in which they think of their future and should be self-regulated through their boards.
My target is to reach 120 from the 97 we have at present, as I feel we need to increase the number of faculty members to that. While I know it will not be an easy task, I am open to the challenge. We are reaching out to people, especially doctoral students. Since last year, I have started going to the Academy of Management Conference, which is the top conference worldwide for good scholars, where I meet young doctoral scholars. I try to talk to them about the institute and its offering. In the past three years, as the dean, I have been pushing the agenda and can now say that a total of 40 people have joined, of which more than 30 are from abroad. I am still looking to grow the number. We are focusing on good faculty and are neutral about where they come from. We have set a certain standard for hiring.
At the beginning of the restoration process, we were warned by the architect that we may be in for a surprise, and there were indeed many surprises. When they began work on the waterproof on the roof of the library, they found it to be in such a dismal state that it could have collapsed. Hence we had to redo the whole slab. At another place, one full wall was brought down and the library looked like a cave until the wall was rebuilt. It has been two years already, and in another two months, the library will be ready. Going forward, we need to look at the dorms and classrooms, which are also in bad shape. However, for that, we will need to arrange for new ones and only then we will be able to start the restoration.
We have been attempting to improve research work by supporting it. We have increased our research budget, as most of the faculty members get stuck due to funds. Some of our younger faculty members said that they wanted to do something with networks. So we went around looking for funds and received huge amounts, due to which we will be able to host one of the biggest conference on networks in November, which will be attended by bigwigs from across the world. Another faculty from marketing area is going to host a conference on consumer research, which is a US conference that will be held here. It will take place in January 2019. But, we need to do more.
Plans are on the anvil, hence I would not like to announce anything right now. Data analytics and financial inclusion may be added as courses.
I have had many avatars, including playing the guitar and being a mountaineer. But playing guitar was just a phase during college days. I love music and even today I attend concerts. When the students play on campus, I go and listen. My interest is in folk and bit of Jazz. I started out my life as a mountaineer, where I would spend five months a year in the mountains. I represented India in an international expedition, too. Then I gradually grew more inclined toward academics, as I learned that major treks were basically related to sponsorships. I felt when you are sponsored, by hook or by crook, you need to reach the top, which takes away the fun aspect. I veered toward academics after I got a knee surgery done.
