Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, was the venue for the high profile unveiling of the “QS World University Rankings - By Subject” by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), UK. In the history of global rankings, it is the first time that a global rankings list is being released from India. Amrita co-sponsored and hosted the event which was conceptualised by India Centre for Assessment & Accreditation (ICAA).
In the list released by Mr. Ben Sowter, Head, Intelligence Unit of QS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard and Cambridge Universities figured at the top. Launched with a new set of indicators, the QS World University Rankings by Subject highlights performance in five broad areas - Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Management. The ranking identifies world’s strongest universities in 30 different subject areas. Mr. Ben Sowter in his presentation explained the parameters and methodology followed and the enormous work involving 90,000 survey responses. He said the rankings are a genuine assistance to students around the world to make informed decisions. Students from India and China use this to choose institutions from across the world. Though India bagged a few rankings in some subjects there was much scope for improvement, Mr. Sowter observed.
Dr. Karthik Sridhar, Vice Chairman, ICAA, delivered the welcome speech. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT, Delhi made the presidential address focusing on how Indian universities can respond to challenges of a global marketplace for higher education. Dr. R. Natarajan, former Chairman of AICTE and former Director of IIT, Madras said that though there were negative perceptions about rankings these had become an integral part of the system. “Rankings provide a comparative assessment and evaluation of universities worldwide and nationally. They provide an opportunity for benchmarking”, he said. Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in his thanks giving speech suggested societal contributions by educational institutions as one of the desirable parameters in future ranking evaluations. Ms. Mandy Mok, the CEO of Quacquarelli Symonds, Asia, also made a presentation on “Enhancing Reputation through internal and external strategies.”
The ranking release was part of the MasterClass Summit on Higher Education Innovation and Excellence (SHINE) organised by The Economic Times (ET) Edge, on February 25th 2014 at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore. The summit discussed strategies and solutions for the challenges posed for Indian Universities by global rankings, and held a round table discussion on enhancing the reputation of Indian universities to achieve world class status.
Other speakers included Dr. R.K. Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi; Mr. Bharat Joshi, British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai; Prof. Arun Nigavekar, Former Chairman, UGC and Founder Director, NAAC; and Mr. Narayanan Ramaswamy, Partner & Head Education, KPMG. Mr. A Jeyaprakash, Vice Chairman, ICAA, proposed the vote of thanks.
Posing with the just-released QS World University Rankings by Subject are (L to R) Mr. Prashant Nair; Mr. A Jeyaprakash, Vice Chairman, ICAA; Mr. Ben Sowter, Head, Intelligence Unit, QS; Ms. Mandy Mok, CEO QS, Asia; Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT, Delhi; Prof. Arun Nigavekar, Former Chairman, UGC and Founder Director, NAAC; Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita University; Dr. R. Natarajan, former Chairman, AICTE and former Director, IIT, Madras; Prof. C. Parameswaran, Director, CIR, Amrita University; and Dr. Karthick Sridhar, Vice Chairman, ICAA
