Unscrupulous business schools!!!

GBUblog wants MBA aspirants to follow these links-
http://www.careers360.com/news/3067-IIPM-Best-only-in-claims
http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/Miscellaneous/Depending-On-The-Fine.html
http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/B-School/Tarnished-Excellence/Page-2.html

Plz follow the link and pass on the info to MBA aspirants.

B grade, Business School

The unending woes of mushrooming business school students who get fooled by the glossy advertisements of these overnight shops. Here is some fodder for thought before you take the plunge-

Faculty crunch-
“Almost 70 per cent of the faculty has zero industry experience,” experts says. Even the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are suffering from a faculty crunch. So it is but natural that the lower-rung B-schools find it tough to retain experienced faculty members.
Many B-schools invite guest lecturers to tide over the faculty crisis, which invites criticism from students. “The human resource (HR) specialisation classes are just a waste of time,” rues a student. Her B-school does not have permanent faculty members for the subject and the guest lecturers often have no clue about the curriculum.
“My PGDM is not going to earn me a lucrative job offer,” states Preeti, who has three years’ work experience in marketing. She quit her job and took a Rs 5 lakh loan to join a B-school — an institute, she believes, that has done little to enhance her employable skills. “I will only get jobs based on my work experience,” she adds.
The placement services of most second-rung management institutes are lax owing to the lack of skills as well as the unrealistic demands of students. “Students entering the B-schools have high expectations of their first jobs,” says Pratap. “They don’t want to take up a sales job because they feel that with an MBA tag they should start in a high-paying corporate job. This is a wrong notion,” he explains.
Divorced from reality
The corporate sector follows some simple guidelines while recruiting. “Employment is not about just domain knowledge but skills,” opines a expert. Students need to touch base with industry while studying.
Industry looks for candidates who, besides having expertise in his or her area of specialisation, are equipped with soft skills. “They should be able to adapt well in a group, lead a team and communicate effectively,” says Dr. Mohit.
The need of the hour is to be realistic — for management institutions as well as students. “Not all B-school graduates are masters in business administration (MBAs). The majority of B-schools offers a diploma programme, not a degree.”
According to experts, B-schools cater to different segments of industry. “For a shy, small town guy, a B-school acts more as a finishing school,” they say. They believe that the lower ranked B-schools are meant for students who want to get their first job, something a plain vanilla graduation won’t offer. “A PGDBM gives a student skills that can land him a job in the Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh per annum scale,” says Dr.Mohit.
Multitasking required
The B-schools too have realised the need to target a niche market. Take the case of a business school at Noida that was set up last year. The institution believes in building entrepreneurial skills rather than focusing on churning out managers. “We encourage our students to work in small and medium-level enterprises,” says co-founder, of the business school. They do not guarantee placements and students are encouraged to participate in rural projects.
Clearly, not all B-schools can be clubbed under one head. But a word of caution here. “I would advise aspirants not to pursue an B-school program if they do not get into the top B-schools,” says Dr.Mohit, who believes that management education should be completely overhauled. “Till then, joining a lower-rung B-school is just not worth it.”
School rules
what B-schools need to do
► Peer learning needs to be encouraged through case studies, industry interaction and contests
► Institutes should focus on the managerial skills of students. Personality development and language classes should be held
► Lower-rung B-schools should motivate students to work in medium-level enterprises and invite recruiters that match the profile of students
► Institutes should have a proper alumni network for better placements
► Second-rung B-schools should be more choosy about students they take in
Wanted: soft skills
Make your MBA more employable
■ Polish your language skills. Fluency in English along with a second language will help you make the first impression on a prospective employer
■ Corporate awareness is the key to succeed. Understand what the business is all about and how you can contribute to the growth of the organisation
■ Positive attitude and an open mind are key components. Your employer would like to know how effectively you can work in a team and manage a group

Students fight it out with the management for their placements

Students of two very prestigious colleges in Noida - near Delhi,found it appropriate to fight it out on the streets with the management of their colleges. This grave step was taken by final year students of two extremely reputed college, where the studetns claimed that, despite of paying more than 6 lakhs rupees of fess and investing two years of time, the institute is ahving a extremely casual outlook in their placements.

Students were so aggressive that the administration became apprehensive of a law & order position, and therefore police was summoned to contain the emotional outburst of students.

Quaintly, one of the institute boasts of a ex-IIM professor as their director. Students claimed that no one is looking into the real reasons for this non-performance of B-school.

But on the worse side theses IIM Professors heading theses institute believe in filling their pockets by taking a plum salary from th owners of these commercial shops providing B degrees.Aspirants are lured after they are shown glossy advertisements of IIM professors donning various administrative positions in these organizations assuring of a career imitating IIMs.

Management has remained tight-lipped on all this issue stating that things are under control.Poor students fail to understand and the institute makes money.

A really tough and serious situation which government and administrators need to take care of.

50 foreign universities to set up campuses in India

About 50 foreign universities have shown interest in setting up campuses in India. The foreign institutions mostly from the U.S., the UK and Australia have approached the HRD Ministry in the last three months, according to a senior official.HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said non-profit making institutions would be allowed to set up campuses in the country. The government is all set to introduce a bill allowing the entry of such institutions. The Foreign Education Providers Bill is before the Cabinet, which is expected to take it up tomorrow. "Institutions can make surplus money. But they cannot distribute it among their shareholders. They can spend it for further expansion of the institution," said Sibal

Universities like the Duke University, a renowned private university in the U.S. which offers courses in various streams and research studies, has evinced interest to position campus in the country. To take forward the process of engaging their institutions in education sector in India, a number of foreign dignitaries, including British Trade and Investment Minister Mervyn Davies and Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, have visited India.

Hrd Ministry De-recognised Deemed Universities in India, UGC Recognised Universities, List of 44 deemed universities

UGC Recognised Universities, Hrd Ministry De-recognised 44 Deemed Universities in India. List of 44 deemed universities or List of de recognized Deemed Universities in India is as follows.

These 44 deemed universities have 1,19,363 students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, there are 2,124 students pursuing research at MPhil and PhD levels and another estimated 74,808 students pursuing distance education programmes. As many as 41 of the 44 deemed universities have several constitutent institutions under them, which would further swell the number of affected students.
The HRD ministry’s review committee found following glaring omissions in case of 44 deemed universities:
* Undesirable management structure where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning
* Several institutions had violated the principles and guidelines prescribing excellence in teaching and research and were engaged in introduction of thoughtless programmes
* Little evidence of noticeable efforts in case of emerging areas of knowledge
* Little evidence of commitment towards research
* Institutions increased their intake capacity disproportionately
* Undergraduate and post-graduate courses were fragmented with concocted nomenclatures
* Higher fee structure than prescribed

List of de recognized Deemed Universities
* Christ College, Bangalore
* Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
* Lingaya’s University, Faridabad
* St Peter’s Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
* Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kanyakumari
* Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida
* Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut
* Sumandeep Vidyapeet, Vadodara, Gujarat
* Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Reserch, Kolar, Karnataka
* Yenepoya University, Mangalore
* BLDE University, Bijapur, Karnataka
* Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Satara, Maharashtra
* D Y Patil Medical College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
* Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
* Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kanchipuram
* HIHT University, Dehradun
* Santosh University, Ghaziabad
* Maharshi Markandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana
* Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad
* Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Tumkur, Karnataka
* Jain University, Bangalore
* Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune
* Siksha “O” Anusandha, Bhubaneswar
* Janardan Rai Nagar, Udaipur, Rajasthan
* Institute of Advanced Studies in Education of Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan
* Mody Institute of Technology, Sikar, Rajasthan
* Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai
* Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai
* Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virdhunagar, Tamil Nadu
* Periryar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur
* Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai
* Vel’s Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai
* Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore
* Vel Tech Rangaraja Dr Sagunthal R&D Institute of Science, Chennai
* Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar
* Grapich Era University, Dehradun
* Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya, Allahabad
* Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry
* Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu
* Bharath Institute of Higher Education And Research, Chennai
* Ponnaiya Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
* Nava Nalanda Mahavira, Nalanda, Bihar
* Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu
* National Museum, Institute of the History of Art Conservation and Musicology, Janpath, New Delhi

CAT fiasco: HRD ministry convenes meeting of IIM directors

Unhappy over thousands of students failing to write the Common Admission Test (CAT) due to technical problems, the government has convened a meeting of IIM directors on Wednesday to express its concerns.
Higher Education Secretary Vibha Puri Das will chair the meeting of IIM directors to discuss the issue in detail, a Human Resource Development Ministry official said.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has already expressed displeasure over students facing problems during the computerised test which was marred by glitches from its beginning. The issue was raised in Parliament when BJP members criticised the government for the glitches.
The test, which was supposed to be taken by 2.41 lakh students, was conducted by an American firm Prometric in a staggered manner over 11 days. However, all candidates failed to appear in the test due to a “virus attack“.
Meanwhile, the IIM directors met in Mumbai on Sunday where they reviewed the entire computerised test and tried to assess the problem.
The ministry is expected to tell the IIM directors to have a foolproof system in place to avoid any such problem in future. Sibal has already said that precautions should have been taken before starting CAT in a computer format.
About 8,500 candidates could not appear in the test in the first four days due to the glitch. The test was extended by a day also as it ended on December eight.
Thousands of IIM aspirants have failed to appear in the CAT, IIM Ahmedabad, which is the nodal IIM for the CAT this year, has said.
A new test date will be announced in about a fortnight to provide an opportunity to all such candidates to write the test, it said.
CAT was held through 361 labs in 104 locations spread across 32 cities.
Candidates have reported through various channels the nature of disruptions faced that include pressing of ‘End’ button prematurely, malfunctioning of computer on which the test was taken by the candidate, missing graphs and charts.
IIM has assured the candidates that the outcome of the process on completion would be fair to all candidates

Sibal's assurance to employees of UGC, AICTE

As the government has decided to dispense with the Central regulatory bodies like University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), employees of these agencies are bound to be worried about their future. Once a super regulator is constituted to replace these agencies, their staff will be rendered jobless.
Under the circumstances, Kapil Sibal’s assurance came as a ray of hope and a welcome relief for thousands of staff members of these institutions. The HRD Minister has assured that his ministry would take all care not to harm the interests of the employees of existing regulatory agencies due this transition. He, however, hinted that his assurance could not be taken as a blank cheque when he said the transformation would still result in some pain. The government will create the proposed overarching body National Commission for Higher Education and Research through an amendment to the constitution. Constitution of this body will prove death knell for all the existing regulators namely UGC, AICTE, Distance Education Council and National Council of Teachers’ Education. UGC officers have already held out a banner of revolt threatening to launch an agitation. They want the government to take them into confidence before taking any decision on their fate. They wanted to know how they are going to be accommodated in the wake of UGC merging with NCHER. A task force constituted by the HRD Ministry on the transition will suggest ways to accommodate employees of these organisations. The minister has yet to come out with a concrete plan on how to assimilate the beleaguered staff under the new system.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system is a system wherein teachers and learners need not necessarily be present either at same place or same time and is flexible in regard to modalities and timing of teaching and learning as also the admission criteria without compromising necessary quality considerations. ODL system of the country consists of State Open Universities (SOUs), Institutions and Universities offering education and includes Correspondence Course Institutes (CCIs) in conventional dual mode universities. This is becoming more and more significant for continuing education, skill updation of in service personnel and for quality education of relevance to learners located at educationally disadvantageous locations.

HRD ministry to provide 82,000 scholarships for higher education

In an effort to recognise meritorious students belonging to low-income families, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, will provide 82,000 scholarships to Class XII students for graduate/post-graduate studies. This will be decided on the student’s performance in his Senior Secondary Examination or its equivalent, with a minimum aggregate of 80 per cent.
The scholarship titled “Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students” will provide students with financial assistance to meet their daily expenses while pursuing higher education.
It will be given to students in colleges and universities and also to those pursuing professional courses like medical, engineering among others.
The total number of scholarships will be divided among the state boards based on the population of the state, in the age group of 18-25 years, after segregating the share of the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Examination on the basis of number of students passing out from various boards in the country.

AICTE Public Notice : Refund Fees to withdrawing students

In a bid to pre-empt professional institutions from taking undue advantage of the stalemate over reservation for Other Backward Classes, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has instructed all technical institutions to refund fees and original documents to students who want to withdraw their admissions.Violation of these instructions can attract punitive action including withdrawal of approval and recognition of erring institutions and universities.___________________________________Instructions to Technical Institutions, Universities including Deemed to the Universities imparting Technical Education regarding matters concerning charging of fees, refund of fees and other student related issues.All India for Technical Education (AICTE) has been empowered interalia under section 10(n) of AICTE Act to “Take all necessary steps to prevent commercialization of technical education”. In compliance with the provisions under AICTE Act and in the light of directions of Govt. of India issued under section 20 (1) of AICTE Act vide Letter No.(U.1 (A) Section), it has been decided to issue instructions to the Technical Institutions, Universities including Deemed to be Universities imparting Technical Education in the matters concerning students.And Whereas, Institutions and Universities are also reportedly confiscating the fee paid if a student fails to join by such dates:And Whereas, certificates in original are being detained by institutions and Universities to force retention of admitted students;And, whereas the time-limit for students to join the courses / programmes is also being advanced in some cases unrealistically so as to pre-empt students / candidates from exercising other options of joining other Institutions of their choice.In the event of a student / candidate withdrawing before the starting of the course, the wait listed candidates should be given admissions against the vacant seat. The entire fee collected from the student, after the deduction of the processing fee of not more than Rs.1000/- (Rupees thousand only) shall be refunded and returned by the Institution / University to the student / Candidate withdrawing from the programme. It would not permissible for Institutions and Universities to retain the School / Institution. Leaving Certificates withdrawing from the programme. It would not be permissible for Institutions and Universities to retain the School / Institution Leaving Certificates in original. Should a student leave after joining the course and if the seat consequently falling vacant has been filled by another candidate by the last date of admission, the Institution must return the fee collected with proportionate deductions of monthly fee and proportionate hostel rent, where applicable.Any violation of instructions issued by the AICTE, shall call for punitive action including withdrawal of approval and recognition of erring institutions and Universities. AICTE shall on its own or receipt of specific complaints from those affected take all such steps as may be necessary to enforce these directions.

Source: AICTE Website