“If we are going to be successful as a state in the 21st century, North Carolina – and North Carolinians – must better understand the largest democracy in the world,” said UNC President Tom Ross to more than 100 UNC system faculty and Asian-Indian leaders who came together on January 30, 2013 to share their ideas on how the University of North Carolina and India can develop programs and strategies that can help solve the challenges of the future.
The “UNC-India Summit” was the first step toward finding ways that UNC could more effectively engage with India. UNC is looking for ideas in four specific areas:
Following the UNC-India Summit several faculty volunteered to lead discussions on these themes.
1. Education Abroad or UNC to India. During 2011-12 only 30 UNC students reportedly studied in India. We need ideas about how to increase interest and ability of students to have an experience in India. Faculty could play a key role in increasing student interest in India if more faculty connections in India are encouraged and created. This item will take two tracks.
a. Dr. Viney Aneja of NC State is leading discussions on how to make international experiences in India more available to STEM students.
b. Dr. Sandy Freitag of NC State is leading discussions to address opportunities for non-STEM students looking at study abroad, exchange programs, service learning programs and internships in India.
2. Student Recruitment and Retention. While enrollment of students from India on UNC campuses is high, the India to UNC team will address how to more effectively market the UNC system as an education destination for top Indian students, and how to effectively engage them with non-Indian students once they are here. This team is led by Dr. James Gehlhar of East Carolina University and Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa of Appalachian State University.
3. Models for a system alliance. Currently eight UNC campuses have 42 reported agreements with universities in India. Discussions will center on the benefits of a system-level presence, how the presence should be structured, and whether or not UNC should even pursue forming a system-level alliance with an institution or institutions in India. If not, what would be the most effective way to help campuses bolster relationships in India? This team is led by Dr. Joti Sekhon of Winston-Salem State University, and Dr. Afroz Taj of UNC-Chapel Hill.
4. Training junior faculty in India. The presentation at the UNC-India Summit of a proposed project to train junior faculty in India to educate the burgeoning population under the age of 25 was met with approval by Minister Govind Mohan. Following the Summit Dr. Ray Purdom of UNC Greensboro, Dr. Scott Simkins of North Carolina A&T State University, and Dr. Todd Zakrajsek of UNC-Chapel Hill worked with staff at UNC General Administration to develop a formal proposal which has been submitted by UNC General Administration to the Indian Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Should this proposal eventually be funded, UNC faculty across the system will be involved to initiate a sustainable faculty development for Indian faculty. In the meantime, your thoughts and suggestions about how to build on such a project to increase UNC’s overall engagement with India are welcome!
5. Other initiatives, ideas, suggestions. During the UNC-India Summit attendees brought up many other ideas for engagement with India. These included:
You may have other ideas.
You are invited to present your best ideas by the end of March 2013 on these and other subjects relevant to the India initiative. UNC General Administration and the India Working Group will bring the ideas together in a new strategic plan for UNC in India.
We encourage you to go to the the following link, choose the area you would like to comment on, and offer your suggestions.
http://surveys.northcarolina.edu/index.php?sid=13994&lang=en
Thank you for your contribution!