GOING GLOBAL

Private universities focussed on creating a world-class academic and research environment are actively recruiting teachers from abroad.

- Sheena Sachdeva

FLAME University is looking for academics and scholars from around the world, not necessarily to teach but to stay on campus and work on their research. The private university in Pune, Maharashtra is looking to become a "sabbatical hub".

"We will support them and explore channels for our faculty to collaborate with them for joint research opportunities. We are hopeful this initiative will help us to connect and engage with a larger pool of international faculty whom we could engage with for teaching and research associations. This will also help our students get a real, global learning experience," said Dishan Kamdar, its vice-chancellor.

Much freer than public institutions in matters of recruitment and salaries, private universities consciously cultivate an international environment and recruit large number of foreigners as well.

Private universities including Ashoka, FLAME, OP Jindal, Shoolini and even newer ones such as Plaksha, Rishihood have significant numbers of foreigners teaching with several of them in senior positions.

"We believe there is quite a large number of young international faculty who want to come and work in India on some interesting topics," said Atul Khosla, founder and vice-chancellor, Shoolini University.

International campus recruitment

With an eye to creating Ivy-League-type institutions - top private universities in the US Indian private institutions are recruiting from universities in the US, Ireland, Taiwan, Iran, and many more. The strong focus is also prompted by the fact that international university ranking systems such as the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) rankings privilege an "international" campus for both students and staff.