Expressnews
Chennai , 7th Nov 2022 : O.P. Jindal Global University and Seattle University are coming together to forge a new academic partnership. This partnership will aid in the creation of new and innovative opportunities for students and faculty in higher education.
Seattle University has also signed MoUs with Loyola College and Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation (Deemed to be a University).
During the visit of the senior management and leadership team from Seattle University to Chennai, they have successfully entered into two MoUs with two premier educational institutions, Loyola College and Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation.
The MoU is a step forward to strengthen the friendship, co-operation and collaboration with Seattle University through the following initiatives:
• Collaborative research, Joint Publications and Library exchanges
• Faculty and Student exchange programmes for study, teaching and research
• Programs for study or service
• Mobility of scholars between the institutions to participate in conferences, lectures, and seminars
A delegation including Seattle University President Professor Eduardo M. Peñalver, Dean Professor Anthony E. Varona (School of Law), Dean Professor (Dr.) Amit Shukla (College of Science & Engineering), Dean Professor (Dr.) Joseph M. Phillips (Albers School of Business & Economics) and Associate Dean Professor (Dr.) Madhu T. Rao (Albers School of Business & Economics), are currently visiting India.
Professor Eduardo Peñalver said, “Seattle University is the largest independent University in the Pacific Northwest in the Seattle region. Seattle University has six colleges including College of Nursing and College of Education, Science and Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Laww and Business. Our fastest growing programs are in computer science and data science. Our students can learn from your experience, and certainly, your students and scholars can learn from our experience and so we need to build relationships at the institutional level to create relationships at the individual level in order to educate leaders who can effectively grapple with global challenges.
The Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, Prof (Dr). C. Raj Kumar said, “The state of Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront of promoting higher education and providing leadership in the world of higher education. If you look at the National gross enrolment ratio for India, that’s approximately 25% to 27%. As far as higher education is concerned, the Tamil Nadu is gross enrolment ratios over 52%. So Tamil Nadu is actually the country’s leader as far as higher education is concerned. Second, Tamil Nadu also leads in medical studies, engineering and science, technology education, as well as humanities and social sciences. The state of Tamil Nādu has been at the forefront. So it was quite obvious that when Seattle University was planning to build partnerships with the leading universities in India, it was quite appropriate that they had to visit Tamil Nadu and indeed the city of Chennai. The third reason we are here is that the national education policy, which I believe has several aspects that focuses on improving the quality of education, benchmarking Indian institutions with the best institutes around the world, as well as promoting excellence in teaching and research, developing research ecosystem through the National Research Foundation. One of the most critical aspects of the national education policy has been the emphasis on internationalization and global partnerships.
The senior delegation from Seattle University is being hosted at O.P. Jindal Global University’s campus, where President Peñalver delivered a Distinguished Public Lecture on “Academic Freedom and the Future of Universities”. The delegation is also engaging in dialogue with key stakeholders at JGU to design new pathways of collaboration.
A joint delegation from JGU and SU is embarking on a five city tour, wherein the senior leadership of both Universities will converse with students, educators and thought leaders on the future of higher education in an increasingly globalised world.
According to American Council on Education: Colleges and universities have long sought partnerships with institutions around the globe to facilitate student exchanges, faculty research collaborations, and other activities. As part of efforts to advance comprehensive internationalization, many institutions are seeking to become more strategic in identifying international partners and cultivating multifaceted relationships that grow over time and advance broad institutional goals. Global partnerships explore policies, key issues and challenges, and good practices for strategic planning and implementation of successful collaborations.
