BANGALORE: There seems to be no reason for Indian universities to be wary of foreign universities. If recent trends in Bangalore are any indication, foreign universities are coming to India in peace, with many looking at academic and organisational collaborations.Sauder School of Business (of University of British Columbia), one of the top 100 B-schools in the world, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. The MoU would foster healthy research collaborations along with providing frameworks for student exchanges and collaborative programme development.According to a report by ‘Open Doors’, an annual report jointly released by the Institute of International Education and the U S State Department, Indian students make up for 14.4 per cent of international students in foreign universities. While there is a one per cent drop from the previous year, universities are not worried as India’s economic progress is for everyone to see.“We want our students to be a part of the phenomenal growth India is witnessing. More than a mere collaboration, I reckon this to be value exchange. I don’t think there is any other country whose economy is growing as rapidly as that of India,” Dr Daniel F Muzyka, Dean, Sauder School of Business told City Express.In addition to the MoU’s, a new Bangalore office of the University of British Columbia will act as a catalyst to engage directly with key academic, government and business stakeholders. In another instance, Thomspon Rivers University (TRU), a prominent Canadian university, launched a comprehensive social media campaign in the city recently covering the whole of India that will allow Indian students to network with each other both before and after coming to Canada. “We want to internationalise our presence. India is a diverse mix, and we want our students to get a taste of the culture and tradition here,” said Alan Shaver, President and Vice-Chancellor, TRU.Apart from Sauder and TRU, several European universities have visited Bangalore in an effort to reach out to students here. The reason being the city’s likeness to America’s Silicon Valley and United Kingdom’s Canary Wharf. “It is good that foreign universities are looking at collaborations. But more than anything else, research collaboration has to be the focus. Research in most Indian universities is horrible, and collaboration would help. All collaborations have to be mutual to actually benefit students,” opined Dr M S Thimappa, former Vice-Chancellor, Bangalore University.
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