Promotion of Indian Higher Education Abroad (PIHEAD)

Study Abroad Programs

Prof. Prakash C. Sarangi, Professor& Head, Dept. of Political Science and Joint Director, Study India Program, University of Hyderabad

What is Study Abroad Program?

A Study Abroad Program (SAP) refers to scheme where a student of a university goes to a foreign country and takes courses there for a short period. Many western universities encourage their students to visit another country to experience and learn about a different culture. A student may like to satisfy his/her curiosity to explore and travel, while at the same time earning credits from courses. For a long time India was not a favoured destination for Study Abroad programs. During the last few decades interest on India has grown immensely. Therefore, many students from abroad seem to be interested to study for a short period at an Indian university. The duration could be only summer, one semester or one academic year. Normally such students do not enroll into a degree program in India. They go through a few courses – often related to India’s history, culture, language, literature, politics, economy, society, art, etc. – and their grades are transferred to their parent institution.

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What is there for an Indian university?

Helps in internationalization of the campus.

Interaction with a foreign university enables the Indian institution to get international visibility.

This in turn may result in research collaborations.

There may sometimes be faculty and student exchanges.

Sensitizes the students and teachers to the needs of different national groups.

Allows the teacher to rethink about the content of the syllabus.

New syllabi get generated in order to cater to the needs of international students.

The campus becomes culturally vibrant.

Incidentally, the institution may be able to generate some extra revenue.

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Who May Join SAP?

Universities and their International Studies divisions or Study Abroad Programs.

Heads of Academic Programs, Disciplines or Departments of Universities.

Institutions with a South Asia/Area Studies program.

Higher Education institutes or Councils of International Education

NRI groups or associations.

Trade or business delegations or groups (for short-term courses)

Individual students – on a selective basis.

The host university may fix specific qualifications for enrolment of a student to SAP. Some examples are: whether student should be from undergraduate class or postgraduate; if undergraduate, whether from all years or only from 3rd & 4th years; Grade Point Average of 2.5 or 3.0, etc.

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Is your University ready for SAP?

It is a good idea to start with an assessment of strengths and weaknesses of your institution. The location of your campus as well as the academic environment should be able to attract young foreign students. There ought to be a large basket of courses on various aspects of India. The choice of courses may sometimes be exotic, e.g., Death Rituals in India or mundane, e.g., Human Rights Scenario in India. Besides the existing courses, a University should be ready to design new courses. Most of the students like to opt for a course on any one Indian language. The language courses need to be invariably designed afresh, since the emphasis and pace of language learning for international students is bound to be different.

The infrastructure facilities need to be assessed as well. These include: appropriate and adequate class-rooms, teaching aids, library, computer and communication facilities, health-care services, residential accommodation/host families, hygienic food, etc. The room and board need not be world class or expensive, but have to be simple and clean. Most of the students coming to India are mentally prepared for difficult living conditions; but would not compromise on health or hygiene.

Most SAP students would like to see a bit of India. Besides the orientation tours to the local areas, study tours to see a village, tribal area, a factory, an NGO, a primary school or temple/mosque is often appreciated. A course with a field study component has invariably many takers.

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Disseminating Information

The outside world ought to know that an Indian University is ready to provide a SAP. The fastest ways of disseminating information is by creating a website. This may be a part of the University’s website or a separate one. The web pages should be attractive and should contain all the information regarding the courses, teachers, accommodation, application procedure, etc. The University should also print an attractive brochure containing similar information

The next step is to send a copy of brochure to as many foreign universities as possible. It may be mailed to the Director of Study Abroad Programs or similarly designated officials. It is a good strategy to contact them by name, which can be found in their University’s website. Personal contacts of the university’s faculty are often very helpful. These contacts - especially those who have at some point of time visited the Indian campus – can act as our ambassadors in negotiating with their own Study Abroad Office.

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Pre-requisites in Academic arrangements

An important component of SAP is the transfer of credits of the students to their parent institution. It is desirable that the host University also follows a credit system with evaluation based on grades. In the absence of a credit system, the University ought to evolve a mechanism of conversion of marks to grades.

Secondly, the academic calendar ought to be suitably adjusted. Most SAP students would like to come only for summer or for a semester. If it is expected that SAP students will attend the courses along with the other Indian students, the University ought to have a semester system. There may be some students who would opt for two semesters. But, in general, an annual academic calendar is considered too long. However, academic calendar will not be a hindrance, if the SAP is only for summer (June-July), since the courses have to be designed exclusively for the foreign students.

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Negotiations for SAP

Generally there are long negotiations before SAP would materialize. It may sometimes go on for a year or more. But patience always pays. It is advisable that representatives of Universities abroad – especially those who have shown some interest or responded to the announcement SAP – be invited to visit the host University’s campus. No foreign university will come to an agreement without personally looking at the physical facilities and without talking to some of the teachers. Most of them may be willing to come at their own expense. But it is a good idea to provide local hospitality for them.

The visiting team should ideally meet the VC/head of the institution/Dean, etc; but more importantly they should interact with some of the teachers of the SAP courses. They should be shown all the facilities, including the students’ residences, computer center, library, sports and healthcare facilities, etc. It is also a good idea to keep a few draft syllabi ready for them to peruse. If any outdoor trips are planned for the SAP students, the team should visit these as well.

The host University should keep a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ready, in case the visiting team would like to start some preliminary negotiations. Generally the team goes back to their universities with all the ideas, which they report to their decision-making authorities. A long drawn discussion via email follows thereafter. While negotiating on the content of an MoU, each party’s expectations should be clearly laid down. These include not only the academic part, but also the tuition fee, and costs of lodging, boarding, orientation, study tours etc.

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Administrative Structure

The success of SAP depends on its proper implementation. Proper coordination between the core SAP Management Committee, the Academic departments and teachers of courses and the University administration is essential. The core committee should also enjoy enough autonomy from the other two, so as to insulate the SAP students from going around, say, for enrolment into courses or for payment of fee, etc.

The SAP should be managed by a core management committee headed by a Director. The Director should ideally be a senior faculty with some experience of studying/teaching in a foreign university. Depending on the size of the program, the Director may be assisted by a few academic Coordinators. Each Coordinator may look after one or a few institutional collaborators. Since a lot of interaction is bound to be over email, the Director/Coordinators should be comfortable in using computers and email. An important task of a Coordinator is to act as a buffer between the SAP students and the academic departments and the administration. She/he is the primary advisor of the student not only in academic matters, but also in personal, social and cultural matters.

A Coordinator should be assisted by a student counselor, who may be recruited from among the University’s research scholars by paying a part-time stipend. There ought to be one student counselor for every 10-15 SAP students. The student Counselors will do a lot of hand-holding job and since they are relatively young, the SAP students can maintain an easy rapport with them. The student Counselor may have multifarious duties, both academic and non-academic: receiving the students at the airport, accompanying them in study tours, organizing the meetings with the faculty, helping them to use the library, being a language interpreter in a field study, showing them the nearest super market or laundry, helping a student when she/he falls ill, etc. One ought to remember that, while the foreign students appreciate this assistance, they do not like to be overprotected, especially if it looks like an invasion into their privacy. A student counselor should be intelligent enough to be able to maintain a judici us balance.

Another member of the SAP core management team should be an official looking after SAP’s administration and finance. She/he should have management skills, independent initiative and familiarity with the University rules and regulations.

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Admitting the students and Orientation

The application process of SAP students should start about six months before the commencement of the course. Wherever there is an MoU with a foreign University’s SAP, they would take care of this application process. But it is a good idea, even in the case of these MoUs, to read a student’s CV and the statement of purpose. This will help the SAP core committee to assess the talents and expectations of a student. One may as well be able to refuse the admission of frivolous students.

Approximately three months before the commencement of courses, individual admission letters need to be issued to the students. These letters will be used to obtain visa from the Indian consulates abroad.

It is a good idea to send someone to the airport/railway station to meet the students when they arrive. If the lodging arrangements are not already made, temporary guest house/hotel accommodation should be organized for about one week. The first couple of days’ comfort and smiles will go a long way in strengthening a good relationship.

As soon as the students’ arrival, there should be an orientation program for the students. The students should be provided with a written document specifying the safety rules, ways to cope with cultural differences, the precautions to be taken while living in an Indian city as well as options available for choosing different courses. It is essential that some of the class room etiquettes and behavioral expectations from students in the campus should be told in no uncertain terms. This may include important items like dress code or non-smoking and non-drinking in public places to the simple facts like food, beverages not being allowed into the class room. They should also be told about the precautions required for protecting their health. Another legal requirement, which they must be specifically told, is that the students studying for more than 180 days should register in the nearest police office. The students should also be taken out on an orientation tour of the city, not only to see historical and cultural places, but also to visit places like a super market, places of worship and places of entertainment.

The core committee of SAP should give the students one-on-one counseling on the various options of courses available to the students. Ideally, the students should be allowed to attend all possible choice of courses for about one week before they make up their mind to choose a specific basket of courses. After a student has made his/her choice, the core committee should negotiate with the concerned teacher and Heads of Departments for final enrolment into the University Program. However, if a course is specifically scheduled for SAP students, appropriate time-table ought to be organized

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A Few Operational Issues

Even after the SAP students have settled down in their courses and in the hostel/guest house, it is a good idea to monitor their well-being from time to time. There should be a review meeting with the students, at least once or twice a month. The discussion may be not only on the physical facilities or food, but also on the problems faced in the class room, library or in the tests. There may be counseling sessions on the prevailing examination patterns, in the University.

Before the end of the program, the SAP students may be given the option of organizing a cultural evening, presenting a dance or music they have learnt during their stay in India or simply expressing symbolically their impressions of India. The SAP core committee should host a farewell lunch/dinner, where small gifts may be presented to the students. At this stage it is essential that a program evaluation questionnaire be filled by the students.

Lastly, the SAP should promptly send the students’ grade reports to their parent institution. This process should not take more than two/three weeks. Given the urgency, it is always a good idea to delink this work from the regular Controller of Examination’s office at the University. Ideally, SAP office should handle this work.

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Epilogue

No program succeeds without hitches. Dealing with 20 years olds from foreign countries is not easy. While they learn from us, we have to learn from their experience. Any new experiment in an academic program of this type requires a lot of patience to fine-tune the management as the program expands and grows.

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