Charles F. Zukoski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, recently visited Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to foster the ongoing collaborations and faculty exchange programs with the famed institution.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham with an array of reputed global universities has been putting together a wide range of institutional links that support international activities such as student exchanges, dual-degrees, remote teaching, development of joint academic programs, co-guiding Ph. D. students, high-end research collaboration and other collaborative initiatives.
Prof. Zukoski contemplated on ways to transcend the university to manage the various challenges faced by most universities in recent times.
Hot topics like the ever evolving educational curriculum, rising cost of education, fierce competition for scholarship, federal funding among universities and evolution of online education that pose significant threat to university business models have been among the few discussed by him.
Prof. Zukoski went around the multi-campus institution exploring the extensive interdisciplinary yet focused academia that has incorporated to the fullest, the values and virtues endorsed by the mission and vision of the institution.
He also visited the various centres at Amrita and saw first hand the in-depth, versatile and socially oriented research projects and initiatives at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. He was all praises for the illustrious projects conceived at Amrita, the likes of WINSOC lab where landslide detection was simulated, Amrita Virtual Interactive E-learning World (A-VIEW), Sakshat Amrita Vocational Education (SAVE), Mobile Vocational Education (MoVE), Amrita Self Reliant Villages (ASeRVe) and so on that present students with opportunities to address and tackle multifaceted issues prevalent in the society without compromising on the disciplinary excellence.
During the short spanned tour, he was mesmerised and inspired by the ability of the institution to contribute so much to the local community. While sharing his thoughts with the dignitaries, he mentioned about taking the academic association with Amrita to the next level.
“Amma impacts inspiration to the institution’s social consciousness and fascinating blend of interdisciplinary initiatives and augments its capacity to translate the researching capabilities to transform the community. It is amazing to know that we have opportunities to collaborate. Amrita is a worthy partner”, noted Prof. Zukoski.
Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar, the Associate Dean at the Amritapuri campus in thanking said, “It is a great privilege to have Prof. Zukoski in our midst. It is a great opportunity for the students at both universities to learn from each other.”
Despite what happens to be his first visit to India and having only had a slender chance to see the aesthetic beauty of the country, the jubilant Professor was all praises for the nation. “I am discovering what it is to be in India. It’s amazing to be here for the first time and it feels like drinking from a fire hose”, shared Prof. Zukoski.
