Date:18/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/18/stories/2007111854450700.htm

National

Enhancing quality faculty resources important: Barua

Manas Dasgupta

New IIM -A Director Samir Barua interacts with the media

AHMEDABAD: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s , new Director, Samir Barua, viewed retaining and expanding the faculty as one of the major challenges as he took over the office on November 8.

In his first interaction with the media, Mr. Barua, who joined the faculty in 1980 , said expansion of the infrastructure facilities, funding and even securing “quality non-teaching staff” to support the faculty, were some of the challenges he foresaw for himself.

He, however, was not worried of “poaching” of faculty members, particularly in the light of the reports of his predecessor, Bakul Dholakia, who just joined as an advisor to the Ahmedabad-based business house, Adani group, planning a large-scale exodus from the IIM- A faculty. Mr. Barua said “exchanges” between the industry and the IIM- A faculty had always remained a “healthy practice,” and he did not believe Prof. Dholakia would cause any “mass exodus.” He said he was also confident that getting faculty members from overseas would also no longer be a problem considering the economic growth of India.

He said many teachers from reputed institutions abroad would be willing to join the IIM According to him, the IIM-A needed 15 faculty members to add to its existing 85 in order to maintain the teacher-student ratio to the ideal of one faculty member per nine to 10 students.

Mr. Barua disagreed that taking government help for funding infrastructural development of the institution, particularly in view of the reservation policy for the other backward classes, would amount to surrendering its operational autonomy. “I do not think financial autonomy and operational autonomy are totally co-related,” he said but added that the IIM-A would still strive to arrange for enough funds from its own internal accruals, generated from advisory and consultancy services and other incomes, to finance the infrastructure development of the institution.

Mr. Barua said during the last few years, the IIM- A had established partnerships with 50 reputed institutions abroad and during his tenure he would try to further deepen and expand the relationship with its counterparts in the Asia and Pacific region, Europe and the United States for faculty and student exchange programmes and enhancing quality of education.