School of Computer Sciences, Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University, Director: S. R. Kolhe Interview

S. R. Kolhe is presently serving as the Director at School of Computer Sciences, Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon. With a vast teaching experience of 26 years, he has published various international book chapters, Journals, Conference proceedings and research abstracts. He also has a patent registered under his credit, and has carried out a number of projects funded by government agencies like UGC, AICTE, etc. Moreover, he has been awarded with Best Paper Award (2014), Best Teacher Award (2012), Best Paper Presentation Award (2005, 2006, 2007) and Best Paper Prize (2009). 

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“Shaping the life of youth and transforming the world”

Education sector is the most respected field in the modern world, rather its importance is on the peak in the knowledge-based society and economy. There is no cat-rat race neither money-oriented targets, nor bias towards learners. This is the only field which not only serves mankind but transforms the world into a better place to live in. This is the only sector which gives you full intellectual autonomy, freedom, where there are no bounds or restrictions on your thinking process. The teacher-student bonding and emotional connect is so special that we can’t describe it in words. This sector gives you full satisfaction and sense of completeness, which is rare in other economically driven business sectors.

How would you describe your leadership style?

“Giving opportunities and delegation of power among individuals”

I have full faith and follow a decentralized flat R-R (Roles and Responsibilities) based organizational structure, wherein I assign different roles to staff members according to their competency for different academic and administrative tasks. So while someone is leading a task at the same time, he/she may be a member of another team for another task. In this process everyone gets a chance to lead and develop his/her leadership skills and at the same time it helps to build good team spirit amongst the faculty members. Personally, being the director of the institute, I do follow the Lead by Example philosophy, there is no point in a leader finding excuses in escaping from his own job assignments and responsibilities.

How do you strategize the key plans for the administration of your University?

“Distinguished bodies to work in a comprehensive manner”

Our school is covered under academic flexibility so for effective academic administration purposes, we have three statutory committees in our school viz. Academic committee, Admission committee and Examination committee. Every committees’ roles and duties are crisply defined, hence there is no confusion in realising key programs. The committees are reconstituted every three-four years, so every faculty member gets a chance to work in each committee thus excelling their professional competence in different areas of academic administration. Most economical fee structures, academically sound curricula, in-depth teaching-learning with innovative methods and adequate technical infrastructure are the main selling points of our marketing agenda.

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What can an inbound student gain from studying here in your university?

“Dynamic academic and skill expansion perspectives”

Imparting quality education is the sole of our operating philosophy. Syllabi of our courses are at par with international standards. I can assure you that we inculcate a rock-solid academic foundation of computer science core subjects in every student, which helps him to shape up his career on his own by becoming intellectually self-sufficient and sustainable, which is a must for the vibrant IT industry. Being located in tier-2 cities, there are different challenges for survival. Students get the opportunity to learn these survival skills during academics, which they can practise for their professional career and enjoy a smooth life. 

How does the curriculum of KBCNMU ensure the best practice of industry?

“Incorporating latest practises and practical knowledge”

Industry experts and representatives of students are part of the panel along with in-house and external veteran academicians who help structuring and revising the curriculum for different courses. During each revision, we introduce the latest trending technologies as well as incorporate the advanced topics in the existing subject knowledge and sometimes retune the course to suit the intellectual abilities of our students. For framing the syllabus of individual courses, we follow Bloom’s taxonomy for proper content formulation of that course. The committee ensures proper balance between core, applied and research components of the curriculum. For specialised subject knowledge, we have recently started offering short term certificate courses in collaboration with Quick Heal foundation in the area of Computer and Web security. 

What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the University are?

“Managing the overall workflow”

Overall qualitative improvement of our school of Computer Sciences in the areas of teaching-learning-evaluation, research and extension is my main responsibility. I am easily accessible for the students, parents as well as staff. I make sure everybody’s problems are addressed with due attention and try to give the best possible solution within the legal framework.

What do you think should be the University’s top priority over the next 10 years?

“Best practices to follow and improve the academics”

Continuing the existing periodic curricula revision practice and other such practices, inclusion of new models of ICT enabled interactive teaching-learning are what we look forward to. Also, we are working on improving the placement statistics, introducing remedial courses, strengthening technical and research infrastructure, authoring administrative SOPs, attracting foreign students, building alumni corpus, and fetching external project funding from various funding agencies. Moreover, raising NGO funding, improving quality of research publications, planning for getting new faculty positions, introducing certificate courses with the help of IT industries, new academic collaborations with public and private sector educational institutions and private e-learning organizations should be some of the top priorities in the near future.

What would you like people to know about your University they may not know? 

“Affordable quality education and best academic outputs”

We are the government aided institution and one of the pioneers of Computer Science and Application Education in the state of Maharashtra. We offer high quality, latest computer education at a very affordable fee in the country. Besides the regular teaching-learning, we are getting a reputation for high quality research in different fields of Computer Sciences. Our school is recognized under the prestigious UGC’s SAP(DRS) schemes for level I and level II. We have a long chronicle of producing more successful students in their professional life, due to the concrete foundation in Core Computer Science subjects and the exhaustive experience they get in here. 

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What do you see as KBCNMU’s greatest strengths?

“Specialized faculty and strong relations”

In spite of a short life span, our university has really earned a good name and fame at national and international levels in various aspects of academics, be it quality education, research or types of curricula. The faculty members are dynamic and enthusiastic. Most of them are quite Tech savvy. So the university has smoothly and successfully adopted ICT applications in its functioning. I take pride to state that the School of Computer Sciences has taken lead in this direction. There is good interpersonal communication amongst the faculty members of various other institutions as well, which helps to build team spirit and sense of patriotism about the university. Staff members have a positive mindset and are ready to solve the problems of the students and other stakeholders.