Hi Vinay,
Thanks for sharing the email. Your comments are spot on. There are several avenues we may be able to assist the college on. Somehow we need to reduce the gap between what's being taught in the college (i.e. theory) and how it can be put to work (i.e. hands on practice). We need to raise the skills/knowledge levels of our lecturers and professors. Tie ups with different industries can help through which we can acquire research projects for at least 3rd and final year students/teachers. Promoting "summer internship" programs can also be very beneficial to our students. Alumni Association can play a critical role in both of these. Further, Alumni Association can put together some funding for joint research projects (ex. Polymer and Production collaborating on a project). We need to promote "innovation".
I tend to agree with the comments made by the principal of Amravati Engineering College - Our students are getting jobs because of the industry demand, and not because of their own competitiveness. We can't blame anyone for it. I am also wondering, if the alumni members would be willing to visit the college on a regular basis to provide students with updates on current and future industry trends and how the students can prepare themselves for the changing landscape. A quarterly conference call by an alumnus can also work along with some presentation material. This will avoid the need to travel to the college. My university in the U.S. has its own multi million dollar on campus Alumni Association building (At COETA, we are struggling to acquire an office. Hopefully, it won't be the situation anymore), along with dedicated staff. It publishes its own magazine on a quarterly basis talking about most recent advancements at the school with highlights of major projects underway in collaboration with the industry. It raises general awareness of alumni members and promotes generation of additional projects/funding. I do get physical copy in the mail. I will look out for an electronic version and will forward it to you in a separate email. I can also do some more research to understand how alumni associations operate here and the type of contributions provided by them; being an alumnus of a university here, it shouldn't be difficult to do.
Please keep the momentum going. We need to increase the engagement level of the members of the association. It should be considered seriously. I know, it's easy to say that than do it. I am available to provide any help and I am sure, so are many other members. Hopefully, people didn't think of this as an "event" (which has definite start and stop points). It should be thought as a "continuous process" requiriing ongoing involvement from the members.
Please stay in touch. It was great to see all of you. Hope, your trip to UAE went well. I am already looking forward to the next alumni meet. Hopefully, I will continue to be in a position to attend.
Regards,
Raj
