Welingkar Institute awarded Autonomous Status for all its University Programs
Established S.P. Mandali's Welingkar Institute of Management, today announced that it has been conferred with an autonomous status, for all its University programs, by the University of Mumbai for five years, effective from the ongoing academic year.
The autonomous status has been granted in accordance with the provisions made under Status No.593 to 642 regarding grant of autonomous status to affiliated college/recognized Institutes/University Dept/University Institution. With this autonomy, the institution gets enhanced agility for structuring its programs, designing the course curricula as per the industry requirements and planning internships. The conferment of an autonomous status has been awarded after a thorough audit and review conducted by State as well as UGC appointed Committees. University of Mumbai grants autonomy based on the parameters of excellence in academic performances, capability of self governance and enhancement in the quality of education.
This conferment makes Welingkar Institute the first self-financed (non-minority) management institute in Mumbai to be awarded this status.
On this occasion, Shri Abhay Dadhe Chairman, S P Mandali and Chairman Local Managing Committee, sharing his vision said
"It is indeed a moment of pride for all of us at S P Mandali. This development of autonomous status for Welingkar Institute of Management is a strategic step towards its future plans of going for Private University Status."
On this occasion, Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool shared
"The status of autonomy is indeed recognition of the quality of academics and integrity of various processes that are evaluated before awarding this status. Having achieved the same, we see it as a great opportunity to meet the emerging and evolving needs, in sync with the industry. It will enable us to make our training more "Learner Centric" and will give us an opportunity to revamp the curriculum as per the Industry requirements."
"Moreover, it will also empower us to provide skill-based education that will facilitate job creation by aligning skills of the workforce to industry needs. We believe that good quality Institutes with autonomy can work with greater agility in realizing the larger goals of the University and the Education space in the country. This step will bring in scalability for quality education and encourage us to bring in unique pedagogical developments and practices into the University programs as well. The focus of our institution has always endeavored to improve employability as well as entrepreneurial ability of students."
Management education has to be contemporary in nature and therefore dynamic. It requires frequent changes in pedagogy, curriculum and other aspects. Autonomy expedites these operations and thus enthusing constant fluidity in the pattern and curriculum apart from accelerating and improving evaluation. Under the new status the Institute can frame its own syllabus, set its own examination and evaluation mechanism on behalf of the parent - University of Mumbai. The status also allows the institute to collaborate with other institutions/agencies/industries etc. for research, extension programmes, pedagogical excellence etc.
For the students, it means that they will have a contemporary curriculum, in sync with the industry needs. Since academic autonomy gives a lot of room for in-house structuring of curriculum, it can be fine-tuned to accommodate new elements to maintain the excellence and 'Industry-sync.' The word may sound redundant but in management education, training is at the core of all. Evaluation is made effective because it is aligned with the training being provided.
The institution has made several pedagogical changes and inclusions in its programs. Design thinking, focus on action-based learning, innovation-led entrepreneurship, international exposure, have been integral to the learning ecosystem.
With the new autonomous status, students can expect to reap with benefits of the AAA philosophy of the Institute; Acquisition, Application and Assimilation. Earlier the programs were focused on acquisition of knowledge, the new autonomous status will benefit the students with opportunities to apply the knowledge through hands-on projects. The evaluation pattern for the courses will be based on continuous evaluation and applying concepts. WeSchool has spearheaded several initiatives such as the Global Citizen Leader program that focuses on not just development of Self and Organization but also Society; to encourage entrepreneurship, the institute has set up a Makers Lab in association with MIT, USA. Courses such as the Integrated Manager which break the specialization silo and involve team teaching are likely to be extended to the University programs as well.
Considering WeSchool has developed its capabilities and bandwidth across domains over the years, through its autonomous programs, the autonomous status for the University programs will benefit from the rich and diverse domain knowledge and pedagogical methods.
S.P. Mandali's Prin L.N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, established in 1977, has been conducting two-year full-time MMS program affiliated to the University of Mumbai since 1984. The Institute has also been offering three-years Part-time Masters programs in Marketing, Information Management, Finance and Human Resource Management, for professionals with work experience since 1988. |
