DrEducation: Trends and Insights on Global Higher Education

Guru Mantra
Professor  KB Powar
Higher Education Expert and Scholar

Professor Krishnapratap Bhagwantrao Powar, born on 20th December, 1937, obtained his B.Sc. (1958) and M.Sc. (Applied Geology) (1960) degrees from the Nagpur University and was awarded the J.P. Trivedi Gold Medal and the King Edward Memorial Scholarship. He later secured his Ph.D. degree in Geology, in 1967, from the Banaras Hindu University. He also received Fulbright and Institute of International Education awards for higher study and research in U.S. (1966-67).

Professor Powar has worked as a teacher, research worker and educational administrator in a professional career of 49 years. He was Professor of Geology, Poona University (1977-86) before being appointed as Vice Chancellor, Shivaji University. He was appointed Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi, in February 1993, and reappointed for a second term in February, 1998. He retired from the Association in December 2002 and thereafter wo…

With the recent approval of the foreign universities bill by the cabinet, many people interested in Indian higher education are riding a wave of optimism and expecting that there will be a number of highly reputed institutions like Harvard and Yale which would be establishing their campuses in India. On the other hand, there are few people who believe that this will open floodgates for poor quality institutions which would enter India to take unfair advantage of students.

Both these views are at the extremes and require a dose of reality. In these times of budget cuts and decreasing endowments for universities, there are very few reputed foreign universities which would be willing and capable of establishing campus in India. Public universities in UK and US are facing severe financial turmoil and private non-profit universities which rely on tuition and endowments are facing worst fall in their endowments since recession.

Apart from increasing constraints on financial resources, bui…

Shai Reshef Founder & President University of the People
Shai Reshef is the Founder & President of the University of the People, the world’s first tuition-free, online academic institution, which he established following 20 years in the international education market. From 1989 to 2005, Reshef served as Chairman of the Kidum Group, the largest for-profit educational services company based in Israel which was sold to Kaplan, Inc. in 2005. Between 2001 and 2004, while continuing as the chairman of Kidum, Reshef lived in the Netherlands where he chaired KIT eLearning, a subsidiary of Kidum, the eLearning partner of the University of Liverpool and the first online university outside of the United States. The company was sold to Laureate in 2004. In 2009, Reshef was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” joined the United Nations’ Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development as a High-level Adviser, and spoke internationa…

I have recently published in a book by IIE and EDU magazine.

Institute of International Education (IIE) book is entitled "International India: A Turning Point in Educational Exchange with the U.S." focusing on U.S.-India higher education exchanges. I have co-authored a chapter on background and trends in the U.S.-India academic collaborations. The book is edited by Dr. Rajika Bhandari of IIE and includes chapters from Mr. Sam Pitroda and Dr. Philip Altbach. 
EDU is a new magazine which focuses on higher education sector in India. The editor of the magazine is Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha who was founding dean of the ISB. I have authored a chapter entitled "Leading without Leadership?" where I argue that leading higher educational institutions is a complex and challenging role which requires unique competencies. There is a need for developing a profession of educational leadership through systematic education, research and professional development.
 I would welcome any thoug…