Mumbai, 24th May 2018: SPJIMR, a top ranked school of management and Shivaji University, which affiliates over 280 colleges in Southern Maharashtra, on Wednesday the 23rd May, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that is the first-of-its-kind public-private partnership between two leading institutes of higher learning.
As part of the MoU, SPJIMR will work with Shivaji University in areas like faculty development, case writing, research, curriculum development and select social initiatives of the Government of Maharashtra that are relevant to regions around Kolhapur.
State Minister for Higher & Technical Education, Mr. Vinod Tawde attended the signing ceremony, which was held in his office at the Mantralaya. The Minister’s presence signalled the importance of an alliance that will enable a leading MBA institute like SPJIMR work with a university that has become the hub of learning and research in Kolhapur.
The Minister said, “The government supports the enhancement of quality education through partnerships and mentorship programmes. This MoU sets a new benchmark of public-private partnership that can enhance learning and open up new opportunities for development of faculty and students.”
Dr. Devanand Shinde, Vice Chancellor of The Shivaji University said, “The signing of the MoU today marks a new beginning for Shivaji University in the field of management education to help us address various local issues and it will be useful in internal capacity building so that we can take the benefits to society.”
Dr. Ranjan Banerjee, Dean of SPJIMR said, “We can influence practice at the level of the corporates, students and thought leadership. The second is at the level of other institutes of education, where we seek to mentor faculty and improve educational outcomes. The hunger for quality education is even higher in tier two and tier three towns and it is a market in which we can make a difference to benefit society. It carries a larger social purpose we can serve. We will learn a lot from the experience.”
Also at the signing ceremony was Dr. Apoorva Palkar, Advisor to the Minister for Higher & Technical Education. Dr. Palkar said, “The government is looking at helping public institutions in the state enhance quality and this is one such endeavour in public-private partnership. It brings the strength of one of the great players into a region that requires such expertise. While Shivaji University has expertise, there are areas in which it can draw benefits, particularly with the eco-system of Mumbai that comes with SPJIMR. This is an endeavour for the region of Kolhapur as well as for developing the university department and is a first-of-its kind initiative.”
The MoU signed today marks a new phase in SPJIMR’s efforts to take its pedagogical innovations and teaching-learning methodologies to places and areas where the institute does not usually reach. It helps build on the SPJIMR’s two-pronged mission to influence, practice and promote value-based growth.
The MoU is a result of conversations SPJIMR initiated with the Government of Maharashtra to explore ways to serve society and people across the state. The discussions came amid new efforts by the government to upgrade higher and technical education in the state.
The government suggested that SPJIMR, which is a part of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, could explore ways to partner with public universities of Maharashtra. This led to talks with Shivaji University, a leading University with 300,000 students across its affiliated colleges and an ‘A’ grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
The relationship carries the potential of benefitting an even wider audience because Shivaji University will act as a hub to work with other public universities in Maharashtra in a similar way.
