Prof. Gajavelli's Inonesia Stint Had A Handful Of Pleasent Surprises

Online, August 9, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Ever since Professor Gajavelli V. S. has returned from Indonesia to IMT Nagpur, he has been talking about the 'brave new world' that is Indonesia, and the plethora of opportunities it offers. As the former Chairperson - International Relations: Global Alliances, Student& Faculty Exchange Programmes and Joint Research, IMT Nagpur,Professor Gajavelli was a part of a team that visited University Diponegoro (UNDIP), Semarang-Indonesia to teach the students of the Doctoral and Masters programmes in Economics and Finance.

"UNDIP, despite being a government institution, operates like a private institution. It believes that foreign faculty always bring in new techniques, new methods, and more importantly, a new perspective to education. This teaching assignment was a part of our continuing collaboration with UNDIP. We started our collaboration last November, when three of their faculty members came down to IMT Nagpur for joint research with IMT faculty."

Professor Gajavelli seems deeply impressed by Indonesian hospitality and courtesy.

"Amazingly, they are extremely happy people. I've been to USA, Australia, Africa, almost the whole of Europe, and yet I've never seen such happy faces as in Indonesia. Anywhere you go - whether you catch a train, go to a mall or board a bus - there is no stress in their social interactions."

Dr. Gajavelli singles out the academic rigour of the students of University Diponegoro for praise. In fact, he is quite excited about the next phase of this collaboration, which is the student exchange programme. He would like students of IMT Nagpur to experience what he did.

"What we know of Indonesia is only from the TV, and what's fed to us in the newspapers. I was absolutely thrilled to see the depth of their systems and processes. The academic process is highly technology-driven, classroom processes are top-notch and students are made to work. Even at the undergrad level, you find students flocking to the library, sitting on the carpet reading journals in the areas of Economics, Finance, Accounting, etc. The kinds of textbooks being referred to by undergrads in Indonesia are of the level of post-graduates in India. In the classrooms too, I found the students extremely serious and highly participative."

Professor Gajavelli feels that given that the essentials are in place - the high level of sophistication, low economic disparity and a highly qualified society - Indonesia is all set to burst forth as an economic power. He sees immense potential for IMT Nagpur in this collaboration, especially in the Executive Management space.

"Management as a subject is not very prominent in University Diponegoro. In fact, we are looking forward to an Executive Management programme that we could conduct for them in Semarang."

Professor Gajavelli feels that of the 32 global linkages that IMT Nagpur has, its collaboration with UNDIP - which has a respectable global ranking (26th best university globally), with an impressive performance and focus on academics and research - is going to have far-reaching consequences.