Thinking of holding a dual degree simultaneously from an Indian and a US university? If all goes well, that might soon become a reality. The first meeting between US Academics and the Maharashtra government was held recently in Mumbai at Raj Bhavan under the Governor of Maharashtra. Options of dual degrees, twinning programmes, and collaboration opportunities between US and Maharashtra universities were discussed
Heads of 62 US universities participated in this discussion presided over by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Maharashtra minister for Higher Education Chandrakant Patil held the discussion with the foreign delegation.
The open session among vice-chancellors and heads of universities discussed the issues of dual degrees, twinning programmes, joint degrees, international certification, collaboration opportunities, gamification of learning, virtual learning, cooperation in medical and agricultural education, faculty and student exchange, research funding, credit transfer and creation of affordable free structures, etc.
Stating that Maharashtra has 72 universities, 4731 colleges, and about 4.2 million students pursuing higher education, Minister Chandrakant Patil said the coming together of the universities in Maharashtra and the USA will help in reaching the goals of the 21st Century.
US Consul General Mike Hankey said 82000 student visas were issued by his Consulate for Indian students in one year. He hoped that the number will cross 100000 within a year.
Addressing the gathering, Governor Koshyari said education knows no boundaries. Recalling the words of Swami Vivekananda, the Governor said education should be ‘man-making’. Stating that Indian philosophy talks of learning together, thinking together, and working together for the progress of the mankind, the Governor stressed the need for greater academic exchanges among universities in Maharashtra and the United States of America.
US universities of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgetown, State University of New York, University of Kansas, University of Louisiana Lafayette, Washington State University, and the University of Wisconsin were among those represented at the meeting.
The meeting, an initiative of the Governor, was attended by vice-chancellors or registrars of all public universities in Maharashtra and 62 heads or representatives of various American Universities.
Maharashtra’s Minister of Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil, Consul General of the United States in Mumbai Mike Hankey, Principal Secretary Higher and Technical Education Vikas Chandra Rastogi, and Leader of the Global Education Team for the US Gabriela Zelaya were prominent among those present.
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