Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) is among the top 10 B-schools in the country.
Well, that by itself is not news. The fact that it is now also a deemed university will be news to many. The brand make-over of this business school-turned-university focuses on communicating exactly that.
“Our research indicated that our identity as a business school was well established, but we were less known as a deemed university,” said Dr Rajan Saxena, Vice-Chancellor of the Mumbai-based SVKM’s NMIMS deemed University.
“Based on the stakeholders’ feedback we are carrying out the new branding initiatives that include a new logo which reflects our current and aspirational position in the higher education space.”
The institute has also undertaken other brand building initiatives such as organising events and forging strategic alliances with other international universities and organisations for educational programmes and consulting projects.
So, why the brouhaha over its deemed university status?
According to guidelines of the University Grants Commission, an institute seeking a deemed university status should have made a distinct contribution to the higher education system through innovative programmes and distinguished research in its area of specialisation.
“Our deemed university status allows us complete autonomy to innovate and design our own courses, curriculum, and admissions process,” explains Saxena.
The status also helps the institute attract students who want to pursue tailor-made specific courses such as NMIMS’ five-year-long technology management course, which is combination of engineering and management studies.
The university is coming up with a Centre for Manufacturing Excellence in association with University of Warwick (Warwick Manufacturing Group).
“The Centre will give our engineering college greater visibility in the technical education arena.” The new centre will focus on research, educational programmes and faculty consulting projects. NMIMS’ engineering institute and business school will contribute resources to the Centre.
The University is also in talks with the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School for an alliance, Saxena informed.
The University is shifting its focus to publishing faculty research for better visibility.
“We want to emerge as thought leaders in the coming 10 years and it is important to put our faculty’s work in the public domain,” said Saxena.