Role of Technical University in Nurturing Academic Excellence: Opportunities and Challenges

This paper identifies the need for and role of a technical university in a state to nurture quality and academic excellence in technical education as a result of privatization of technical education system and resultant proliferation of institutions. It identifies the advantages of having a technical university in a state and briefly traces the history of technical university system in India. To ensure success of this system, it outlines a strategic roadmap with TQM based approaches with focus on "employability enhancement, student orientation, faculty - driven and enlightened visionary led institutions". It advocates strong focus on 'quality' and 'academic' excellence, transparency in functioning; agility to quickly respond to requirements in industry and balance teaching, applied research and consulting or outreach activities. It pleads for a case for greater financial, administrative autonomy, commensurate with accountability for performance on well defined parameters and metrics perceived by stake - holders: the university members, institutions affiliated, students, employers, state govt. and the academic regulators at the national level. It addresses on the issue of recent trends in bifurcating/trifurcating technical universities in the states and cautions about the dysfunctional aspects of such a strategy and proposes all alternative to take care of efficient handling of increased numbers.