Teachers possess a strong power in their own capacity to direct the students to become responsible citizens. Their communal hard work act as a driving power by which the goals and objectives of an educational scheme are being achieved. Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. As such, teacher quality must be taken into account to make such goals reachable. The LPU-HRDC‘s main philosophy is to keep in mind that the teacher is the fulcrum of the system. LPU-HRDC outcomes are focused on continuous improvement in quality of teaching and evaluation as per international standards, continuous improvement in research as per global standards and increase in work efficiency. The Guru-Dakshta: Faculty Induction Program has been organized w.e.f. May 16, 2022 to June 20, 2022 for participants of Higher Educational Institutions across India.
Week 5 of Guru-Dakshta: Faculty Induction Program (FIP) was structured as per Module VII, VII, IX & X prescribed in UGC Guidelines, 2019 in Guru-Dakshta manual. Hence the sessions targeted
- M7: Academic Integrity
- M8: Constitutional Values, Human Rights & Fundamental Duties
- M9: Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Development Goals
- M10: Strategic Planning and Management
The seventh module titled “Academic Integrity” provided insights on academic integrity among participants to have trustworthy and high-quality academic outputs from higher education institutions. Dr. Monica Gulati, Professor and Executive Dean, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Lovely Professional University disseminated a session on Academic Integrity: The Best Practices. She discussed the role of faculty in imparting values among students, Safeguarding academic integrity, identifying predatory journals, ethical practices while conducting research, plagiarism, etc.
Dr. Harminder Singh, Professor & Dy. Dean, Department of Accreditation and Rankings, Lovely Professional University oriented the participants on Plagiarism Types, Issues and Consequences and Software Tools for Plagiarism Check: Turnitin and Open Source Tools.
The eighth module titled “Constitutional Values, Human Rights & Fundamental Duties” sensitize on understanding the linkage between Constitutional values, human rights, fundamental duties and education, Appreciate the importance of methods and strategies to integrate Constitutional values and in classroom teaching and research. Dr. Meenu Chopra, Associate Professor, School of law, Lovely Professional University exchanged her views and experiences on Connect Between Constitutional Values and Education with focus on:
- Concept of Constitutional values and Education in class
- Understanding the basics of Constitution
- To relate Constitutional provisions with the education system
- To apply the constitutional values in their classes
Dr. Dalliandeep Kaur Tiwana, Associate Professor, School of law, Lovely Professional University focussed on Human Rights and Fundamental Duties. He expressed his views on evolution and landmarks in the development of Human Rights, classifications of Human Rights, Classification of Fundamental Rights as enshrined in the Indian Constitution, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Dr. Pavitar Prakash Singh, Professor and Dean, Lovely Professional University gave a comprehensive view on Role of Education in Creating more Equal and Just Society: Best Practices with appropriate examples from a progressing country like Japan. He also deliberated on Looking Beyond Stereotypical Generalizations: Case Studies via apt examples, videos and discussion.
Dr. Girdhari Lal, Assistant Director, AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy & Ms. Pratima Gupta, General Manager, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) expressed their views on Anchoring Professional Ethics in Universal Values: Best Practices. They deliberated upon the ethical theories, business ethics and characteristics of professional ethics.
The ninth module titled “Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Development Goals” focussed on awareness of Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) among participants and promote critical evaluation of the current status and future potential of India regarding SDG. Dr. Manu Sharma, Professor and Head-Deptt.of History, Lovely Professional University deliberated on Sustainable Development Goals: Social Justice. She elaborated upon contributing to social justice by generating awareness about SDGs and engaging students in HEI”s and discussed the major problems of the world which need global focus. Dr. Manu also emphasized on Role of Education – Inclusion and Equity along with institutional strategies for pursuing SDGs.
Dr. Puneet Sikand, Professor & Dean, Division of Industry Interface, Lovely Professional University oriented the participants on Sustainable Development Goals: Economy. She discussed Sustainable Development Goals and analyse the performance of India with respect to SDGs.
Dr. Neeta Raj Sharma, Professor & Dean, School of Bio Engineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University focussed on Sustainable Development Goals: Health and Environment. She elaborated on Sustainable Development & SDGs, Basics of Health, Environment and its components and Health & Environment Alliance.
The tenth module titled “Strategic Planning and Management” provided insights on dealing effectively with rapidly changing circumstances, improve internal management and institutional performance.
Dr. Indoo Pandey Khanduri, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Central University -Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University sensitized the participants on Creating and Developing Shared Vision. She focussed on:
- Vision and shared vision
- What does it mean to have a vision/ shared vision?
- The major effects of having vision
- Steps for creating and developing shared vision
- Models: Education
Dr. Rajesh Verma, Professor & Senior Dean, Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University deliberated on Strategic Planning: Preparing Vision /Mission Document at Institutional Level, developing a strategic thinking mindset and understanding what is involved in preparing Vision & Mission Document at Institutional Level.
Dr. Suresh K. Chadha, Professor, University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh concluded the module with Roadmap of Excellence with Strategic Vision with a focus on Organizational Vision for Excellence via Case Study and Personal Vision for Excellence. He discussed the concept of Wabi Sabi and shared a video on the future concept of Technical University of Munich (TUM). Reflecting upon Simon Sinek’s ideas on achieving excellence were key actionable points.
The participants were regularly provided the reading material relevant to the program curriculum and FIP sessions. As a part of the FIP assessment scheme, the participants were assigned two Quiz. The Quiz 2 was based on Personal-Emotional Development and Counselling and Academic Leadership, Academic Integrity, Constitutional Values, Human Rights & Fundamental Duties, Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Development Goals and Strategic Planning and Management.
Throughout Week 5 of GURU-DAKSHTA FACULTY INDUCTION PROGRAM, the sessions were conducted in a participative environment giving opportunities for open discussion, brainstorming and hands-on learning and used collaborative learning methods like Case studies, videos and quizzes.
The thirty-day journey culminated on June 20, 2022 with participants from PAN India. As per feedback received from participants, resource persons were highly resourceful, eloquent and articulate in putting across their viewpoints. The participants were not only appreciative of the rich content, their knowledge but also their wisdom and their lifetime experiences giving real life examples of the efforts they had put in their own areas of expertise and the bottlenecks they had faced. This gave the participants an insight into how to overcome such difficulties while in pursuit of their goals and missions and that is surely going to stand them in good stead in the times to come.
The program Director Prof. (Dr.) Manish Gupta, Registrar (Admin), Lovely Professional University congratulated the participants and organizing team for this unique endeavour wherein experiential learning was effectively provided in an engaging manner. He appreciated the design of the curriculum which was in sync with the mission of Lovely Professional University and the fact that UGC guidelines 2019 were followed in letter and spirit. Lauding the efforts of HRDC, he said to keep organizing such meaningful capacity building programs.
The report was presented by Dr. Sunaina Ahuja, Professor and Dean- HRDC. She also acknowledged the valuable contribution of the intellectual capital and appreciated the organizing team led by Dr. Savita Gupta, Course Coordinator, HRDC. She acknowledged seamless efforts made by Team HRDC, particularly Mr. Sarabjit Singh Kwatra, Mr. Ajay Sharma, Mr. Puneet Soni, Ms. Sharanjit Kaur, Ms. Sushma, Ms. Saveri, Ms. Jagdeep Kaur and Ms. Neha Sharma. Dr. Ahuja concluded that the course must have been a stimulating and invigorating experience for participants and will stand a good stead in their day-to-day teaching that will in turn immensely benefit their students.
The course intonates with the closing remarks of Course Coordinator, Dr. Savita Gupta thanked the resource panel, course conveners and the participants and acknowledged the efforts of the Organizing Committee.
