Education needs to be like a powerful weapon enabling a student to change the world. It must be a valid passport to a discerning student’s future, be an affordable investment imparting true learning, have all the right ingredients that inspire passion, and needs to be a vehicle to transport values and not simply facts. If this is beginning to sound impossible, let me also add that good education is all about a movement from darkness to light, a preparation for life’s surprises and inconsistencies, needs be able to introduce curiosity, thought, and effort, and must be liberating in all respects. Does all this really happen in our colleges, universities, and institutions of higher learning? There is generally a huge gap between what education must be and what it really is. Let me add here that there has to be a regular and unimpeded movement towards adopting the latest ideas that were born to create a better society. If all this sounds like the gist of a great literary story, then yes, a good university must follow the rules that writers follow to pen a work of art.
The ingredients of a good story
Anne Lamott, in her book ‘Bird by Bird’ talks of Alice Adams using ‘a formula when writing a short story, which goes ABCDE, for Action, Background, Development, Climax, and Ending.’ Anne also clarifies that the plot in a story is all about character, drama, and ‘the need to be moving your characters forward’ using the most appropriate ‘effects and tricks’. Now if all this has to be adopted by a university, what would it look like?
As an example, I have chosen to talk about UPES that has a rather interesting tagline: University with a purpose. Quite a bit of the initial necessities mentioned by Alice Adams are a part of their Mission Statement that includes an aim to develop industry focused professionals with global outlook in Energy, Infrastructure, Transportation, IT and allied sectors, develop knowledge creation environment through training, research & development, and consultancy, and develop Environmentally sustainable & reciprocal relationship with society at large. To make it a reality, the UPES follows a host environmental initiatives at the university that includes installations for energy saving, water conservation, and a healthy recycling program. The university has also won the Best property Award under the category Most Environmentally Friendly Commercial Space’. What this means in simple terms is that students here are not bombarded with hollow theories about building a sustainable society but see all this in action each day. The students are fascinated by how this commercial space was built with amazing flooring from the best warehouse-flooring.uk. It also has newly installed sports hall flooring that is of premium quality and can last a long time. They also plan to replace it with liquid vinyl because of its durability and aesthetic look. However, if you’ve noticed some cracks and floor damages in your, then it’s best to call a Concrete Repair professional to take action.
Now if more details about UPES interest you, let me add that it was established in 2003 through UPES Act, 2003 of the State Legislature of Uttarakhand, is UGC recognized and NAAC accredited. UPES offers specialized B.Tech, BBA, B.A, B.Des, LL.B courses at undergraduate level and M.Tech, MBA, M.A, LLM programs at post-graduate level. Their website claims that ‘these courses cater to high-growth areas like cloud computing, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, aerospace engineering, mechatronics engineering, fine arts, big data analytics, public administration, machine design engineering, computer science, petroleum, graphic and gaming and many more’.
All this means that, like in any great story, the action, background, and development helps a lot in making the characters stronger.
The characters matter in any story
The characters here are the faculty, curriculum, and those students who opt to get enrolled for any of the courses at UPES. Thus the plot is both vivid and continuous. Each character in story learns that ‘actions have consequences, and we do not all behave perfectly all the time.’ A cursory reading of facts mentioned on their website tells me that the ‘programs offered by the different Constituent Colleges and Centers at the University are up-to-date, relevant, domain focused, and globally competitive. The curriculum is updated and enhanced by various committees on a regular basis and the procedure involves valuable inputs from faculty and experts from the industry as well as academic institutions’. The R&D facilities at the university ‘provide students with opportunities to discover, explore, and understand different aspects of the sector they are studying. At any given point in time, there are a number of ongoing research projects at the 12 research and development centers’. All this is enough to tell me that there is a high degree of discipline and involvement that finally shapes characters here.
Developing characters in the right way is as essential to a story as it is to the development of a good university. Development doesn’t have to feel ‘flat and pointless’ and the only way out is to have a continuous flow of innovative add-ons to everything from the infrastructure to the curriculum, from policies to their implementation, and from what exists to what is planned. On all these counts, the university represents a sound dialogue and the way a good story progresses. These are features that ensure that the climax and ending are just as sound.
The climax and the ending
Like any good story, the relevance of the theme, exposure to the characters, development of strengths, and the inclusion of innovative techniques has an impact. A blog post on the website tells me that education at the UPES ensures that industry relevance stays on track, global exposure through industry tours, competitions, events, and internships stays alive, the personality development program assists in a continuing focus on soft skills for wholesome professionalism, innovations in the form of research initiatives and research grants is as real as it gets, and everything else like consultancy projects and exceptional infrastructure are there to facilitate holistic learning and growth.
Placement trend over the years shows an encouraging growth with 1447 out of 1597 students getting placed in 2017. A 93 percent plus record in appropriate placement figures is an indicator of a sound climax and ending. The story doesn’t finish here though. The website has enough testimonials of alumni who have expressed their happiness and satisfaction at the way their growth has been taken care of during formative years and how a continuing touch with the developments at UPES is still guiding them in their professional life.
More stories are waiting to be written
Talk to any author and you will realise that life doesn’t culminate with just one story being completed. Interested readers of this post can visit the website of the university for more information or even connect with the right authorities on Facebook. Admissions to undergraduate and post-graduate courses are open and there is always scope for more success stories to get written.
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Screenshot from the UPES website
Good education is like a great story
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Arvind Passey
27 July 2018
