Dr. A. Ponnusamy is the Principal of Hindusthan College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore Tamilnadu. He has a Doctorate in Social Work with 28 years of experience in teaching, administration, guiding Ph.D. scholars, consultancy in social science research and evaluation. He has several projects and publications to his credit. He has also been awarded for his contributions to the education sector, as a top education leader.

Hindusthan College of Arts and Science

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“Ability to help develop the intellectual minds of this generation”

In the social work department, I have assisted to develop professional value and ethics, skill development, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate effectively. This position helps me to motivate the faculty members to the holistic development of the students. Theoretical knowledge, more hands-on training, and extracurricular activities are given to the students to be industry-ready, and to be a good citizen of the country.

What is your philosophy of leadership? 

“As a leader of my institute, I follow democratic leadership with flexible policies”

  • In leadership roles, I want to be gentle and soft in nature, but a disciplinarian.
  • HODs and faculty members feel free to express their views, suggestions during the meetings and the decisions are taken collectively.
  • I also focus on maintaining strict discipline and motivate everybody to follow the code of conduct.
  • I strongly feel teaching community only can guide, teach and motivate the student community to face the challenges of the outside world.

What can an inbound student gain from studying here in your institute?

“We are a student-friendly campus catering to their academic requirements”

We at Hindusthan have started implementing LOCF (Learning and Outcome-based Curriculum Framework) and have introduced several electives for the students to choose from. Our institute has integrated the curriculum with the industry, for the benefit of the student community. We provide training from industry experts, which is a unique feature. 

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How does the curriculum of your college ensure the best practice of industry?

“Our curriculum gives more weightage to the practical aspects such as hands-on training projects and internships”

In recent times, many industries have come forward to support educational institutions. We have already teamed up with the IT giants such as IBM, Google, Microsoft and TCS to incorporate their curriculum with our computer streams. The Commerce stream programmes are integrated with ACCA, CMA, ACS, and the Visual communication and Animation programmes are integrated with MAAC. Also, the Business Management (logistics) programmes are integrated with CII to incorporate their curriculum and provide industry integrated exposure to our students. Hindusthan educational institution has already collaborated with the foreign universities in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand for staff and student exchange research activities and other educational activities.

What do you think your responsibilities to the college and students are?

“Review and revision of policies, rules, regulations & philosophy of the college”

  • Maintaining the infrastructure of the institution with the help of concerned staff and protecting the life and property of all those connected with the institution.
  • Monitoring the student discipline and conduct (including attendance)and maintaining the decorum of the institution.
  • Ensuring effective teaching as per the university/AICTE/Management.
  • Keeping a record of all the liaison activities with governmental, corporate and other academic bodies/institutions
  • Focusing on building an image for the institution at an overall level or in terms of a particular strength either in terms of a department or activities.
  • Developing a strong association with industry, research and consultancy establishments and signing the memorandum of understandings aimed at improving specific strengths of the college.

What are some plans that you are currently (or will be) designing for college students?

“Development of incubation centre, Industry integrated courses and skill-based education”

  • The college has started the incubation centre allowing the students to exhibit and hone their inherent potential in creativity and entrepreneurship. 
  • The Centre for Faculty Development has been established on the campus to train the faculty members in the latest trends and the application of ICT tools.
  • Faculty members are also encouraged to undertake consultancy assignments and the management of the college supports this initiative very well. 
  • Industry Integrated courses have been offered by the college to make the students work-ready with the current industry needs.
  • The college has started offering UGC approved skill-based Vocational degree programmes to support the student community. (B.Voc Courses)

What are some of the biggest challenges for higher education?

“The higher education institutions have to realign themselves by offering better delivery through online mode”

Education has switched itself to online mode to the current pandemic situation. A new normal has been in practice for the past year and it is expected to continue to another year too. The teaching-learning process is changing and we have to change our systems also to support this change. The future of higher education is going to be a blended model with offline and online mode. The exams also will be a blended evaluation model with an online test and an offline test. Technology has started to play a very important role where the faculty will act as the facilitator and the students have to take initiative in self-learning.

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