Brand IIM could take a beating if it fails to find quality faculty as it grows.
The managements of the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are sitting on the horns of a dilemma. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) wants them to add capacity. It reasons this will help in nurturing good quality students who may even take to teaching later, thus increasing the number of good faculty members. This would also help in increasing the gross enrollment ratio (GER), which stands at around 12.4 per cent.
Towards this end, under the 11th Five Year plan, the MHRD entailed, among other things, the setting up of eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and seven IIMs.
The IIMs nod in agreement. However, they believe that rapid capacity expansion could defeat the very cause they have set out to achieve. Consider this. The established IIMs increased their student strength by anywhere between 10- and 35 per cent over the last one year.
But where is the faculty to cater to the additional students? At present, the seven IIMs have around 400 full-time faculty members and need another 60. With four new IIMs to come up in the first phase (2010-2011), another 250 faculty members would be required. IIMs meet less than five per cent of India’s need for management education. They not only generate qualified faculty for their own needs but also for other management institutes.
| CLOSE COMPARISON STUDENT STRENGTH | |||
| 2008 | 2009 | % increase | |
| IIM Ahmedabad | 318 | 350 | 10 |
| IIM Bangalore | 271 | 350 | 29.1 |
| IIM Calcutta | 304 | 408 | 34.2 |
| IIM Lucknow | 326 | 374 | 14.7 |
| IIM Indore | 240 | 240 | 0.0 |
| IIM Kozhikode | 261 | 312 | 19.5 |
| RGIIM Shillong | 64 | 66 | 3.0 |
| IIM Rohtak | - | 50 | - |
| IIM Ranchi | - | 54 | - |
“My concern is that unless we have adequate and good quality faculty, there will be no point in adding capacity. We are expanding a bit too fast because supply of good faculty is not there,” says Samir Barua, director of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) which saw a 10 per cent increase in its student intake in 2009-10.
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Much of the increase in student strength is because of implementation of the other backward classes (OBC) quota — another cause for heartburn. “After the Supreme Court order, we had no choice but to increase the student intake but this only increases the number of people at the bottom of the pyramid,” says another IIM director wishing anonymity.
Devi Singh, IIM Lucknow’s (IIM-L) director adds another perspective. He says, “Though increased student strength would mean that more students would get access to good quality education, two years down the line, at the time of placements, the job market will be under pressure and hence, job profiles and salaries could change”. “Infrastructure is another challenge because when you talk about IITs and IIMs, there is an implicit angle of quality,” adds Singh.
Even Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had earlier told this paper that “...we have to make sure there is capacity to spend. It takes time to set up institutes likes central universities, IIMs and IITs. Sometimes sites are not decided and there is the issue of faculty needs. So, though classes may start and students may come, a full-fledged campus may take time.”
The MHRD had stated its intention to establish seven new IIMs. Four IIMs were to be set up in Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattishargh) and Rohtak (Haryana) in 2009-10. The remaining three are to be set up in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan in 2010-11.
In phase-I, 140 students would be absorbed in the Post-Graduate Programme (PGP) course after which the number would be increased to 560 students a year once the remaining IIMs are set up.
Mentoring of the younger IIMs is another grey area. IIM Trichy is mentored by IIM-Bangalore while Raipur by IIM Indore, and Ranchi by IIM Calcutta. Rohtak is getting support from IIM-L. IIM–A is supposed to mentor IIM Rajasthan (which is slotted to start next year).
The task can be taxing with no regular director or teachers on board. For instance, professors from IIM-L have been visiting Rohtak on alternate days, reportedly spending nights at the faculty house in Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. The staff from Lucknow has travelled by air from Lucknow to Delhi and by road from Delhi to Rohtak. So there’s a cost involved too.
Allocation of funds is another issue troubling IIMs. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs 400 crore in the 2010-11 Budget to set up new IITs -— 33 per cent higher than Rs 300 crore in 2009-10. The money set aside for new IIMs has been raised from Rs 3 crore (revised) in 2009-10 to Rs 25 crore in 2010-11.
The IIMs, however, are not happy with the budget. The allocation, they believe, is insufficient since the increase will be eaten by inflation and paying extra wages due to the increase post the Sixth Pay Commission. As a result, it could cut into the funds for refurbishing the infrastructure.
It took years for existing IIMs to be set-up and make a name for themselves, point out the directors. Hasty, unplanned expansion could cost them dearly.