University of Michigan (U-M) president Mark Schlissel on Wednesday said India might emerge as an important partner for the United States in the education sector, particularly in the light of the current crisis with China. Mr. Schlissel is in India to explore partnership opportunities with Indian educational institutions and to interact with Indian alumni of U-M.
He said U-M shares a special bond with India, as the country has been the university’s largest global partner for almost 100 years. “The university has almost 800 students from India in undergraduate, graduate, and research areas, and over 300 faculty members and researchers.”
Mr. Schlissel said as the relationship between China, their main partner in South East Asia, deteriorates with the U.S., their future collaborations seem bleak. “I think India is likely to become more important of a partner if relations with China continue to be difficult. The fact that we are both democracies and culture-bound makes us better partners. We get maximum students from China followed by India. As the numbers are growing from India we would definitely like to attract more students but we are not looking at any numerical target but mutually beneficial relationships.”
He is in talks with Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan and Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal. “I found the Indian government forthcoming and enterprising when it comes to posing new ideas for collaborations and new projects.”
In the areas of medical research and studies, the university has deep engagements with the AIIMS in Delhi. “Both the organisations have a symbiotic relationship where they collaborate in surgery, trauma care, heart disease, and cancer. Researchers from both sides are working on complex cases in India,” Mr. Schlissel said.
The American university also has many smaller collaborations with institutions like IISER, Pune, and Salokaya School of Nursing and Srishti School of Design, Bangalore.
“We also have an executive education programme at our business school, which has been hosting classes for many Indian companies, including Tata Group, which recently celebrated 25 years of engagement with us,” Mr. Schlissel said, adding over 6,000 Indians take online courses offered by U-M on Coursera, an online learning portal.
