“In Every Institution, Trust, Innovation, and Small Wins Keep the Academic Family Alive”
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In an interview with EduKida, Prof. Dr. Vikas Dhawan, Director General at Institute of Management Studies, Noida, spoke about student learning methods, the institution’s programmes and pedagogy and more
Can you elaborate on a specific innovative initiative Dr. Dhawan has championed at IMS Noida or in his previous roles that significantly impacted student learning or institutional growth?
One of the finest among multiple initiatives I have taken at IMS Noida is Industry-Academia Convergence Series. It involves industry professionals, alumni, and faculties coming together and co-designing learning material, masterclasses, and mentoring students. It brought the education-practice gap between the academic segment and the actual sector, made students employable and institutions in good repute in corporate circles to a very large extent.
What, in your opinion, are the key pillars of academic success in today’s dynamic educational landscape?
My estimate would be that the three broad pillars are industry-focused curriculum, transdisciplinary education, and digital proficiency. These would have to be supplemented with a high focus on ethics, innovation, and experiential pedagogy. Organizations must continue to change based on the requirements of the job market as well as the wider society.
As Director General of IMS Noida, how are you aligning the institution’s programmes and pedagogy with the goals and principles of the National Education Policy (NEP)?
The focus of the NEP is on flexibility, skill development and overall growth. At IMS Noida, we have restructured our curriculum to include multidisciplinary electives, launched credit-based internships, and incorporated technology-enabled blended learning. We are also promoting research and innovation centers on campus as per the focus of the NEP towards the development of a knowledge society.
You believe in “creating” the future. What are some of the future-oriented strategies you are currently implementing at IMS Noida to ensure its continued relevance and excellence?
We are also investing in AI-powered education platforms, adding foreign certification courses in collaboration with foreign universities and integrating design thinking in all streams of study. Our new Center for Innovation and Social Impact, launched recently, also stimulates students to deal with real-life problems using entrepreneurial approaches.
Teamwork and leadership are central to your approach. How do you foster a collaborative environment among faculty, staff, and students at IMS Noida?
I follow a participative leadership style, which means empowering stakeholders across all levels. Frequent brainstorming retreats, departmental working teams, and shared governance through academic councils ensure the voice of the faculty and staff. Student-level involvement is provided through peer-to-peer mentoring and positions in campus events to serve in leadership roles.
With a strong background in engineering (M.Tech and Ph.D.), how have your analytical and technical mindset influenced the approach to management and education leadership?
My technical training has instilled in me a process-based fact-based problem-solving within me. I use the same process for institutional administration—whether curriculum updating, budgeting, or projecting academics. It also enables me to project the increasing adoption of technology in education and successfully integrate it into our system.
As your early career focused on teaching and student development, what fundamental principles about education did you learn during your time as an Assistant Professor that still guide your leadership today?
One of the maxims that I ultimately came to see is students will always remember how you treated them. Encouragement, empathy, and connection are all so much about standing people in good standing for life. I also came to see pedagogic flexibility—adjusting content for alternative modes of learning, now informing our institutional policy.
Having held leadership positions at various types of educational institutions, what are some of the common threads or key lessons you have learned about effective leadership in diverse academic settings?
In all the institutions, I have found clear vision, operational clarity, and consistency of action to be common in good leadership. Small, big, or any other type of institution, trust building, innovation building, and promotion of small successes keep the academic family alive
The profile mentions Dr. Dhawan’s emphasis on “holistic development.” Beyond academics, what other aspects of student growth and well-being do you prioritise at IMS Noida?
We assign great importance to emotional intelligence, physical health, and mental well-being. IMS Noida started a wellness program with counseling facilitation, yoga classes, and nutrition workshops. Leadership camps, social events, and cultural fests are a part of our idea of development in every way.
How do you define success for the students and the institution as a whole?
To our students, success is not just securing a job, but having the confidence and ability to create opportunities. To the university, success is measured in terms of our ability to transform lives, ensure academic integrity, be future-oriented and make significant contributions to society.
The profile notes that several institutes rose to prominence under Dr. Dhawan’s leadership. Can you share a specific example of a significant achievement or transformation you led at one of these institutions?
In SGT University, I initiated the formation of a Research and Innovation Cluster, which catapulted the research activity of the university to numerous times in two years. It drew humongous government and private funding and
As Pro Vice-Chancellor of SGT University, Dr. Dhawan led multidisciplinary and research-driven programs. How has this experience shaped his approach to curriculum development and academic innovation at IMS Noida?
That was an eye-opener. In IMS Noida, now we make our students diversify out of their core area—e.g., law students learning business strategy, or media students learning behavioral psychology. That cross-pollination makes them more employable and versatile.
Dr. Dhawan is recognized for his resource management skills. Can you provide an example of how his effective resource management has directly benefited the students and the quality of education at IMS Noida?
We have been able to launch new courses with value propositions without incurring additional expenses by re-organizing faculty and judicious utilization of e-content. We have also re-sequenced experiential learning through field trips, live projects, and guest lectures to maximize learning experience at a cost that does not compromise core curricular delivery.
What kind of legacy does Dr. Dhawan hope to build at IMS Noida, and what are the key initiatives he believes will contribute to this legacy?
My vision is to have IMS Noida as a center of innovative, inclusive, and industry-relevant learning. Top of mind are setting up global academic partnerships, nurturing our culture of innovation, and infusing sustainability and social responsibility into our institutional DNA.
For prospective students and faculty considering IMS Noida, what would Dr. Dhawan say is the unique value proposition of the institution under his leadership?
IMS Noida in my tenure provides education with purpose—where scholarship is equaled by social awareness and employability. Our student-centric ethos, global mindset, and constant industry interface assure that the teacher as well as the student derive meaning, growth, and belongingness.