UoS India provost

Philips: transnational experience

Prof. (Dr.) Eloise Philips is the newly appointed Academic Provost and Associate Vice-President (International) of the University of Southampton (UoS) Delhi campus in Gurugram, India. A founding member of the UK’s prestigious research-intensive Russell Group of universities, UoS (estb.1862) currently has five campuses in Southampton, one in Winchester and another in Malaysia.

Newspeg. On July 16, UoS formally inaugurated its state-of-the-art campus sited in Gurugram’s International Tech Park. Equipped with modern amenities including fitness centres, food halls, sports zones, and a cricket ground, the campus also offers a student hub, social and collaboration areas, a well-stocked library, private study spaces, and IT labs. The new campus will welcome its first batch of 150 students later this month.

History. An advanced nursing and clinical practice postgrad of Coventry University, also awarded a doctorate in healthcare research by Birmingham University (UK), Prof. Philips brings with her a wealth of transnational academic experience. She has played a pivotal role in establishing Birmingham University’s Dubai campus where she currently serves as Head of Health, Wellbeing and Human Science programmes. Earlier she served with distinction as Associate Dean at Aston University, Birmingham (UK).

Direct talk. “UoS India will offer students globally recognised UK degrees at almost half the price (Rs.12-19 lakh per year) of studying in the UK, and a curriculum enriched with internships, placements and entrepreneurship opportunities to enhance their life skills and employability. Our initial study programmes will be in accounting and finance, business management, computer science, and economics at the undergrad level, and postgrad finance and international management degree programs. Our parent university’s global reputation has been mainly built on research. Therefore, our intention is to establish UoS as a hub of innovation and research excellence in India,” says Philips.

Well aware that tuition fees may be high by Indian standards, UoS India has instituted two fully merit-based annual presidential scholarships and made provision for need-based scholarships, and bursaries to support meritorious students from economically weaker sections.

“Moreover, through industry-academia partnerships with professional consultancy services firm Deloitte and Investec, an international bank and wealth management multinational, we will be providing a plethora of internships and experiential opportunities to develop industry-ready graduates,” promises Philips.

Future plans. Ambitious plans have been drawn up for UoS India, which is clearly here to stay. “We intend to enhance student enrolment to 5,000 over the next five years. This may require expanding the current campus in Gurugram or moving to a larger campus in the area. Academically we will introduce new courses every year to reach our target of 30 multidisciplinary study programs,” says Philips.

Delhi NCR’s several new genre private universities – Ashoka, Jindal, Shiv Nadar, Munjal among others – are set to experience the sting of competition, a welcome development in the national interest.