In line with the global trend a number of Indian institutes have set up international exchange programs for the students. For instance, in order to provide a cross cultural exposure and a global perspective to the students, IIT Bombay has developed an extensive International Students Exchange Program where nearly 40% of the batch gets a chance to spend a term at a Partner Institute. The institution is planning expansion of  the Program to facilitate a higher number of students participation in these programs. The balance of the students who for some reason are not able to take up the exchange program also benefit  from having interaction with overseas students visiting the institute.

To ensure the efficacy of such exchange programs, enlisted students in their fifth term have to take the full course load for students at their respective University taking only post-graduate level courses which should not be less than 120 contact hours over the exchange term. A student can take credit for a maximum of 30 additional contact hours beyond 120, provided the course is approved by the Office of International Affairs (OIA) Committee. Thus, a student must earn 12 -15 credits while on exchange. The exchange visits in programs in some of the universities range from a week to a semester. The diversity in a classroom due to exchange programs enhances peer learning experience and enriches the classroom interactions, besides giving participants a cross-cultural perspective to the students as a whole.

Exchange programs also introduce to the university to offer an opportunity for participants to pursue specialized courses in leading foreign B-schools for a full semester to gain such knowledge and skills which can lead to higher level of job opportunities thus increasing the institution’s USP and making it a popular destination for candidates.

In an integrated world economy there is a requirement for students to have firsthand experience of various cultures and have to be competent in handling situations in international environment, with a good grasp on local languages. This is the main selling point of Student Exchange Programs as such programs aim at elevating global and cultural knowledge, enhance intercultural communication competencies, address issues arising from inter-cultural traditional issues,  encourage independent learning and facilitate foreign language skills among students thus enhancing career path progression.

Student Exchange Programs provide a firsthand life enriching experience to students engaged in such programs when they are visiting a new country by giving in depth exposure to a student of the traditions, different way of doing things thus making the process and learning very exciting. Such early exposure is likely to play a critical role in delicate matters of human resources as well as conflict and resource management in a student’s life. The in-depth self-study of the host country helps students enhance interest in various global issues such as the conflicts between the developed and the developing nations and provide exposure to students of the different perspectives and views. Students learn to understand the ethos and value systems which are different for each country. . Student Exchange Programs help erase superficial stereotype images that one generally have of a specific country/culture , bridges  gaps through various interactive intercultural communications by understanding different  viewpoints and cultural values between the native and host country. These exposures enrich a participant’s experiences thus exploiting opportunities, mitigating conflicts and thus gaining the maximum ROI for the companies that these individuals later work for.

The universities offering exchange programs benefit from these programs too as they become more visible and develop aspiration quotient.  The partnership with premiere higher education providers around the world increases their threshold, improves the quality of content of their programs and in some cases attracts expat instructional staff, thus enriching the professional dimension of the institution as a whole. These universities through such programs can restructure their business potential and exploit the true potential of their programs by providing quality learning in multi dimensions and disciplines thus facilitating better placements to its students.   The institution offering such programs also benefit from the reciprocal technology exposure to students that are available in developed countries as the home students who undergo such experience, benefit from it and their narration of these at home class also benefits others and adds to the value offered by the parent institute.

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The demand for international faculty in Indian institutions and the resultant influx of foreign faculty in recent times has been due to the pursuit of academic excellence by most of these institutes. These institutions are driven by the belief that by hiring foreign nationals would make help them get better rankings in global listings of top colleges as internationalization of campus is good for rankings. Until recently the foreign faculty in Indian institutions was primarily on faculty exchange programs or as a part of international visiting faculty. The institutions have always desired to hire foreign faculty or faculty with global experience; it is only recently that they have been making concerted efforts to market themselves internationally. Comparative salaries and global competition has also successfully driven international teaching talent to Indian institutes.

Building institutes of academic excellence is a time-taking and incremental process. Once an institution has achieved a certain level of reputation, maintaining it at that level is also quite a challenge. Thus, even the best universities are in constant quest to access indicators of prestige like knowledge, research and talent.  And while evaluating the indicators does one realize the importance of faculty in making an institution. International teacher researchers bring academic excellence well within reach of the Indian institutions.

The Indian institutions both private and state funded are gradually seeing an increase in applications from faculty based out of India for they also are of the belief that the foreign faculty would enable them to strengthen and enhance research visibility in international forums.

Raging debates in favour of and against appointment of foreign faculty in Indian institutes has thrown up a number of points in favour of appointment of international faculty. Though the debate veers between obsequiousness and arrogance the middle path allows us to move to a quality based system where the institute would gain tangible outcomes.

Firstly, it is a belief that by bringing faculty from abroad would catapult Indian institutions to ‘Top 100’ global rankings. Globalization has had a major influence on Indian higher education with the ease of mobility the institutes are demonstrating greater international strategies simply by the numbers of international faculty. No Indian institution has featured among the top 100 in global rankings, which is a worrisome obstacle and concerted effort is required to change the situation.

Secondly, our outdated, rigid curricula and the absence of in course content and skill development will be infused with fresh viewpoints from different cultures and value system.

Thirdly, compared to the West lack of inquiry based learning and early researcher skills is limiting the capacity of Indian institutions to engage in vital research and innovation activity. India is not producing enough PhDs and very few students in India as compared to other countries in the West are enrolled as postgraduate researchers. But recently due to the government’s outlook towards internationalization and India’s transition from an inward gazing scientific culture to one increasingly characterized by external engagement Indian institutions are hosting foreign faculty in stable, long term posts more frequently than ever before.

Lastly and not in any way lesser than the others is the inclusion of foreign faculty in the Indian education system would finally render the teaching space market driven in the future. It will increase the quality and the competitive spirit within the Indian academic community as we are likely to see more and more academics who are genuinely interested in the profession and not those who were led to teaching by default.

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These faculty exchange programs in most cases international faculty exchange lead to some benefits that accrue to the organization like:

• Revitalization of course content at the school to reflect the latest trends;
• Invigoration of school faculty by the addition of new colleagues directly involved in the similar practice arena;
• Creation of new opportunities for future school-agency collaboration on research, special projects and practicals;
• Acquisition or update of practice experience which can inform faculty teaching and research

When a higher education institution actively supports a program of international faculty exchange by means of a foreign university partnership, they endorse the wider experience that exchange faculty members bring to the new and different environments; broader exposure for our students from visiting faculty members; expanding reputation of the college/institution/university in the quality of its students and faculty; and increased opportunities for faculty to meet and work with colleagues in different institutions.

And the overriding positive element is that the costs to the universities/institutions involved are minimal since each institution will continue to provide salaries and fringe benefits for its own faculty members. This arrangement, furthermore, will greatly facilitate exchanges and provide for minimal interruption to individual careers, earnings, and accrued benefits, such as time toward sabbatical leaves, pensions, etc.

Faculty exchanges are not limited to exchanges with other universities and colleges but may be arranged with industrial firms, government agencies, businesses, and such, where both parties involved may benefit from the exchange.

Introducing an Academic Exchange Program in an Institute

The international faculty exchange program is one way to take advantage of the benefits of diverse and talented faculty. This is a slow process for an institute who is building an exchange program. In order to facilitate the process, Indian institutes should look for foreign university partnerships to develop plans for a faculty exchange programs. These plans will benefit faculty members from both foreign universities and Indian institutions by exposing them to new ideas, other cultures and different methods of teaching. The faculty exchange programs will be viable if they are flexible. The faculty exchange programs present a unique opportunity for interaction between foreign universities and Indian institutions.

They will create a greater bond among the concerned institutions and will be a powerful recruitment and retention tool.

There are certain things that need to be taken care of in case the college/institution wants to introduce an academic exchange program in the school.

1. Documentation: The institution must have written policies covering job descriptions, reporting responsibilities, liability, and other personnel issues for their employees when they are working off-site. A formal agreement and supporting addenda outlining the details of policies governing the management of the exchange program between the two institutions must be created.
2. Legal issues: Individuals interested in faculty/staff exchanges may have concerns about professional liability. Since there is no change of employment status in an exchange program (staff is “on loan”), benefits, insurance, vacation time, etc., remain as they are at the originating employer.
3. Supporting the exchange program: Employees should be supported financially by their own institutions with no changes in employment status or benefits. Written policies should stipulate that participants in the exchange program will be provided with office space, library access, and other work-related support.
4. Length of appointments: Length of exchange appointments can vary and should reflect the needs of the institutions involved. One-semester appointments are appropriate for the teaching of specialized courses that are not taught on a regular basis. One-year appointments allow more time for course and curriculum development and research. The particular tasks to be accomplished should dictate the time needed.

The overriding reason to develop a faculty exchange program remains the need to  enhance the higher education institute’s educational profile interstate and overseas;  popularize the strategic objectives and directions of the institute;  broaden the personal and professional experience of participating teachers by providing an opportunity to enhance skills and knowledge;  contribute to the participating higher education institutes by focusing on the initiatives of different education systems;  contribute to the enrichment of participating host schools; foster communication, goodwill and exchange ideas between states/territories and countries;  promote networking between students, teachers and schools; and  acknowledge the commitment and contribution of effective faculty on exchange.

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