The Hindu Business Line : ICFAI plans more centres in Kerala

This will help consolidate its overall presence to eight distant education centres, nine national colleges and one business school, according to Mr Renjith G., Development Officer, ICFAI University, Thiruvananthapuram.

ICFAI distant education programme has now a wide array of courses to offer. It has established an all India network of its own study centres at over 140 locations for distance learning programmes. The new e-learning package will be helpful for distance learning students in a convenient computer-based environment.

E-learning package: Students of the MBA programme will have the flexibility of independent self-study through the e-learning package. CD-ROMs give them the advantage of e-learning benefits without the need for accessing Internet. The e-learning package includes e-textbook, e-lecture, lecture notes, quiz, articles and additional reading, glossary and mock tests.

ICFAI National College (INC) was launched in the last academic year in view of enthusiastic response from the student community. It has now been decided to start five more INCs in the State. The ICFAI Business School (IBS) has reported 100 per cent placements and its top recruiters include JPMorgan, KPMG, SBI and TCS.

ICFAI University's case studies are available to institutions all over the world, along with those from the Harvard Business School and the London School of Business. Over 100 business schools worldwide make use of the ICFAI case studies. For doctorate (Ph.D) students, exchange programmes are in place with 10 leading institutions in the US and Europe with one-year internship.

Expansion plans: As for expansion plans, ICFAI proposes to spend Rs 100 crore in the next 18 months for setting up its first campus at Shankerpally, in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

ICFAI was declared a university when the Chhattisgarh Government passed a Private Universities Act in the State in September 2002. Since then, three other State Governments — Uthranchal, Tripura and Sikkim — have recognised ICFAI as a university. It has approached 15 other states for approval and discussions with Orissa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka are in an advanced stage.

Application for membership in the AIU (Association of Indian Universities) and the AIMA (All India Management Association) is pending. ICFAI has also applied for accreditation from the American AACSB (Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business) and EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development).

Global plans: As part of global expansion plans, ICFAI University has set up ICFAI Education Lanka (IEL), a non-for-profit organisation in Colombo. It expects to get a status of a university in a year's time. IEL will provide educational programmes at the undergraduate and graduate level courses in the areas of commerce, business management and science and technology.

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