A Proposal for Establishment of

Distinguished Alumni Professorship

and

Alumni Graduate Fellowship

At

College of Engineering, Pune, India

With the Support from

COEP Charitable Foundation of USA

Purpose:

Establishment of Distinguished Alumni Professorship and Alumni Graduate Fellowship are proposed as special efforts to restore past reputation of COEP and to further develop different departments at the College of Engineering, Pune into one of the nation’s premier institutions for academic, research and practical training in all disciplines. The purpose further extends to recognize and encourage the individual faculty member and an graduate/graduate students from the existing pool within the departments or to invite and employ nationally/internationally renowned scholars for their service in the College and to recruit the best graduate students to work under their supervision. The Distinguished Alumni Professorship and Alumni Graduate Fellowship are hoped to strengthen co-operation and communication between COEP and national and international universities and research and industrial organizations. Distinguished Alumni Professorship and Alumni Graduate Fellowship will be established through the endowment created by the COEP Charitable Foundation of USA.

Proposal:

1. This proposal envisages establishment of the Distinguished Alumni Professor (DAP) and Alumni Graduate Fellows (GF) titles in the different academic departments of the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), India. DAP could be a regular faculty member or he/she can be someone from outside such as a Visiting/Adjunct Professor of the department. If a person outside the Department is chosen for the award then he/she has to collaborate with the regular faculty member on the teaching and scholarly activities such as teaching and research leading to technical publications. GF will be awarded to a student pursuing Masters and/or Doctoral degree at the department.

2. At its initial adoption stage, the title DAP will be a yearly supplement linked with the salary of the recipient faculty member at the level of Rs. 50,000 per month. The base salary of Rs 40,000 will be paid by the institute and ‘Research Incentive’ of Rs 10,000 will be paid by COEP Foundation. The fellowship of the GF will be sponsored between the institute and the COEP Foundation. The title GF will provide either a monthly supplement of Rs. 8,000 each to two Masters students or Rs 15,000/month to one Ph.D student. Out of this amount, Rs 6,000 per month will be sponsored through this endowment to two Master’s students, or one Ph.D. student. Thus, in a given year, either only two Masters students or one Ph.D student will be awarded the fellowship. The award will also include a fixed amount of up to Rs 50,000/year to cover the charges associated with consumable requirements or the use of the lab equipment and testing facilities from outside organizations and travel budget for up to Rs. 50,000 is proposed for travel purposes to DAP and GF. The institute is expected to fund the rest of the travel budget/contingency expenses. The proposed faculty title is to recognize deserving faculty member with outstanding academic, research and professional achievements. Similarly, the graduate or graduate students will be bestowed with a fellowship in recognition of his/her excellent academic records and tremendous potential for a professional career.

3. These monetary supplements will be provided through the income generated from and on the endowment created by the COEP Charitable Foundation of USA. Such endowment will be built on donations from the individuals and organizations. The amounts of the supplements will be evaluated for any change every 4 years based on the growth of the endowment.

4. COEP Foundation will collect the endowment and the funds for the endowment will be transferred to COEP to manage the endowment. COEP will be solely responsible for ensuring that the endowment generates sufficient income every year to support the fellowships year after year.

5. The committee for selection of the awardees will comprise of experts drawn from among the selection committees for Professors at COEP approved by the Board of Governors.

6. Both DAP and GF will be linked together administratively and academically. A faculty member elected for the honor of DAP will be a mentor to graduate students and a major professor of the graduate student selected for GF. In other words, the students will work under the academic and research guidance of the DAP throughout their degree programs.

7. The title of DAP and GF and corresponding monetary supplements will be awarded for a period of 3 years for a faculty member, 2 years for an M. Tech student and 3 years for a PhD student. In case of a faculty member, the fellowship is renewable to subsequent 2 year periods based on the academic and research performance and achievement.

8. As part of the Professorship and Fellowship, DAP and GF are required to maintain high standards of academic and research achievements through completion of Masters thesis (in 2 years) or Doctoral dissertation (in 3-4 years). Also these activities should include presentation of research work conducted under this program in national and international symposia/conferences and publication of technical papers in peer reviewed journals of international reputation. Any other scholarly activities based on the academics and research by DAP and GF are highly encouraged and desired.

9. The DAP is assumed to keep abreast of the latest developments in his/her field(s). He/she is to take the leadership of developing disciplinary curricula and designing related programs, propose and undertake internationally pioneering research projects or those that are crucial to the development of local and national economy. The DAP is expected to teach both under-graduate and graduate courses; supervise under-graduate and graduate students; play a leading role in designing and restructuring curricula; reform courses and develop course-books. The DAP is expected to participate in organizing teaching work and developing academic teams in the relevant faculty; and to carry out key research projects or interdisciplinary projects in cooperation with other faculty members of the College and industry.

10. The GF should maintain equally high interest in academics and research. He/she should maintain high grade point average/percentile (≥80% / 8 CGPA on a 10 Point Scale ) prior to and during the tenure of GF.

11. The candidates for DAP and GF can be self nominated or nominated by the colleagues in the end of academic year (April-May) prior to appointment in the following academic year. There are either two awards for Master’s level graduate students or one award for a Ph. D. graduate student in addition to one award for a faculty member. The associated period of award is 2 years for Master’s level graduate student and 3 years each for a Ph.D. student and a faculty member. The nominations will not be taken for consideration in the year these awards are already running. The nomination process will involve consulting with the members of COEP Charitable Foundation Board-USA which will constitute a committee to participate in the selection process. The final decision regarding the selection will be taken by COEP after consultation with this selection committee.

12. The nomination should include a written letter justifying suitability of the candidate for the award, names of at least three references with full information for correspondence, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications and research achievements (with proof), a work proposal, and detailed information for correspondence (including telephone/fax number(s) and e-mail).

Review

The achievements through these fellowships shall be submitted on an annual basis and shall be reviewed both at the College level and by the COEP foundation, USA.