Role of Academic Leadership in Meeting Institutional Challenges

DAY 1: 10th Feb. 2021
Session 1: Management of Mental Health: Role of Academic Leaders
Resource Person: Dr. Naveen Gupta

The session began with the welcome of Participants and the keynote speaker Dr. Naveen Gupta, by Ms. Ayushi Mudgal. Dr. Naveen Gupta in his session shared that today's mental health is important for All and it’s a major challenge to observe this in academic institutions. Mental health has been ignored for ages. What is mental health? He discussed how we can give first aid in such cases. Different types like neurotic and Psychotic disorders were discussed with symptoms so that the teachers can categorize students and can deal with them accordingly. Different Examples from the newspaper and life incidences were discussed, with especial reference to school and colleges .Example - hasne par chachre bhai ko mari goli. Dr Gupta said that interventions can help us overcome such problems .We need to understand depression and frustration and plan intervention for outcomes. He said academic leaders have lot of challenge to create entrepreneurs as well .The session cleared that stress cannot be the reason of depression as lot of successful COE’s who are successful had tough life, so stress is not responsible. Two window theories were used for explanation (concept Green Window is in our hand) (red window is beyond our control).He also explained three finger theory (75% we are responsible for others) self talk, magnifying things, akelees heal ,unani warrior, conscious mind, unconscious mind were discussed means Video was also shared.

Session 2: Improve your Behavioral Competency to meet the Institutional Challenges with special reference to Conflict Management
Resource Person: Dr. Naveen Gupta

The session began on time where Dr. Naveen Gupta explained life has conflict but it can be made easy with the help of learning the art how to handle it. He said we always have to empathize with people’s points of view as there is no one, answer to any problem. He shared the DUTA story which was discussed understanding the point of view of all. In the story Tarun was wrong, few found Deepak guilty, the majority said that Usha was blaming the most. Few said Ashok is wrong. Deepak was discussed as an opportunist .Dr Gupta said that any decision we take in life reflects our value system in life .This case study reflects conflict is part of life .He said the world is full of opportunist are everywhere. He gave example of laapkas in life . The society is running because of 20% people who are having good value system, such people should not be affected by laapkas but should follow his own value system. He said we can use tools and test as well to assess personalities .Teachers should empathize with students and their problems , which is the biggest challenge to academic leaders.We should practice empathy and should respect others point of view .The session was quite interactive and engaging.

Session 3: Improve your Behavioral Competency: Assertiveness
Resource Person: Dr Naveen Gupta

Dr Naveen Gupta highlighted the facts of assertiveness. He said academic leaders have number of roles to play. They have to empathize with others. . It was discussed with example of a picture and its understanding. We see things from different angles. Do you have difficulty saying “NO”? Are you always trying to be nice to others at the expense of yourself? Stop being nice. Again, it is important to be polite, but being nice by saying yes all the time only hurts you. When you allow people to exploit your time or money, they will continue to do so. But if you erect a wall, they will look for easier targets. Show them that your time is well guarded, by being firm and turning down as many requests as possible. It is very difficult to please all. Especially, the people with low self-esteem have a lack of assertiveness and they think to meet the expectations of everyone is necessary. Assertiveness is important if we want to build our selfesteem .Some mistakenly think that being assertive means being pushy or selfish in order to get your own way but this is not true and is an extremely misguided view. Assertive behaviour is positive and will bring you results in your dealings with others. Not being assertive is one way to cultivate low confidence, low self esteem and worse. If we are assertive we will be confident to stand up and be counted, we will put our opinion forward and stand by it. We will not be quiet and go ignored. Normally because of the perceived risk involved in expressing ourself openly rather than keeping quiet means we need a certain level of confidence. If we want to conquer shyness or become more effective socially we need to be more assertive. Simply put, assertiveness is asking for what you want or speaking up for yourself when you feel strongly that you have something to say. But one should learn well to say assertive “NO” when required.
DAY 2 : 11 FEBRURAY 2021
Session 4: Application Of Projective test in Personality Assessment Selection & Counselling
Resource Person: Dr B L Dubey

In this session there were certain technical difficulties. The professor was unable to share the presentation which he was reluctant to share.. But then later it was corrected. The Professor explained the importance of Projective techniques and its uses and also discussed the different questions raised by the participants. How we can use these tools for assessing personalities who commit suicide. He said people who commit suicide always have certain symptoms and they always indicate in words or sometimes there body language is also an indication.
Projective Test will help in understanding the unconscious mind and the administrative scoring in better interpretations. Somatic Inkblot Test personality is assessment to use in selection of people during interviews as well. Unlike personality questionnaire projective test do not require reading a questionnaire or manuals, so they directly read the mental process. Thus, the session cleared the doubts regarding structural tools like TAT / CAT / WAT / SCT with respect to unstructured and projective techniques.

Session 5: Secrets to conduct a Successful Online Class
Resource Person: Dr Deepali Kacker

According to this session class is a journey which is tough and has a goal to circulate. The major challenge faced by teachers is that they do not find students as per their expectation in the class. During Covid times teachers faced problems in issues like drawing attention of students , technically they had to upgrade themselves and many were discussed .Camera connections was also not there ,The successful class is where students also know what teacher expect, discussed challenges, worries and issues on online class, teaching methodology of quick assessment, secret of good online session , 3c’s of online class model, pedagogical tool for conducting an effective online class , according to the speaker 88% crowd wants enthusiastic speaker that keeps audience connected , network issue , link and email issues was also a great challenge , poor audio quality etc. They demonstrated with the help of example and tools and test and pooling examples to engage students. Polling was also done to collect the opinion teachers assessment test was also a tool were used to engage students, learning checks were appreciated by the participants. Video was also shared. Two hours is considered better always have breaks between session (90min per day) effective teacher disciplines a class. The session was interactive and lot of participation was there due to example.
DAY 3 : 12 FEBRURAY 2021
Session 6: Learning Strategies For students Engagement
Resource Person: Dr Neetu Jain

Dr Neetu said Human interaction is important for any session. She shared Gangadhar story. The moral of the story is that we should be thankful to people who are associated with you. She did activity by making people by saying to do what she says not doing what she does. The rationale behind this is that our brain works on picture processing. She shared example of Chinese philosopher. She explained toflers of learning strategies. The session covered learning process , VAK module whole brain learning, learning model & Pygmalion effect. A-to Z learning pedagogy and roles of teacher. Teachers need to be learners (WIFM) - WHAT IS IT IN FOR ME? The elephant example was discusses to share the process of conducting. There was a balloon seller with all colors. How do we perceive things? Principle of accelerated learning was also done with the whole brain.

Session 7: Enhancing Student Engagement: Use of Management Games & Experiential Exercises
Resource Person: Dr Manisha Seth

Use of management games- management games have to be used effectively. Different games like ice breaking exercises were discussed, even timing of game is also important. Games like care rescue game, save your baton, wonderful discussion occurred with teachers who were using game like Dr. Sonal , Dr.C.P. Gupta , etc, 1min activity encourage participants, different type of the breaking activity were there. Different types of group activity were held using Zoom platform by the resource person itself
Session 8: Incivility / Self Esteem and its impact on Institutional Productivity
Resource Person: Dr Naveen Gupta.

The session was focused on behavioral aspects of leaders in any field be it industry of academics. He discussed that there is a positive correlation between the self esteem and the institutional productivity. He shared that incivility behavior is the outcome of low self esteem. Various research say that neither your financial or educational status is responsible for your low self esteem. It’s the mental status only which affects it both in a positive or negative way. Dr. Gupta said, if the teachers being academic leaders can change the self esteem of their students in their classrooms, the result would be very different in a positive way. He shared the 21 steps to improve the self esteem which he published in form of Vlogs during 21 days lockdown. He discussed the attributes of High self esteem and low self esteem. He discussed that many people have regrets about their past and it does not let them to move on. Their past regrets affect their present actions and make them feel inferior. It’s necessary to repaint their past and bring positivity in their behavior. He also discussed the importance of developing the attitude of gratitude towards others and further the need of learning new skills .He said we should understand our core strength and don’t need feel jealous about others. Jealousy can only result into low esteem towards you as one feels less good than others. Dr. Gupta asked the participants to don’t react in every situation rather it’s good to respond according to it. As impulsive reaction may result into regret later. By following all those 21 steps, one can find a positive change in his or her attitude and it would surely improve their thinking about them self.
DAY 4 : 13 FEBRURAY 2021
Session 9: Action Research: Need of an hour and the Role of academic Leaders Continued
Resource Person: Dr Naveen Gupta
Dr. Naveen Gupta highlighted the importance of action research in today’s dynamic scenario. He emphasized that every research must leads to the result which can be applied for the betterment of the society. He said any research without any applicable outcome and solutions to the problems related to the society are not useful in current era. Dr. Naveen Gupta discussed various such initiatives taken by him such as project Soldiers of Society (SoS), Project SoS Bhojnalaya, Project Annapurna etc. He said the best learning methodology is “learning by doing”, which he adopted in his institute HIMCS. Students of the institute, in these projects, try to find the problems related to the society and subsequently reach out to the feasible solutions. Agra city, which is major tourist destination in the world, was infamous for Lapka(tout) culture of the auto drivers and guides. Dr. Gupta and team found this problem and initiated the project Solders of Society (SoS) which aimed to bring a behavioral change in auto drivers. More than 400 auto drivers have been associated with this initiative. The project has been highly acclaimed by the media and various organizations. Dr. Gupta suggested all the participants to incorporate such tools of learning in their learning pedagogy. Teachers are the ones who can bring out the positive changes in the society by such action research. Further, findings of such projects can be documented and published in any reputed journals. It will also improve their academic qualifications.
Session 10: Academic Leadership & its Challenges
Resource Person: Prof Parvaiz Talib.

Prof Parvez Talib was one of the eminent speakers’ among resource person present during entire FDP. He is a professor from Aligarh Muslim University who shared his thought on academic leadership. He said we have different kind of leaders one who likes to control the other through autocracy whereas there are other people who do believe that supportive and custodial leadership is better for the success of the organization. He also mentioned that the leader is one whose absence is felt where as manager is one whose presence matters. He mentioned the words of Steve Jobs and said that management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could. Respectively, how you define the word leadership you can't deny that certain individuals can greatly impact the lives of others based on their experience and insights. While we are all living different timelines on the journey of life. We look to leaders for guidance and advice. He said that the most effective higher education academic leadership feature the ability to influence faculty as well as the ability to influence significant politicians in combination with the authority to effect the desire changes. What effective higher education leadership also requires better governmental policies that give people in leadership positions the freedom to make difficult decisions the support in the face of the inevitable pushback from elements in the academy against these changes and resources needed to implement the new policies. He said instead of focusing on the development of the leadership capabilities of an organization's designated leaders, focus would shift to investing not only in developing leadership skills of the workforce as a whole, but also to facilitating the conditions conducted for the emergence of successful distributed leadership and the formation of informal networks of expertise.

Session 11: Leading Cultural Change for Institutional Success in Competitive Environment
Resource Person: Prof Ajay K Jain.
Prof Ajay Started the session with a question asking participants the culture change they have brought in their organisation through students. He explained what competitive environment is. He explained VUCA world, where V stands for volatile means uncertainty in the business world. That means if you do not grow others will grow. So institutions need to change or grow else you will miss market as others will grow. He gave an Example of Indian Cricket Team. He said past does not guarantee success. So you need to grow regularly. For organisation to grow all stake holders are important to help organisation grow. Good academic institution is where teachers and students both are of good quality. Participants shared their experience of COVID impact on organisations. He shared example of South west airlines to explain VUCA. Then example from Mahabharata of Yudhistrir was taken. So Strength becomes a weakness. Example of Maggie is example of Vuca world. Then he explained why MDI is successful with different example and how it competes in VUCA world. The session was well appreciated.
DAY 5: 14 FEBRURAY 2021
Session 12: Sailing Ship model of Academic Leadership
Resource Person: Prof S M Khan
He shared his experience with example and action research .It means how to sail your ship for academic excellence. A no. of academic activities is to be performed. They are related to self leadership. The focus should be on against, but as leader we must speak to leader what is correct or what is right. This is generally common is government organization .But with academics it is not possible. We need to work in team friends like sailing ship organisations have to be ready for all situations. Hence planning is important somebody should be there to reach the destination. Another skill is Dynamic decision making. We should always have plan B. Example.Online teaching was also a challenge as switching to a new platform was a challenge. Destiny of a teacher is determined by the classroom. Thus imperative is the teacher competency. He discusses the difference between manager & leadership. Leadership is a personality trait. He discussed 5 qualities needed for Academic leadership like excellent common skill, Process knowing when to take risks, residence, passion for what you do.

Session 13: Academic Leadership and New Education Policy
Resource Person: Dr Ipshita Bansal
The session began with the changes we need in Academic leadership and how the new policy is focusing on these areas to improve education system .Dr Ipshita said students join programme and there is no strong learning outcomes. Another problem area is rigid suppression of disciplines. So the new education policy will address this and the village education as well. For them higher education was next to impossible. The problem of limited teachers will also be addressed. Lack of spirit attitude (chalta has attitude) is there. Excellence is never promoted. All books are generally of foreign authors. Research has got no relevance and has no concrete outcomes.2019 a new education policy was circulated for suggest. With new policy Institutions will be university, considered university. The academic caste system will no longer be there. She said that accredidation is must till 2022 . The session explained the need of accreditation as well. Participants were enthusiastic to understand the new changes in research and participated actively. Dr Ipshita said that the new policy will focus on action research, where new research areas will be given to participants to research. She said that research should be done in areas where there is no research; new policy will focus on the outcomes of research and its implementation. She also said literature review will not be there if it’s a new research. Quite an interactive and learning session, it was.

Session 14: Suicide Prevention: Role of Academic Leaders
Resource Person: Dr Arun
Suicide prevention will be a great help to lonely. There is no. of suicide case in India, which is a large no. so he said mental health is as important as physical health. The physiological symptoms are exhaustion, aches and pains, rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing, excess sickness is physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. These symptoms, which all people display major causes of suicide are untreated mental illness, genetically predisposed, depression, fear to face problems. Help people to come out of loneliness; do not let them be alone. Diagnosis should be on paper not to person. Try helping a person. Always your issue, it is challenging but will help you come out of it. Exercise is important in that it secrets happy hormones to keep them happy. Every person takes three days to settle down. The secession extended up till 5 pm with thanks and feedback from participants

*********************