Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro Chancellor, Chitkara University shared her views on “Strengthening Bridges Through Student- Faculty Engagement” during the sixth edition of the Conference on “Internationalisation of Higher Education”, which was organized by Symbiosis International University and the Association of Indian Universities, in collaboration with the Indian Chapter of OBREAL Global from April 15th, 2022 to April 17th, 2022. The theme of the conference was “Interregional Cooperation for Effective Internationalisation of Higher Education”. She talked about how the role of mentor and mentee has increased manifold in the post-covid scenario and that the long unprecedented condition now needs a passionate and caring bond between the mentor and mentees.

She emphasized on the need of for two-way cordial communication between the two sides as well as the importance of Global exposure for students and the immense benefits with widen horizons. She also underscored the importance of research to meet the challenges and the facilities being offered by CURIN and CEED, at Chitkara University. Connecting the social engagement aspect of NEP, she mentioned about Chitkara University’s contribution towards its five adopted villages. Additionally, she also talked about the many practical aspects to strengthen the faculty-student bridge.

This SIU-AIU IHE series of conferences is a prominent annual international event on the internationalisation of higher education, providing a platform for Indian vice chancellors, senior academics, faculty and experts from India and across the world to engage with critical ideas, policies and structures that would support HEIs to internationalise their curricula and campuses. The conference encompassed dialogues around South-South-North, East-East, West-West, West-East, India and its neighbors, ASEAN nations and UNESCO collaborations in higher education. This Conference was the first such interregional dialogue of its kind which was held in India. The internationalisation of higher education has evolved the education sector into a globally, interconnected knowledge-based society over the past few decades. Academic partnerships and information exchange prospects with collaborators in other nations, especially in the same region, have become more important to higher education institutions and national governments. Recent research on how regional cooperation has risen in economic, educational and cultural dimensions has convincingly indicated that new models of higher education governance are emerging in Asia, marked by evolving traits of ‘regulatory regionalism.’