India university joins IU for new academic collaboration

President Michael McRobbie recently announced a new partnership between three of Bloomington’s schools and the private O.P. Jindal Global University, located in Haryana, India, just outside New Delhi.

The collaboration will happen between the Indian university and the Maurer School of Law, the Kelley School of Business and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, as well as the IU Center on Philanthropy.

“I think India is a major area for economic growth,” said IU’s Vice President for International Affairs Patrick O’Meara. “It’s a strategically important political area, and I’m delighted that there will be real opportunities for law and other schools to be engaged in this active new university.”

C. Raj Kumar Kumar, vice chancellor for Jindal Global University said in a press release that the university is honored to enter into the collaboration.

“It will create knowledge and develop the professional skills of our students by introducing them to a wide variety of graduate-level experiences within the U.S. educational system, while giving American students first-hand interaction with the rapidly growing Indian economy,” Kumar said.

Each professional school will collaborate differently on an academic level.
The Business School and the university in India will create a joint executive education program through its new master’s in business degree.

“Our plan is to develop a multifaceted relationship that will involve their students studying at IU and our students studying in India,” Kelley Dean Dan Smith said.
The school of law will provide an internship between its students and the students at the Indian university’s law school, while SPEA will create a summer program.

“We’re hoping that we’ll actually develop an opportunity where SPEA students can spend either a month in the summer or a semester exchange with the host university in India,” Dean of SPEA John Graham said.

O’Meara said the collaboration opportunity will open a lot of doors for IU students who want to be involved with the growing economic and political presence of India.

“I think students will benefit enormously from exposure to the dramatic and exciting changes that are taking place in India. The growth and the comparative aspects all will be very important to us,” O’Meara said. “We are living in a world that is interdependent, and India is indeed a major player.”