The Chronicles

NICMAR University Pune is proud to announce that we have been awarded the prestigious EnviroCare Green Awards 2024, recognizing our commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship, and green development.

This award celebrates the dedication of our faculty, staff, and students who integrate eco-friendly practices into our academic and operational frameworks. This achievement motivates us to further our sustainability initiatives and set new benchmarks in environmental care and green education.

Dr. Mrs. Sushma S. Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, NICMAR University was invited as an expert speaker at ‘IUCEE ICTEE Leadership Conclave 2024’, held on July 12th and 13th. The leadership conclave was attended by imminent academic leaders including Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Deans and Department Heads from universities and colleges across all over India.

Dr. Anil Agarwal, Dean-Academics and Dr. Kirti Rajhans, Head- Centre of Excellence for Academic Practices actively participated and engaged in the conclave.

NICMAR University Pune organized webinar in collaboration with Godrej Properties and the International Water Association (IWA) on 5th June 2024 to celebrate World Environment Day.

Esteemed speakers, Dr. V. Rajesh Kumar of L&T Construction and Dr. D. Gokul of NLC India Ltd., gave their invaluable insights on environmental issues and actionable solutions.

On July 6, 2024, NICMAR University, Pune proudly participated in the launch of the ‘Collective of Real Estate Women (CREW)’ by Godrej Properties Limited. Dr. Mrs. Sushma S. Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, NICMAR University, Pune was invited as a distinguished panel member for the symposium titled, “Decoding Opportunities to Increase Women's Representation in Real Estate", organized on the launch event of C.R.E.W.

The panel discussion featured prominent women leaders from the construction industry. In her discussion, Dr. Sushma Kulkarni emphasized the pivotal role of academia in the construction sector. She highlighted how academia and industry can mutually benefit from each other through collaboration and knowledge exchange. She also stressed the importance of educating girls about the construction sector from a young age to foster awareness and inclusivity. The event saw enthusiastic participation of women from the construction industry, as well as from NICMAR University.

A Session on “NIRF Ranking” was organized by the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of NICMAR University, Pune on 08th July, 2024 at the mini auditorium of the University. Dr. Vishal Singh Patyal, Associate Professor, Chair- Accreditation and Ranking, Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam (IIMV) was the expert for this session. The session aimed to familiarize faculty members with the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and its significance in the context of institutional assessment and improvement. The expert provided valuable insights into the importance, key parameters and potential benefits of participating in the NIRF ranking process.

The session was presided over by the honourable Vice Chancellor, Dr. Sushma Kulkarni who emphasized the significance of accreditation and ranking in her inaugural talk. All faculty members of NICMAR University, Pune attended the session.

NICMAR University (NU) has been awarded "AA" grade for January-April 2024 as a local chapter for SWAYAM NPTEL.

For the term of January – June 2024, a total of 1203 students participated in 31 different courses recommended by their respective schools.

Based on the above performance, NICMAR University was ranked 84th among the top 200 active Local Centres. The university also secured 2nd rank in the discipline of Design Engineering as a total of 933 students registered for the Design, Technology and Innovation course.

The Centre of Excellence for Academic Practices, in collaboration with IQAC organised a second edition of its annual event, "Teaching and Learning Practices Showcase 2024". This faculty symposium is an event dedicated to highlighting innovative and effective pedagogical practices. It provides faculty members a platform for showcasing their unique and varied classroom teaching practices for bringing in innovation in teaching.

Dr. Gauri Shiurkar, Director- School of Architecture, Urban Development & Planning, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune and Dr. Sanjay Mali, Principal, PGDM, National Insurance Academy, Balewadi, Pune were the expert judges for this event. Dr. Sushma Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, NICMAR University, Pune spoke about the importance of innovation in pedagogy in academic.

The first winning entry of this year was a group presentation by Dr. Avinash Bagul and Dr. Sudhir Ambekar about innovative teaching methods and gamification in teaching Operations Research. The Second-best entry of the event was a presentation on ‘Innovative teaching methods and solutions to student engagement problems’ by Dr. Dhaarna. Dr. Kirti Rajhans, Head-CoEAP outlined the objectives of the event and its role in fostering a culture of best teaching learning practices at NICMAR University.

Centre of Excellence for Academic Practices in collaboration with IQAC and Department of Research organised a five days faculty development program on, the ‘Use of ICT and Design Thinking in Teaching’. The objective was to encourage faculty members to use innovative digital tools and adopt creative methods in their teaching learning process. Dr. Sushma Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, NICMAR University, Pune, delivered the inaugural address and valedictory address on faculty training needs and takeaways from the training.

Mr. Senthil Kumar, Founder & Director, MADIEE Games and Ms. Shalaka G., Director of Conferences and Global Events, International Association of Facilitators took sessions on ‘Use of Physical and online simulations and gamification in teaching’.

Dr. Usha Verma, Associate Professor and Head CELT (Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) took hands on sessions on various ICT tools in teaching wherein she introduced faculty members with use and concepts of visual design and interactive presentations, using canva for presentations and use of digital softwares for formative and summative assessment and for student engagement.

Dr. Pavan Soni, Innovation Evangelist Founder, Inflexion Point Consulting (Alumnus of IIM Mumbai and IIM Bangalore), took sessions on ‘how to use design thinking approach and methods for making teaching and research effective’.

Professor Krushna Mahapatra, with a PhD from Mid Sweden University and MSc degrees from the University of Toronto and the Forest Research Institute, India, delivered his insightful talk on renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency.

Dr. Medha Joshi, Executive Director, and Dr. Hemant Bedekar, Chairman of the Bamboo Society of India - Maharashtra Chapter visited the university which facilitated a productive exchange of ideas with our faculty.

Dr. Sushma Kulkarni, Vice-Chancellor of NICMAR University Pune, graced the interaction with her valuable suggestions. NICMAR University Pune has taken a lifetime membership with the Bamboo Society of India, opening doors for collaborative research, training modules, and entrepreneurship guidance for our students.

NICMAR Business School facilitated a workshop for its faculty members on ‘Teaching with Harvard Business Cases (HBS)’ by Mr. Daryl D’Souza on 31st July 2024.

The workshop was conducted to help NBS Faculty understand the rich repository of Harvard Cases products and its application in management education. The facilitator demonstrated various HBS resources beyond case studies to encourage exploration of new age pedagogical tools like simulations, video cases, podcases etc. for an engaging learning process.