Founding batch to have 125 students, have received good response so far: Krea University VC

Liberal arts institution Krea University, which will commence classes for its undergraduate programme in August 2019, aims to start off with 125 students in its founding batch.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Sunder Ramaswamy, Vice Chancellor, Krea University, talks about the plans for the campus. Excerpts:

Q: The admission process for Krea went live in November. How has the response been? 

A: So far the response has been very positive from across India and we will continue to push the outreach efforts in various cities and also multiple formats so as to continue to increase our visibility among prospective students and parents. There are four rounds of admissions extending until July 5, 2019.

Q: Which courses will you offer in the first year?

A: As part of our philosophy of interwoven learning, the first year courses are common to all entering students and will focus on broad core classes that introduce students to different disciplines and also a set of skills.

Q: What is the average size of class you are looking at?

A: At Krea we place a premium on faculty-student interactions and so class sizes will be small so as to facilitate more meaningful interaction between a student and a faculty and among the student's peers. The founding batch of 2019 is expected to be around 125 students strong.

Q: How relevant do you think liberal arts institutions are in the Indian context?

A: For a fast changing world, a student not only needs specialized skills but also the ability to adapt, change, collaborate and communicate, among other attributes. A liberal curriculum is increasingly relevant, not just for the first job after their graduation, but as a foundation for lifelong learning.

Q: Since Krea is being backed by a large set of industry leaders, will students also get internship opportunities at some of these organisations?

A: We will certainly cast our net wide and go beyond the excellent industry leaders backing us, and arrange for various practicums and placement opportunities for our students.

Q: Has construction been completed at the Sri City (Andhra Pradesh) campus?

A: We currently operate the IFMR Business School out of our 40-acre Sri City campus.  We are completing some renovations to get it ready to start the UG program next August. We are in the process of engaging an architect for a master plan for the 200-acre site in Sri City, where Krea will move to in a few years when a world class campus is set up.

Q: You recently partnered with the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values. Are you considering other such partnerships? 

A: Very much so. We will pursue options and enter into partnerships that are mutually beneficial and advances our learning, and creates further teaching and research opportunities for our faculty and students.