US varsity keen on campus in India

US-based University of Philadelphia is considering the legal and economical feasibility of setting up its own campus in India once the law is amended, said Timothy McGee, director of School of Design and media, Philadelphia University.

Last year, the institute sent a three-person team from its textile engineering, school of business administration, and science and health department to study the market potential and feasibility.

"There is great potential for courses from our science and health department, like disaster medicine management, besides the regular textile engineering and business administration programmes," said McGee.

Meanwhile, the university has signed an MoU with Tenable Learning Solutions for a certificate programme in instructional design in e-learning.

This will be a 12-week virtual training programme offered under the guidance of Philadelphia University's faculty. The pilot for the programme will be launched in September with 25 students in Hyderabad.

Depending on the success, the course would be offered to three batches in a year, regularly in Pune, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. 

The initial fees for the course would be $3,000. This is 50 per cent of the actual course fees at University of Philadelphia.

"We would bring the fees down to $1,500 in the next one year once we achieve more automation," said C V Chandrashekhar, chief executive officer, Tenable Learning Solutions. "At the end of the programme, the students will get a certificate," he added.

There are over 60 e-learning companies in India employing over 5,000 professionals. "India has quality programming skills. But in e-learning applications, the projects executed here are not upto the mark due to the poor communication skills," said McGee.

However, "The lack of communication skills does not mean a problem in the understanding of English by the programmer, but of training in instructional design," clarified McGee adding that the course will bridge the gap by imparting instructional design education.