Ashoka University launches a new School of Management and Leadership

Ashoka University Sonipat campus, supported by a contribution of ₹250 crore by Anil Rai Gupta, managing director of Havells India, "seeks to equip young leaders with the knowledge, skills, and character required to develop solutions and lead change to address the world's most pressing economic and social challenges," the private research university said in a statement.

It said the new school will complement its existing focus on humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and computer science, while its management and leadership programmes will be fully integrated with Ashoka's liberal education approach.

The vision of the school is to create programmes that are at par with business and management programmers offered by leading global institutions, including the Saïd Business School of Oxford University, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California, and Stern School of Business of New York University.

Somak Raychaudhury, vice-chancellor at Ashoka University said the School of Management and Leadership is among the several schools with departments mentioned in the initial statutes of the university which was founded in 2014.

"The Infoedge Centre for Entrepreneurship at Ashoka University offers courses broadly under management and related areas and they have become very popular among the students over the years. About 30% of our students have taken at least course offered by the Centre for Entrepreneurship. As a result, we decided to open a Department of Entrepreneurship and Management and then build the school which will go over it. So, the idea of this school has been there since the start of university. It was always thought that it would be part of liberal arts education and now we are essentially forming the school because we now have founders who can sponsor this initiative," Raychaudhury told HT.

He said that both the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Department of Entrepreneurship and Management will operate under the new Havells School of Management and Leadership. “So, it is starting with one centre and department from this academic session but we will later add more centres and departments under the school. Courses under the entrepreneurship centre and the department will move to the new school,” he added.

The Ashoka Management School will offer a distinct undergraduate program in Applied Liberal Arts and Management.

“I don’t think it is being launched this year because for that, we need the faculty. But it will be given as a major course eventually. For now, it will be given as a minor course,” he added.

Minor courses of 24 credits can be opted by any student enrolled in four-year undergraduate courses of total 160 credits at Ashoka University.

Pramath Raj Sinha, founder and chairperson of the board of trustees, Ashoka University said the university is in the process of appointing faculties for the new schools.

"We have seen growing demands among the students for management and entrepreneurship courses over the last few years. So, it was in a way confluence of what we were seeing among our students and what Anil and his company wanted to do and now we are announcing the school and looking forward to launch new courses. Through this school, we are building a new model of management education that combines the rigour of business thinking with the foundations of liberal arts," he added.

Anil Rai Gupta, MD Havells India said, "Havells and Ashoka University come together for launching this new school as there was a big opportunity wherein students not only learn liberal arts but management at undergraduate level of their education and contribute to nation's growth and the creation and development of industries globally." Havells has granted ₹250 crore to Ashoka University for its new school. The Havells School of Management and Leadership aspires to launch integrated postgraduate programs with links to leading schools of business and management in India and abroad. "The programmes will give students a broad foundation in liberal arts with an emphasis on multi-disciplinarity, critical thinking, communication and leadership, but will also let them specialise in management, business and entrepreneurship," said the university.