-FLAME University successfully moves to online classes for nearly 200 courses

-Over 100 faculty members collaborate  to impart interdisciplinary courses

APRIL, 1st 2020, PUNE (GPN): FLAME University, the pioneer of liberal education in India has successfully moved to online classes for over 200 courses, including those as diverse as calculus, psychology, finance, economics, cinematography, music and visual art. Over 100 faculty members have been seamlessly conducting their classes as of 31st March, 2020.

Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Dishan Kamdar said, “The coronavirus pandemic is a serious and alarming situation. Our first priority is health and well-being of our stakeholders, but that has not held us back from providing the best to our students. We are working in coordination with our faculty to give everyone the best support during this time. It is definitely a challenging situation but we have adapted well.”

A Digital Learning Task Force was formed to train and support faculty members to transition to conducting courses online. G-Suite products and Google Meet was chosen to centralize class scheduling and for providing tutorial support for faculty members and students. Two temporary studios were set up on campus as well.

Professor Hoshiar Mal, Assistant Professor, said, “When I received a communication from the Vice-Chancellor about conducting online classes, I got a little worried because my course is hands-on and I thought it would be challenging for me to teach my course online.  However, we adapted with some new techniques to keep multilateral communication and feedback intact. For example, I included a question after each slide of my online course. This approach worked well as it kept students engaged.” 

For assessments, many faculty members leveraged FLAME University’s Learning Management System, to create online quizzes to engage students remotely. The FLAME University library is also digitized, which makes it possible for students and faculty to access all subscribed databases and digital resources from off-campus locations.

“FLAME University’s virtual class room operations are brilliant. I belong to the same education sector and I am aware of the concept of delivering educational services online but it used to be a supplement to class room activity in schools and colleges in our country. FLAME rose to the challenge of lockdown and executed it as a mainstream delivery mechanism within just a couple of days. Delivering what’s being planned is not easy. Observing my daughter’s participation I can endorse that it’s engaging, intense and sustainable even on full day schedules like the real campus day. I sincerely thank the faculty, support staff and the students who made learning effective this way. Well done FLAME’, said Polkampally Sameer Kumar, Parent of Polkampally Sarayu, undergraduate student at FLAME University. ENDS

About FLAME University

FLAME University has been created as an academic institution anchored in Liberal Education. Being the pioneer of Liberal Education in India, FLAME University delivers the country’s premier interdisciplinary education experience. It exists to build an aspirational destination for students and faculty, to push the design and nature of studies and to create a societal upgradation phenomenon particularly in the fields of liberal education and leadership.

FLAME University is driven to being one of India’s most respected and reputed centres of learning – the one destination of choice for higher education in the nation for learners and teachers.

Spread on 60 acres of green expanse, FLAME prepares students who have a strong desire to learn and grow continually, welcome new ideas, value diversity with desire to succeed and give their best towards excellence in all spheres of life. Its curriculum includes perspective building, skills and competencies for communication, problem-solving skills, creativity, innovation, teamwork and ethics that also meet the needs of the diverse sectors of the country. It currently consists of four schools: FLAME School of Liberal Education, FLAME School of Business, FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of Fine & Performing Arts.

With more than 100 full time faculty members, the university offers an unparalled education experience. The student – teacher ratio is 9:1, unmatched at the higher education level in India.

FLAME University has been established as a state private university vide the FLAME University Act 2014 (Maharashtra Act No. II of 2015) of the Government of Maharashtra. FLAME University is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 2(f), and degrees awarded by the University are recognized under Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956.