From mapping the wildlife parks of Tanzania and rainforests of Guyana for three years, to mapping the future of young students from all over the world, David Willey, deputy vice chancellor, Bournemouth University, UK, has come a long way.
Newspeg. Ranked Britain’s No.1 new university by the Guardian University Guide in 2009 and 2010, Bournemouth University (BU) was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for excellence in higher and further education on February 24. More pertinently, Willey recently made a whistle-stop tour of India for the first time, visiting Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai to recce the higher education scenario in India, and sign partnerships and collaboration agree-ments with higher education institutions.
Career trajectory. Willey was appointed pro vice chancellor (corporate development and finance) of BU in 2002 after 18 years with the Ordnance Survey UK, the national mapping agency of Great Britain. In 2006, he took charge as BU’s deputy vice chancellor in which capacity he helped to draw up the university’s strategic develop-ment plan 2006-12. Currently, he supervises organisational change and the university’s investments in real estate and IT infrastructure, apart from heading marketing and public and alumni relations.
India agenda. Bournemouth has 18,000 students with 1,800 foreign (including more than 100 Indian) students from 130 countries on its muster rolls. Over the next decade, it plans to substantially raise its intake of foreign students. To boost its contingent of Indian students, Willey visited Hindustan University, Chennai and movie mogul Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International film-making academy in Mumbai.
Direct talk. “We have already signed an MOU with Jai Hind College (JHC), Mumbai, in 2010, under which all Jai Hind graduates are welcome to enroll in any of our courses in the media, business, engineering, design and computing schools, and are offered annual scholarships of £3,000 (Rs.2.5 lakh). There is an unlimited number of scholarships for JHC students, the largest offered to any BU partner. There is no other admission requirement, besides a graduate degree. Media students in their second year can complete their final year with us for a BA (Hons) in global media practice,” says Willey.
Future plans. BU is wholly committed to internationalising its operations in the rapidly globalising contemporary world. “We already have over 100 students from India in BU and are very impressed with their learning capabilities and potential. That’s why I am here to explore new ways to broaden and deepen BU’s engagement and strengthen links with our partners in India,” says Willey.
Swagatam!
Jayanthi Mahalingam (Mumbai)