As enunciated in our mission statement, IIMU is a faculty-governed institute with a culture of academic excellence fostered by rigor in teaching and research. Most of our permanent faculty is made up of recent doctoral graduates of leading schools in India and abroad who show potential for research of the highest quality. In some cases, we will also add very experienced academics as permanent faculty.
IIMU provides an environment that ensures faculty can hone and develop their skills in both teaching and research. A range of support initiatives has been put in place to encourage research that encompasses both theoretical scholarship that will be of significance to the field in question as well as research that will be relevant and useful to practitioners, policymakers, NGOs and other users.
All of IIMU’s full-time faculty members have earned PhDs or are Fellows at top schools in India, Europe and North America. In addition, IIMU attracts adjunct and visiting faculty drawn from IIMs and other prominent business schools in India and abroad, thus ensuring that the quality of the teaching students receive is at the highest level. Top executives from leading companies are also invited as visiting faculty, bringing vast industry experience to the classroom.
Our full-time faculty benefit from the expertise and mentorship provided by adjunct faculty with respected credentials in research and teaching. New faculty members are not expected to immediately commence teaching independently. In the first course they teach on campus, they usually act as co-instructors with an existing faculty member.
Faculty members' role in the administration is limited. In a departure from the structure in many B-schools in India, administrative roles at IIMU for functions such as program management, admissions and placements are handled primarily by professionals with oversight by faculty. This frees faculty to focus on their core responsibilities of teaching and research. Full-time faculty spend 50% of their time on research, 45% of their time on teaching (both core courses and electives) and the remaining 5% on various activities relating to service.
As mentioned, most of IIMU's full-time faculty members are young recent doctoral graduates who are in the early stages of their academic and research careers. We have therefore put in place a three-phase career development plan to act as a framework as they advance as respected researchers:
IIMU follows the Japanese model of faculty development, with a tough selection process but once faculty are appointed they benefit from intensive institutional support with the objective that each will become well-established in his or her chosen field. IIMU does not use a traditional tenure track for faculty and this allows the Institute to take into account the specific circumstances of each faculty member, the nature of their training and their research priorities.
