With an aim to hunt for qualified and capable faculty abroad, IIT-Kanpur has set up an office in New York with alumnus Sanjeev Khosla designated as the overseas brand ambassador of the institute.

The office will also try to amass funds through the alumni based there, IIT-Kanpur Director, Indranil Manna, said.

The office will help in connecting foreign faculty with IIT—K. More than a dozen teachers teaching in foreign institutions have expressed an interest in associating with IIT—K, Manna said.

Also, ex—IITians posted at good positions in various American cities are willing to help IIT—K. They are also collecting funds to do the same, he said.

They are also in talks with international level technical educational institutes and universities about research and other issues. A system to invite the students and faculty of foreign institutes to IIT—K is also being formulated, he added.

Sanjeev Khosla has been associated with many educational institutions. His tenure is for three years, having commenced on September 1, 2013. He will act as a link between IIT—K, the alumni of the institute who are living abroad and foreign educational institutions, Manna said.

The office on 62, William Street is on lease for five years, he said.

Questions world rankings

In the backdrop of IITs failing to make it to the top 200 in the QS rankings of the world’s leading universities, IIT-Kanpur Director Indranil Manna had yesterday alleged corruption in the ranking process of various such agencies and said it was more of a “money game“.

Manna alleged that the ranking process by such agencies was based on the paying capabilities of the institutions.

“The standard of teaching, research and job placement are not the criteria for the ranking, instead it is based on the paying capabilities of the institutions. An amount of one lakh and fifty thousand dollars needs to be paid to get a good ranking in such lists,” he claimed.

“These global rankings are more of a business rather than based on academic performance of institutions,” he said.

Manna said a five-member committee of IIT directors has been constituted, of which he is part of, to look into the issue and understand the methodology of the ranking agencies.

The report by this committee will be submitted to the IIT council, he said.

On IIT-Kanpur ranking at 295 in the ‘QS World University Rankings’, Manna said the institute was placed on the position based on old information provided on the its website.

“The ranking should have been after a team would have come to IIT-Kanpur and seen how the institute works. There have been so many students of IIT-Kanpur who have achieved so much on the world stage,” he said.

The list released on September 10 was dominated with US universities, with MIT grabbing the top slot and Harvard at No 2, pushing Britain’s Cambridge University to No 3.

The 11 Indian institutions which featured in the list included IIT Delhi at 222, IIT Bombay at 233, IIT Kanpur at 295, IIT Madras at 313 and IIT Kharagpur at 346.