Lord Shiva College of Pharmacy, Principal: Dr. Jitender Singh Interview

Dr. Jitender Singh is working as the Principal at Lord Shiva College of Pharmacy, Sirsa. Dr. Singh has contributed over 21 years of his services towards Pharmaceutical Education and Research. Publishing 07 books, he has attended over 40 National and International conferences worldwide. He is a proud Member of Executive Committee of Journal of Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety India and is a life member of several professional bodies viz. IPA, APTI, AIC, IPGA, IABMS, ICS, Society of Pharmacovigilance India. He has been awarded as one of the outstanding intellectuals of the 21 st century by International Biographical centre, Cambridge, England as well. 

How would you describe your leadership style?

“Giving directions and taking feedbacks”

I believe in Democratic or Participative leadership. I encourage a blend of task-oriented and people-oriented workforce to achieve goals. I provide guidance and direction, but also encourage feedback from employees as well as students. I take their opinions into account which helps in encouraging loyalty, boosting morale of employees and students; improving quality and creativity.

How do you strategize the key plans for the marketing of your college?

“Regular meets, interactions and communication via social media”

I believe in planning strategies which are effective academically as well as financially, and at the same time are organizationally feasible. We form a committee that visits different schools having students from medical and non-medical streams and interact with them. Various courses offered by the institute and their supposed outcomes are also highlighted during these interactions. Also, as social media now-a-days is the best variant to build reputation of any institute and to help students as well as parents realize about our doings and on-goings; we utilize the power of social media to provide helpful information about our on-going technical courses, activities, about campus as well as faculty, to answer queries from prospective students etc. Live streams of campus events are held frequently to generate more interest in our institute.

What can an inbound student gain from studying here in the college?

“Wider educational perspectives to become professionals”

I believe higher education is about going beyond content mastery. We work hard to create a learning environment that fosters critical thinking and problem solving. All students, in order to become engaged members of society, need to understand not only the facts presented in books and lectures, but the questions they need to ask based on the information they learn. We educate our students to become self-directed learners, engaging their natural curiosity about the material presented and taking that curiosity to the next level.

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How does the curriculum of your College ensure the best practice of industry?

“Advance and more innovative pedagogy to learn the concepts”

Bridging the gap between education and industrial requirements is something we always look into and keep innovating. Our curriculum is a blend of academic theory and industry practices. We promote innovation culture by creating an appropriate and healthy environment, and encourage young minds with out of the box and non-conventional ideas. We make sure our students are well equipped to contribute to society and become good academicians, industry managers and leaders.

What do you think your roles and responsibilities towards the students are?

“Building in zeal to learn and carry out innovation and research”

We strive to impart quality education in technical courses to our students making them useful contributors to society. Institution provides the student with a stress-free atmosphere for learning and developing his /her intellectual capabilities. Through quality scientific projects, we try to synergize between research, education and innovation. Also, time to time interaction with experts and highly committed industry professionals leads to massive benefit in terms of enhancement in student’s interpersonal skills as well as provide vision for future planning. By providing a rigorous academic and caring environment, I strive to help students realize their full academic potential, develop positive self-concepts, and gain enthusiasm for learning. 

What do you think should be the College’s top priority over the next 10 years?

“More alliance with industries and institutes for diverse opportunities”

Our college’s top priority is to make the education at graduation and post-graduation level more research oriented and give the student chances to think for super specializations simultaneously. To supplement academics with maximum practical applications of theoretical knowledge, work on industry-institute partnerships, collaborations with research institutes and to generate job opportunities through creation of start-ups are few of our top priorities.

How far have you been successful in implementing the vision of the college?

“Potential developments in education and research”

The vision of the college is to impart quality education to our students and to provide a conducive academic environment that encourages interactive learning, builds research abilities and provides opportunities for an active professional network. To achieve the goals, we work as a team on engaging competent and experienced faculty members, skilled support staff and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Inculcating the values of discipline, commitment and hard work was what I always looked forward to. In order to implement my vision key strategic issues were chalked out by talking with executives, pulling in staff insights, and collecting feedback from students so as to come in resonance with their minds. We have worked hard on improving graduate pharmacy laboratories as well as research laboratories, computer laboratories, library facilities as well as general infrastructure. To build industrial collaborations and campus placements are certain issues on which we are still working on.

What do you see as Lord Shiva College of Pharmacy’s greatest strengths?

“Excellent exposure and dynamic learning practices”

The research facilities and research exposure provided at our college is at par with the best institutes in India. We have a galaxy of academicians and professionals which the institute has on its panel and their visit on a regular basis, lectures and deliberations upon latest developments in the pharmaceutical field results in fruitful interactions. Seminars, workshops, guest lectures and symposia are organized from time to time in the College. Training programmes and profession associated scientific conventions attended by the staff keep them updated of the latest developments in the pharmacy profession. Our alumni bagging enviable positions in academia as well as industry all over India are also our strengths. We provide a very research oriented approach and help our students publish books and papers in high impact journals periodically and present at National & International conferences. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you see for higher education?

“Lack of inputs for quality research and market trends”

Lack of industrial and clinical exposure, Unskilled ways of practical and lab training in the institutes, Handling weak and non-meritorious students are few challenges for higher education institutions. Institutional base of research in India is extremely narrow and serious research is limited to comparatively well equipped universities. Research output from Indian educational labs hardly reaches commercialization level.

Any suggestions you would like to give to the aspiring students?

“Learn effectively rather than mugging up with the theory”

In accordance with the changing trends, much emphasis should be given to industrial and practical exposure. The knowledge of a pharmacy student should be current and always the upskilling of his knowledge is necessary. He should be aware of what are the latest changes going in the field of pharmacy. A student should learn to evaluate himself and try to continuously improve.

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What plans are you currently designing for international affairs of your college?

“More advance research orientation and preparation for collaborative programmes”

Specializations and project work has been introduced at graduation level in pharmacy which was formerly limited to the post graduate level so that students have a provision for specialization from graduation level in all the conventional branches of pharmacy. To give best exposure to our students we are focussing on hands-on training of the basic skills required for Pharmacy processes and techniques. We also plan to encourage and implement research oriented curriculum so as to provide exposure to modern and innovative ideas outside the textbook content. The students having proficient research papers stand a bright chance to get scholarships and enter the top universities of the world. To reach out to fraternal institutions in different parts of the world for collaborative programmes, research networks, student exchanges and so on is also included in the list.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations and environment in your college?

“Enhancing mutual interaction and building up a positive environment”

Healthy relationships foster positive social interaction and establish a nurturing environment of trust and support. To achieve this we embrace positive attitudes and beliefs, cultural as well as linguistic competence. We encourage communication and one to one teacher-student interaction during tutorials, respect their extracurricular interests and listen to the challenges to develop trust and support.