TISS eyes ‘university of innovation’ recognition

In this respect,the ‘restructuring process’ of TISS which started in 2006 has led to expansion in terms of number and variety of courses,student enrolment,faculty members,infrastructure and national and international collaborations. Since 2006,the number of teaching programmes went up from 4 to 18 and corresponding student strength from 400 in 2005 to around 1,667 on roll in the current academic year. “Past experience indicates all the academic programmes started by the TISS are the first-of-its-kind in India; with many of them offered by other universities in the country as innovative programmes years later,” says Parasuraman.

The institute says that new masters programmes — Globalisation and Labour,Social Entrepreneurship,Development Studies,Disability Studies and Action,Habitat Policy and Practice,Disaster Management,Counselling,Public Health,and Women’s Studies — have been developed to address local and global challenges.

Further,TISS currently runs 26 field action projects addressing critical social issues like violence against women,rights and rehabilitation of persons being processed by the criminal justice system and children in conflict with law,access to health in rural and tribal areas,sustainable livelihood,food security and adult education among others. The upcoming campuses in Guwahati and Hyderabad are also expected to significantly assist in building professional capacity of students for working in education,health,environment,habitat planning and governance,human security,entrepreneurship,and industry among others.