The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has secured a spot in the World's Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Ranking for 2020, for innovation and creativity recently. In an interview with Dhaka Tribune’s Kohinur Khyum Tithila, Dr Jude William R Genilo, head of Media Studies and Journalism Department at ULAB, shared his thoughts about the WURI ranking and media studies curriculum at universities in Bangladesh.
Is there anything unique about World's Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Ranking, compared to other university rankings?
WURI (World's Universities with Real Impact) is an alternative to the mainstream Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Time Higher Education (THE) ranking systems. QS Symonds and THE ranking are quantitative and rank universities mainly on their reputation (perceptions from academics and employers), research (number of studies and citations) and internationalization (number of foreign faculty and staff). The systems are biased towards universities that are older, richer and research-intensive.
WURI evaluates a university's real contribution to society. It highlights creative and innovative approaches to university research and education. It believes that universities should uphold active and practical learning; producing graduates that industry and society really needs. WURI is about the "how" and not the "what" of education. It is based on hard work and continuous improvement. It strives to level the playing field as far as ranking systems are concerned.
In summary, QS and THE award traditional academic performance. They stick to the traditional university role of knowledge creation and transfer. WURI awards universities that come up with solutions to the diverse needs of society. It encourages universities to have real impacts on the world. WURI's criteria for evaluation are innovativeness, implementability and impact.
ULAB secured 46th spot under the "industrial applications" category. Could you explain what the industrial applications category is -- for our readers?
As mentioned earlier, WURI promotes innovatios in university research and teaching. It criticizes the old paradigm in education which views universities as teacher-centric ivory towers. Rather, WURI proposes that universities should be market-centric and should be partners in resolving issues.
The industrial applications category is for innovations that produce graduates or researches that create an impact on the profession or industry. For WURI, lectures in large halls may not be as effective as active, practical and project-based learning. Moreover, research should not be done for knowledge's sake but for providing solutions to problems faced by industry.
ULAB stated that ‘...instead of burdening the students with the whole thesis at one go, it is developed throughout the two years the students spend in the program.’ Can you elaborate how it works? Do they start working on the thesis from the first year of the master’s program?
I need to explain how the thesis is traditionally conducted. Then, I can explain how ULAB's approach to the thesis differs. In the traditional approach, master's students usually do their thesis in the final term, work with an adviser or supervisor and defend the paper before a panel consisting of academicians. In order to get an adviser, a student usually selects a topic that the adviser has expertise on.
The student then follows the adviser. Since the panel members belong to the same area, they more or less understand each other. The thesis is completed and the student passes. In this process, it remains unclear on whether the student or the student paper would create a real impact in the profession or industry.
In ULAB's Masters in Communication thesis, a seven-step approach is utilized. This is shown in the figure below:
