Mumbai :- An agreement of academic cooperation between the BMCC, the largest Community College under the City University of New York (CUNY) and the SNDT Women’s University was signed in presence of Maharashtra Governor and Chancellor of universities Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan Mumbai. A Conclave on “Internationalisation of Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges” was also held on the occasion.
President of the BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College) – CUNY Dr. Anthony Munroe and Vice Chancellor of SNDT Women’s University Prof. Ujwala Chakradeo signed the agreement in presence of the Governor.
Speaking on the occasion, the Governor said we live in an era of collaboration and cooperation. Complimenting the SNDT University and the BMCC Community College for embarking on a partnership for student- and faculty exchange, the Governor said the collaboration will produce good results for both the sides within the next few years.
President of the BMCC College New York Dr. Anthony Munroe said the BMCC is the largest community college in the US, offering affordable education to students from 140 different countries. Stating that 60 per cent of the BMCC students were women, he felt that partnership with SNDT Women’s University will prove to be mutuallly beneficial. He said the fees charged by the College is one-sixth of private colleges.
He told the meeting that the BMCC is rated among the top 5 Community Colleges in the United States, having collaboration with best known financial institutions such as Goldman Sach, Zurich, Citi Bank, Moody’s and others. He said students of the Colleges make it to the best Ivy league institutions such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Starnford, UC Berkeley and MIT.
Vice Chancellor of SNDT Women’s University Ujwala Chakradev said the MoU is being signed at a time when India is ready to implement the National Education Policy. She expressed the hope that girls from India will get the best of higher education through the partnership with BMCC. Stating that Skill education is the forte of the SNDT Women’s University, she said areas of collaboration with BMCC such as joint degrees, entrepreneurship etc have been identified and will be acted upon.
Director of Enrollment Management of BMCC Sanjay Ramdath, representative of the Consulate of the United States of America in Mumbai, Pro. Vice Chancellor of SNDT WU Prof Ruby Oza, Registrar Dr. Vilas Nandavadekar, Dr. Nitin Wani, Heads of various departments and Principals of Colleges under SNDT were present.
