Part of the reforms that Sudhir has undertaken at NLSIU has been an effort to make it globally prominent and feature in the QS rankings. But to live up to the Harvard of the East nickname, it's important for NLSIU to get a higher rank in the QS rankings. Ideally, in the top 5 in Asia. Currently NLSIU is ranked in the 201-250 band in QS, which is in the 30-35 band in Asia. The top 5 in Asia are NUS Singapore, Tokyo University, Hong Kong University, Peking University and Tsinghua University.
So what needs to be done and can Sudhir do it? The first step is attracting good faculty who will publish in good journals. That has been done to a great extent, but some of the deadwood TLC faculty still needs to be weeded out. Another step is attracting international faculty and students, which he is also working towards. But what else? What distinguishes the Top 5 above from NLSIU? is it just money and fancy buildings? Or something else?
With the Karnataka domicile quote and huge batch size, NLS will never be a top 5 QS. Messiah will leave after his second term and in all probability, Karnataka government will appoint some TLC VC who will put the final nail in the coffin built by Messiah for his alma mater.
Its possible that he could do it. the only thing standing in his way is finding people he can trust and delegate to. No one can make that jump all by themselves. He needs to trust his faculty- at least senior staff- to run big parts of the university by themselves.
But Sudhir has got in stellar people in every position! They all know him and like him. Faculty and Registrar and other posts. Let's face it, what's there not to like?
Hiring the best faculty, offering scholarships, encouraging research and publication, not involving teachers in admin work but getting qualified professionals for that, and building good relationships with the industry.
NUS poaches star profs from colleges abroad by offering them tons of money and perks, then gives them freedom to publish and minimum teaching. These publications push NUS high up in the rankings. I know two people from Oxford and King's College London who moved to Singapore (I met them during some law firm work). They candidly told me that they were getting paid twice as much and also had a serviced apartment with maid service. Plus freedom to do consultancy for law firms.
But I don't know if students at NUS benefit because the classroom time with the star professors is low. For this reason, I would still recommend the traditional Indian destinations for LLMs (Oxbridge, London, Warwick, NYU, Columbia etc), as well as Australian, Canadian and European colleges (many European colleges now offer courses in English). For example, a SOAS or a Warwick or a Monash or a Frankfurt may be lower ranked than NUS, but I think the student will have a better experience from the perspective of classroom teaching.
Just my view. Not trying to get into a QS rankings fight ๐
Actually no. They have employed more. There are two adjunct assistant professors, who teach regularly. One from NALSAR and one from DU. There are also two fulltime postdoc research fellows that have been appointed, one from NLS and one from Jindal.
Things will look up for sure, as NLSIU will be run by alumni for generations to come. I think Top 5 in Asia by 2040 is a very plausible goal. After that, top 30 globally by 2050, then top 20 globally by 2060.
Going by the track record in previous years which everyone refers to as the glory days, highly unlikely that NLSIU will climb up at all in any rankings.
NLSIU can reach top 30-35 globally but higher than that will be tough. In any case, I think a top 30-35 global rank for NLSIU will be a fair reflection of its standards, rather than a top 5/top 10 global ranking. In the current QS ranking, Duke is 29, Queen Mary is 32, Cornell and Michigan are 34. I feel this is the band that NLSIU belongs to and should aspire for. Even though NLSIU is called Harvard of the East, I think a top 5/top 10 ranking like Harvard is out of reach and unrealistic. So NLSIU's real goal should be to become a Duke/Cornell/Michigan/Queen Mary of the East, rather than a Harvard of the East. No shame in that, these are perfectly good colleges!
Dude, ask anyone which degree they would rather have: LLB/JD from QMUL/Duke or BALLB from NLSIU. Everyone will pick NLSIU. Your life is made with an NLSIU degree and firms will all want to hire you. I
Mark my words. Never gonna happen. Y'all think NLSIU is some island of excellence. Its just not. Everything considered "elite" in India usually, especially NLUs is mediocre af.
Nahi hoga. Nai honaar. เฆเฆเฆฌเง เฆจเฆพ. เฒเฒเณเฒตเณเฒฆเฒฟเฒฒเณเฒฒ เดจเดเดเตเดเดฟเดฒเตเดฒ. เฌเฌเฌฟเฌฌ เฌจเฌพเฌนเฌฟเฌ |เฎจเฎเฎเฏเฎเฎพเฎคเฏ
1) Harvard, Yale. Columbia, Stanford, Oxbridge: Law School can't reach this level, even with Sudhir in charge. Too much of an ask.
2) Duke, Cornell, Penn, Chicago, LSE, KCL, UCL: Law School can reach this level in 10-15 years, with Sudhir in charge.
3) SOAS, QMUL, Warwick, Virginia, Michigan: Law School can reach this level in 5-10 years, with Sudhir in charge.
For now, let's focus on goal 3. Take it step by step. What we need are 3 things:
- Around Rs 50 to 100 crores funding to improve infrastructure. Possible with alumni outreach and if Law School is declared an Institution of National Importance by the centre. It's critical to lobby for INI status. The SC case will be crucial. Hopefully the SC will uphold what the Karnataka HC said.
- More good faculty hires and eventually kicking out all the useless TLC profs. A few of them still remain and they are a hindrance top excellence.
- More internationalisation, via tie-ups with law schools abroad.
So what needs to be done and can Sudhir do it? The first step is attracting good faculty who will publish in good journals. That has been done to a great extent, but some of the deadwood TLC faculty still needs to be weeded out. Another step is attracting international faculty and students, which he is also working towards. But what else? What distinguishes the Top 5 above from NLSIU? is it just money and fancy buildings? Or something else?
But I don't know if students at NUS benefit because the classroom time with the star professors is low. For this reason, I would still recommend the traditional Indian destinations for LLMs (Oxbridge, London, Warwick, NYU, Columbia etc), as well as Australian, Canadian and European colleges (many European colleges now offer courses in English). For example, a SOAS or a Warwick or a Monash or a Frankfurt may be lower ranked than NUS, but I think the student will have a better experience from the perspective of classroom teaching.
Just my view. Not trying to get into a QS rankings fight ๐
Nahi hoga. Nai honaar. เฆเฆเฆฌเง เฆจเฆพ. เฒเฒเณเฒตเณเฒฆเฒฟเฒฒเณเฒฒ เดจเดเดเตเดเดฟเดฒเตเดฒ. เฌเฌเฌฟเฌฌ เฌจเฌพเฌนเฌฟเฌ |เฎจเฎเฎเฏเฎเฎพเฎคเฏ
1) Harvard, Yale. Columbia, Stanford, Oxbridge: Law School can't reach this level, even with Sudhir in charge. Too much of an ask.
2) Duke, Cornell, Penn, Chicago, LSE, KCL, UCL: Law School can reach this level in 10-15 years, with Sudhir in charge.
3) SOAS, QMUL, Warwick, Virginia, Michigan: Law School can reach this level in 5-10 years, with Sudhir in charge.
For now, let's focus on goal 3. Take it step by step. What we need are 3 things:
- Around Rs 50 to 100 crores funding to improve infrastructure. Possible with alumni outreach and if Law School is declared an Institution of National Importance by the centre. It's critical to lobby for INI status. The SC case will be crucial. Hopefully the SC will uphold what the Karnataka HC said.
- More good faculty hires and eventually kicking out all the useless TLC profs. A few of them still remain and they are a hindrance top excellence.
- More internationalisation, via tie-ups with law schools abroad.