Our Services

1. Our Services

2. Contents • Higher Education Strategy: • Development of strategic plan. • Academic strategy. • Development of for-profit business models in higher education. • Institution branding. • Institutional IT strategy. • Institution financing, acquisition and mergers: • Project financing for new and existing institutions. • Private Equity for existing institutions • Institution Sale and Acquisition. • Institution Merger and Consolidation. • Private University Establishment and Regulatory Compliance: • Determination of feasibility. • Preparation of Detailed Project Reports. • Enabling legislations and approvals by the State and Central Government Agencies. • Facilitating post-establishment approvals. • Academic Support Services: • Program and Curriculum Design and Development. • Academic Delivery Planning. • Development of Academic Processes. • Content Development. • Academic Search - Finding right leadership and senior academic talent. • Facilitating academic collaborations and joint ventures with institutions in India and overseas. • Facilitating industry partnerships. • Assistance in accreditation and quality certification by Indian and International agencies. • IT Solution Development: • IT strategy. • Tailor made solutions for learning management, enterprise management and online delivery of programs. • Customization of standard packages of reputed vendors.

3. Higher Education Strategy • Development of strategic plan. • Academic strategy. • Development of for-profit business models in higher education. • Institution branding. • Institutional IT strategy.

4. Strategic Plan • Long term vision – Impact, market positioning, value proposition. etc. – Refer SM PPT. • Expected growth and achievements in the next 5 years. • Investments and funding. • New markets and growth in existing markets. • Development of human and intellectual resources. • Offerings and programs – enrichment of the old programs and development of new programs. New service offerings.

5. Academic Strategy • Programs and disciplines. • Program benchmarking vis-à-vis others. • Coping up with and beating the competition. • Strategy to provide superior value to students. • Strategy to move up the value chain. • Student selection and orientation strategy: • Student intake criteria and process. • Student orientation. • Counselling and mentoring. • Program design and curriculum development: • Outcome definition. • Student learning process mapping. • Program management practice. • Faculty development and bench marking. • Best academic practices and bench marking. • Quality management.

6. Promotion and Branding • Brand positioning. • Differentiators. • New markets. • Marketing plan. • Campaign management.

7. For-Profit Business Models • Re configuring the institution structure. • Segregating the for-profit activities. • Business model development. • Corporatization of for-profit activities. • Reverse merger of assets to the extent permissible. • Regulatory compliance. • Developing institutional growth strategy. • Development of financial models for fund raising for expansion.

8. I T Strategy • Drawing up the expected outcomes. • Cost benefit analysis. • Platform selection. • Development of Investment Plans and Capital Budget. • Preparation of pre-qualification bids for vendor selection. • Vendor selection. • Strategies for cost and investment recovery.

9. Institution financing • Project financing for new and existing institutions. • Private Equity for existing institutions • Institution Sale and Acquisition. • Institution Merger and Consolidation.

10. Project Financing • Development of Business Plans. • Structuring the capital and investments. • Preparation of project report. • Identifying the investors and financing agencies. • Proposals to the investors and financing agencies. • Follow up and Negotiation of sanction terms. • Coordinating equity / loan disbursements.

11. Private Equity Participation • Knowledge Partners are associated with several large and medium PE and VC funds which are education sector focussed. PE funding can be explored dilution of the founders equity, for early stage or growth financing, and for take overs. • Services of Knowledge Partners includes: • Development of strategic plan for institutional growth – organic and inorganic and diversification. • Identifying and drawing up value propositions and USPs. • Development investment plans. • Business and Equity Valuation. • Preparation of project report and proposal for PE investment. • Identification of PE funds for investment. • Negotiation and obtaining term sheets from the PE Funds. • Assistance in compliance with the term sheet conditions. • Coordinating the disbursal of funds.

12. Institution sale and acquisition • Mapping the expectations of the sellers / buyers and setting them realistically. • Valuation of business. • Development of sale strategy. • Identification of prospective matches. • Advice on Financial leveraging or innovative sale and acquisition models. • Assistance in negotiation and deal clinching.

13. Merger and Consolidation • Evaluation of the merger and consolidation options. • Identifying redundant activities and processes. • Drawing up the merger / consolidation plan and financial outcomes. • Assisting in articulation and discussion internally. • Assistance in regulatory compliance. • Assistance in Change management.

14. Private University Establishment and Regulatory Compliance • Determination of feasibility. • Preparation of Detailed Project Reports. • Enabling legislations and approvals by the State and Central Government Agencies. • Facilitating post-establishment approvals.

15. Determination of feasibility • Development of strategic framework for private university. • Market survey. • Drawing up the differentiators. • Development of the Business Model. • Development of strategic long term plan. • Development of financing plan. • Development of organizational plan.

16. Preparation of Detailed Project Report • Identifying the offerings and programs – phased introduction of programs. • Regulatory norms and compliance. • Drawing up the phased development of infrastructure. • Assistance in tying up financing. • Development of model for graded growth in operations. • Preparation of detailed project report.

17. Enabling legislations and approvals by the State and Central Government Agencies • Making proposal and application to the State Government in the prescribed manner. • Assistance in clarifying different aspects of the proposed university to the Government officers. • Assistance in follow up for the Letter of Intent. • Assistance in filing LOI compliance. • Assistance in follow up for clearance by the Cabinet. • Assistance in follow up for adoption by the Legislative Assembly. • Assistance in follow up for notification for the university.

18. Facilitating post-establishment approvals • Drawing up Statutes and Ordinances for the new University. • Assistance in filing information with UGC and other statutory bodies. • Assistance in providing clarifications to UGC and others. • Assistance in organizing inspections by the UGC team and teams of other statutory bodies. • Coordination of inspections and report preparation by the inspecting teams. • Follow up for inclusion of the University details in the UGC website.

19. Academic Support Services • Program and Curriculum Design and Development. • Academic Delivery Planning. • Development of Academic Processes. • Content Development. • Academic Search - Finding right leadership and senior academic talent. • Facilitating academic collaborations and joint ventures with institutions in India and overseas. • Facilitating industry partnerships. • Assistance in accreditation and quality certification by Indian and International agencies.

20. Program and Curriculum Design and Development • Survey of contemporary programs in each discipline offered in India and in overseas universities. • Study of the student response to the programs. • Committee of experts to examine the proposed program and outcomes. • Developing the program outcomes. • Developing the design in accordance with the program outcomes. • Development of evaluation methodology. • Drawing up the curriculum design. • Recommending the programs to the Board of Studies at the University and / or the Academic Committee for review and adoption.

21. Academic Delivery Planning • Development of course delivery schedules. • Scheduling the classes, lab and workshop sessions, seminars and case discussions. • Mapping the faculty resources. • Advising the faculty on the desired learning outcomes, delivery plans and bench marking methods to be followed. • Setting monitoring and reporting (feed back) criteria and methods.

22. Development of Academic Processes • Documenting best practices in each of the academic processes. • Mapping the organization structure with clear reporting and job responsibilities identified. • Drawing up individual academic processes. • Integration of the processes with the IT systems. • Development of academic process manual. • Training the faculty and administration teams in the use of the manual.

23. Content Development • Drawing up the content development program. • Identification of content writers. • Preparation of instructions for content writers. • Setting up committees of experts for validation of content. • Content aggregation. • Recommendation to the Department Heads on the course content. • Training of faculty members in use and delivery of content.

24. Academic Search • Knowledge Partners specialize in providing leadership talent for academic institutions. The positions include Vice Chancellors, Governing Board Members, Registrars, Directors, Deans and other senior staff. • The firm works in collaboration with Academic Search Inc., the oldest and one of the largest Academic Search firms in US for finding right matches for institutional leadership and senior faculty members. • Knowledge Partners helps you to find full-time, part-time and visiting faculty from reputed institutions in India and USA.

25. Indian Institute of Academic Leadership • Knowledge Partners are establishing the Indian Institute of Academic Leadership (IIAL) in association with the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI). • The institution is first of its kind in India to develop leaders who will bring about qualitative changes in the academic institutions. • The institution would offer short term and long term programs in the areas of Academic Leadership, Governance and Best Academic Practices and will have instructors and mentors from around the world. • The first series of seminars of IIAL are planned in January 2013 in major cities in India.

26. Academic Collaborations • Knowledge Partners are extensively networked with reputed universities and colleges in India and overseas. • The associates of Knowledge Partners in USA and Europe help in identifying right institutions in these territories for partnership. • The firm advises the client colleges in: • Finding right partners for specific faculties and programs. • Defining the nature of collaboration. • Negotiation and Preparation of MOU. • The firm also assists in reviewing the progress of the collaboration / JV entity.

27. Industry Partnerships • Knowledge Partners operates in association with ‘National Career Exchange’ and ‘Jupiter Corporate Services Limited’ in providing industry connect to the colleges. • Services include: • Engagement of industry professionals for academic delivery. • Development of case studies and practical assignments. • Arranging industry visits for the students. • Assistance in Industry internships for students. • Coordinating consulting assignments and projects for the institution and the faculty from the industry. • Coordinating campus based / off-campus selection of students.

28. Accreditation and Quality Certification • Preparation of the Institution, its leaders and its faculty in meeting the accreditation requirements. • Preparation for Self Assessment. • Arranging counselling by experts. • Coordinating with the accreditation or quality certification bodies for inspection by them. • Resolution of any obstacles in the accreditation or certification process.

29. IT Solution Development • IT strategy. • Tailor made solutions for learning management, enterprise management and online delivery of programs. • Customization of standard packages of reputed vendors.

30. I T Strategy • Drawing up the expected outcomes. • Cost benefit analysis. • Platform selection. • Development of Investment Plans and Capital Budget. • Preparation of pre-qualification bids for vendor selection. • Vendor selection. • Strategies for cost and investment recovery.

31. Tailor-made Solutions • Requirements study. • Preparation of the SRS. • Preparation of Detailed design documents. • Selection of the operating system, application software and database. • Coordination of software development. • Testing the modules developed, integration and post integration testing. • User training. • Development of user manuals. • Delivery and post delivery maintenance.

32. Customization of Standard Packages • Requirements study. • Preparation of the SRS. • Identifying the right software packages available keeping in view the flexibilities available. • Negotiation with vendors. • Coordinating customization and training. • Integration of modules. • User training. • Development of user manuals. • Delivery.