Dr. Nandini Kulkarni has been working as the Director of Symbiosis School of Planning, Architecture and Design, Nagpur, Maharashtra. She is a Doctorate and the PhD was awarded to her on Investigating the impact of Quality of Life on the Peri urban Area of Metro cities. She has done Bachelor of Technology in Interior Designing, Bachelor of Architecture and Master's in Urban Planning from VNIT as part of her education. With vast experience in the field of Architecture, Planning and Interior Design, she has independently completed the designing and construction of Residences, Commercial Buildings and Multispecialty Hospital Building. She is also specialized in designing a module for the Urban – Rural fringe area development with respect to Quality of Life of the people residing in fringe areas. She has authored a book called The Urban Edges and has more than 25 years of experience in professional Architectural practice and teaching. And due to her amazing contribution in the education sector, she was awarded the Birla White YuvaRatna National award for 3 years and Birla White YuvaRatna Regional award for 2 years. She has published numerous research papers in SCOPUS with SCOPUS database indexing.

SSPAD

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

I have spent 30 precious years of my life in Practice and teaching and I believe it is a vision that dictates the institute's growth. And our SSPAD has an objective to not only be an outstanding institute with all the world class facilities and infrastructure but to give back to the society as well. And when our students comes back and tells their success stories of giving back to society is what actually that keeps me bonded with the education sector. In addition to this, lifelong learning that is an inseparable part of being in the education sector also keeps me associated with it.

Being the Director at Symbiosis School of Planning Architecture and Design, what is your philosophy of leadership?

I firmly believe in the opinion that if you want your own growth, let everyone else grow. Because when all my people would feel the institute is there and their contribution matters, the flow of efforts will be in one direction and would lead to an accelerated growth of the institut, students and stakeholders associated with us. And Transformational Leadership I again believe is the best way to lead and guide people. Hence I follow the same approach in my college through capability building and providing appropriate training & coaching, networking as well as exploration opportunities to everyone.

In your experience, what benefits national and overseas students can gain from studying here in your institute?

Our SSPAD, Nagpur is a constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) and a significant number of students have taken admission in this university till date. And this speaks a lot about the confidence of international students in the education, facilities and learning platforms SIU provides for future prospects. In addition to this, the Global Emulation Program and Student Exchange Programs which we conduct on a regular basis and international internships we offer to them fortify our uniqueness. Lastly, our college update the curriculum rigourously to be in pace with the expected demands of industries all around the world. 

Are there any skills that students need to develop before joining the Design program at SSPAD, Nagpur?

Yes, the only prerequisite of enrolling in the designing courses of SSPAD is that aspiring students must be good thinkers and creative in their work. And they should do the introspection of their thought process and try to put it forward through different mediums. 

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What do you think should be the institute’s top priority over the next 10 years?

Our institute is planning to collaborate with reputed industries and organizations so that we can work together with them on Research and Development Projects. Apart from this, we would set a hub for artisans of Central India for handholding and their revival. And student placement and consultancy for sure will be our focus areas. Last but not the least, we have signed a lot of intellectual rights with publication houses for the students' projects.

What would you like people to know about SSPAD that makes it unique and different from others?

Our college offers the best quality and employment oriented education to students and ambitious youths of our society. And although we are new to this sector, we never leave any opportunity unturned and provide the best facilities, exposure and environment required to succeed in the outer world. And we are progressing day by day due to our grit, willpower and energy we have developed over years to achieve the new targets of the world. 

What biggest challenges do you see, both for higher education in general and for SSPAD, Nagpur specifically?

The Covid pandemic has created numerous challenges almost in front of everyone, be it any higher education institution or our SSPAD and learning patterns of Covid batches are very much different as they are coming progressively to us. Hence all this naturally requires a change in traditional teaching pedagogies post analyzing the requirements and defining the clear objectives. And this we are doing in a very meticulous way by first identifying the slow learners and fast learners and then providing remedial classes and sessions to slow learners and advanced learning platforms and opportunities to fast learners. So, my point here is that doing this transition and maintaining the same in our daily routine asks for a lot of dedicated and focused efforts from everyone, hence it will be for sure a struggle for us and other institutions as well, but if we will be able to achieve this, no one can stop us from becoming more successful. 

Which extracurricular activities are organized by your college to enhance the skills of students?

We firmly understand the fact that extra curricular activities are very important for students along with studies in order to grow on a personal and professional level. Hence our college regularly organizes industry academia conclaves to give an opportunity to students to directly interact with industry experts and global emulation programs for giving them required international learning exposure so that they can easily address and resolve the challenges of the outside world. Apart from this, we provide live projects to students which they do in our studios.

What are your roles and responsibilities for the University and students?

As we all know that the future is unknown yet demanding. Hence being the Director of the institute, my biggest and prime responsibility is to map the skills and knowledge of our students in accordance with future needs and create such a workforce that can easily address the requirements of upcoming and cut-throat competitive world. In addition to this, I am responsible for transforming students into competent individuals and responsible and sensible citizens of our nation. 

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Any valuable suggestions which you would like to give to the current youth and aspiring students?

As the famous Designer and Author Robert L. Peters says that design creates culture, culture shapes values and values determine the future. And we as Indians are deeply rooted to our culture and customs, hence our designs will always be in brackets of values to frame the future, therefore I would like to advise my dear students to continue this legacy by developing best designing skills in them and learning the course wholeheartedly.