Praveen K Pula, Founder, President & Chancellor, Woxsen University

WOXSEN UNIVERSITY REVOLUTIONIZES THE ART OF IMPARTING EDUCATION – Praveen K Pula

ducation is ever-evolving and must cater to the fast-paced demands of the future generations and its impending challenges. The year 2020 saw disruption in the global education system due to the unprecedented COVID-19. While it presented a plethora of challenges, education entities were compelled to bring in innovation to drive education delivery and engagement. It is during this time when many educational institutions couldn’t adapt and feathered away, some like Woxsen University spread its wings to soar high.

From launching 10+ Programs during the pandemic to adding the best of infrastructure to its 200 acre lush green campus, the vision behind making of a World-Class University is at play. The 1 Million Sqft. learning space saw addition of state-of-the-art labs like ‘Bloomberg Finance Lab’, ‘AI & Robotics Studio’, Analytics & Behavioural Lab, Design Studios to name a few, one of the best Sports Infrastructure in South Asia ‘The League’ and a well-equipped expansive Library ‘The Vithal Gandhi Centre. Let’s meet the man behind this extraordinary vision.

Mr. Praveen K Pula (Veen Pula), Founder, President & Chancellor, Woxsen University, is a true education visionary with over 16 years of experience in higher education space. He started his education venture in 2004 in UK; followed by Woxsen School of Business, Hyderabad in 2014 and Woxsen University by 2020. His vision of creating a truly global educational institution which can make a tangible difference to the society and disrupt the education space in India, has taken Woxsen to greater heights.

Mr. Veen Pula, discusses at length, significant developments in Woxsen University and his experience in the Education Space.

Woxsen University is reckoned among the leading universities in India. As per the National Impact Ranking, Woxsen University is ranked among Top 8 Private Universities in India, which is a big achievement in itself! Could you please tell us about the journey from Woxsen School of Business to Woxsen University?

Instituted in 2014, Woxsen University is a unique effort designed to re-imagine education and transform the learning experience at UG, PG & Ph.D. level. The University currently offers cutting-edge specializations in domains of Business, Management, Design, Technology and Architecture. With a strong belief in creating a highly invigorating knowledge platform that transcends traditional academic boundaries, Woxsen’s foundation rests on 4 Pillars: Academic Excellence, Applied Learning, Global Exposure, Diversity & Inclusivity.

Pioneers is bringing new-age programs, Woxsen has clearly challenged the stereotypes and offered world-class education environment to its student cohort. Industry Aligned Curriculum delivered by Global Faculty, 1:12 Faculty to Student Ratio, International Exchange Programs with world’s 30+ leading universities to a purpose-built Campus loaded with the best learning facilities, collaboration spaces, accommodation and recreation facilities for students, faculty and staff. Woxsen offers nothing but the best to its community.

Showing progressive growth, Woxsen has acquired significant global partnerships, prestigious memberships like AACSB (USA) and AMBA (UK), EFMD, RRBM, PRME & GRLI and accreditations in a very short period of time. In the year 2020, Woxsen achieved University status and is now amongst the first Private Universities recognized by Govt. of Telangana.

You have so many years of experience in the field of education and academics. How do you see the changes which have taken place in the higher education sector & Indian education system over the years?

Education has become more technologically driven and conventional methods of teaching are being replaced with innovative and more effective approaches. The traditional education system focused on ote learning without much importance on practical application. But now there is a paradigm shift where theory and practice are unified.

Coming to the higher education sector, many novel programs have been introduced to fit the demands of Industry 5.0. While retaining the typical courses, new inter-disciplinary specializations are being added that cater to a range of student interests and diverse Industry needs. Stereotypes are being challenged and Innovative approaches of learning are thought of and implemented like never before at Woxsen.

What are the areas touched when someone talks about quality programs for undergraduate, post-graduate and Doctoral studies?

According to me a quality program is a one that maintains not just offers theoretical knowledge but pushes students to work on higher levels of application-based learning. There are three main factors that I consider, a program should effectively deliver on:

Promote application-based learning: Woxsen has laid high emphasis on high-tech labs in every sphere of management education, in-line with the latest industry trends. The campus is well equipped with labs for Business Analytics, Financial Technology, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Robotics, IoT and Digital Technologies, Design Studios & more.

Industry Readiness: Corporate collaboration is an ongoing process at Woxsen University, through various modes of outreach such as research collaborations, consulting, Industry Projects, Leadership Series, Guest Lectures, Executive Education, MDPs and Certification Programs. Apart from these, students are offered internships and final placements with leading corporates. Woxsen University has achieved the milestone of conducting 200+ Industry interaction sessions for its students in the last year.

Building Entrepreneurial Skills: At Woxsen one of our prime priorities is nurturing entrepreneurship by offering programs like the Trade Tower that focus on developing entrepreneurial thinking and action. Students are encouraged to learn beyond the classroom and seek a spirit of enquiry that drives a lifelong pursuit of personal and intellectual growth.

With International associations what opportunities do you see for Woxsen University to play on the national or international stage?

Globalization is the trend of today and it is important for education systems to develop an international mindset. Woxsen University has partnered with 30+ Top Ranked Global Universities, involved in various activities like Student exchange, Faculty exchange, Curriculum design, Research collaborations and more.

These partnerships enable the institutes to collaborate with each other and thereby allowing to create a robust curriculum aligned to both Indian and international standards. Not just this, our students gain the experience of learning/ competing with the students of diverse cultural background and interact with some of the top faculty names from across the globe.

What are some of the long-range objectives that you have in mind for Woxsen University?

I envision Woxsen to be a University of great repute recognized globally for its quality of education delivery, research capabilities and entrepreneurship development. In the years to come Woxsen aims to develop the largest international academic and corporate network among Indian varsities. With extraordinary pool of faculty and students, Woxsen has its eyes set to be featured & ranked amongst the FT Global Top 100 list & receive prestigious international accreditations in the 5-8 year horizon.

Our stakeholders are one of the most important assets of our organization and I would like Woxsen to be a life-changing and influential institution to them.

To know more about Woxsen University, Hyderabad please visit woxsen.edu.in

Praveen K Pula,
Founder, President & Chancellor, Woxsen University, Hyderabad