Private University of Bd

Introduction
For some consecutive days in May 2009, students of two Dhaka-based private universities demonstrated on the streets of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, against the administrations of their respective universities. They alleged administrative mismanagement and lack of adequate educational facilities, as well as “exorbitant” tuition fees. The students’ dissatisfaction was from a shared opinion amongst them that they did not receive educational and other facilities as “promised” during their admission. The tide of demonstrations stemmed within a few days only after the administrations of these two universities reached some agreements with the students regarding resolving the contentious issues. Meanwhile newspapers ran front-page headlines and the simmering debate regarding public university versus private university education flared up in the forefront of public discussions.

The true growth of an economy depends on the development of a nation and its citizens as human resources and higher education plays an inevitable role in such context. Bangladesh is also not an exception to this. At present there are more than 52 private universities in the country. Therefore, now what matters in this connection is not the number but the quality. A good university must ensure quality education for its students. But to be an international standard institution of higher education it is not an easy job for a university. In our country within 52 private universities many of them is such a university that has already established itself as a leading private university in Bangladesh with international reputation for excellence. In a decade, it has achieved excellence in education in different disciplines through its dynamic and effective academic leadership. Due to stiff competition in the education sector in Bangladesh, private universities need to prove their quality and should develop constructive and effective marketing programs and strategies for the purpose of survival as well as expansion.

Background
Bangladesh inherited 6 public universities at the time of independence in 1971. The first public university was Dhaka University, established by the British in 1921 on the Oxbridge model. A further 5 universities were established in the 1950 's and 1960 's. In the late 1970’s, the tertiary sector faced a range of problems, such as campus violence, session-jam (whereby a three-year Honors’ degree course took an extra two to three years to complete), and low quality teaching. The public sector was also unable to cope with demand, and by 1992 there were still only 8 public sector universities, researchers found that only able to accommodate around 25% of the more or less 80,000 students who applied for admission.

The idea of allowing the private sector to establish universities was first discussed in 1981, although this was stalled by a military coup in May of that year. This idea was revisited in 1992 when the government enacted a series of laws related to higher education, including the Private Universities Act that allowed the establishment of private higher education institutions. Between 1992 and 1996, 16 PHEIs were established during a rapid expansion of the tertiary sector, although the rate of approval of charters slowed between 1996 and 2001. When the new government was installed in October 2001, the approval of charters gained momentum, and by the end of 2001 the number of private universities in Bangladesh stood at 29 (although recent information suggests that there may now be as many as 56 private universities operating in Bangladesh).

Private universities came into existence in Bangladesh following the enactment of the Private University Act of 1992 (amended in 1998). The UGC is the apex and statutory body of the universities of Bangladesh including the private universities. The primary objectives of instituting the UGC were to promote and coordinate university education; monitor, and maintain standard of university education; assess the needs in terms of funding for the public universities; and advise the Government on various issues related to the universities.

Research Area
I will study private and public university students and also from guardian and general public to get an answer. I have identified the following questions:

i. Are the private universities providing quality Education?
In my research I have found that, the need of the individual student is taken very seriously and every effort is made to create a positive learning environment in the well-known private universities. Most of the reputed Private universities professors have good skills, in addition to their distinguished academic background, practical professional experience in their areas of concentration. Prof. (Dr) N. Islam is committed that the well-known private universities will not only train and prepare students thoroughly for their future professional tasks, and give them a sound educational background but also will consciously prepare them for their future leadership role. This is achieved not only through special courses and seminars on leadership, but also is emphasized in the context of regular coursework.

The faculties and administration of private universities are committed to the goal that students become imbued with the entrepreneurial spirit. At reputed private universities the leader wants to prepare each student to take initiative and venture out on his or her own. The educational effort at private universities puts special emphasis on developing international and cross cultural competencies through acquiring foreign language skills.

To improve the quality and standard of education in Science and Technology private universities has given special emphasis on the development of sound Computer, Medical, English, Pharmaceutical and Social Sciences Programs and courses. To become a truly international institution attracting students from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, these universities have already established alliance with the various associations and social institutions of the South-East Asia region and the Middle East. All the students both national and international get benefited from the professionalism, knowledge and expertise of the faculty members and administrators of private universities.

ii. Do they have Qualified faculty or not?
In our country the private universities are now very conscious and careful to recruit the faculty members. They not only hiring the faculty members from other public universities but also recruit distinguished academic background, practical professional experienced teacher as a core faculty. Core faculties teach roughly 73-85% of the courses offered in the private universities. All faculty members have higher degrees from reputable foreign universities, some of the private university proffered North American degree or equivalent for recruiting their faculty. Visiting faculty from foreign universities including US, Canadian and Australian universities also teach at the private universities. In our country many of the students think that the private universities are running based on the visiting faculties. But they have to think again to understand that the education is not a product that can easily sell by the foreign faculty. Education is the service which makes a people proper knowledge to cope with this competitive fast world.

iii. Are they maintaining international educational standard or not?

Most of the well-known private universities are highly conscious about their educational standard. That’s the reason they were care about to recruit their faculty members. All graduates in the field of Mechanical Engineering, Accounting, Economics and Finance, Information Sciences and Systems, English, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Business Administration and Management, Computer Science, Marketing are in great demand. Banking, financial, transportation, and insurance services seek to employ economics and finance graduates. Food and beverage processing companies, financial services, and merchandisers want to hire business administration and management degree holders. About a third of business enterprises plan to hire associate graduates in technology, business, and engineering. Engineering/surveying companies and insurance are in need of graduates who have a technical knowledge and, therefore, don 't require training in that field. Employers have observed that such graduates have an excellent work ethics and professionalism that was lacking in previous amateurs. Different universities are following different strategy to achieve their goals and objectives and try to fulfill all the requirements that a student also seek from them.

iv. Is it easy or difficult to get a good job of a student who completes graduation from private university?

Employers Point-of-view:
There are some qualities that every employer looks for in a candidate. From our research and from some direct interviews we have sorted out some qualities that an employer looks for in a fresh graduate. The most commonly desired skills are good communication skills, able to work in teams, good educational background, good academic background, interpersonal skills etc. we have categorized them in 5 main categories. They are- * Skills * Knowledge base * Personality * Background * Experience
Skills:
The most common skills that employers look for in a fresh graduate are-
Communication skills - Excellent communication skills are the number one thing that employers and interviewers look for in a candidate. These can be either verbal or written communication skills but you must be able to prove that you can communicate and work alongside others in an excellent manner.

Teamwork skills - These are another important asset you must have, preferably you will have backed up any claims you make regarding teamwork in your resume with a portfolio, you can then present the portfolio during the interview showing and confirming previous experiences you have had with teamwork skills.
Interpersonal skills - You must be able to prove your interpersonal skills to the interviewer or employer during the interview, skills such as working alongside others, being able to evaluate and accept responsibility, make team work more efficient and identifying methods used when dealing with conflicts.
Analytical skills - try to give examples showing off your analytical skills backing up claims with your portfolio during the interview, employers and recruiters look for ways that you have been able to analyze and clearly identify problems.
Organizational skills - You will have to prove that you are able to organize in a quick and clear manner and show that you are not afraid to take charge of a situation and find a solution. This again can be shown in your resume or portfolio with examples from previous jobs. Some other skills are leadership skills, networking skills etc.
Personality:
Honesty and integrity – one of the most important thing interviewers and employers look for in a person, so it is worthwhile to remember this during the interview process and make sure that any answers you give to questions you answer honestly as you may be caught out later during the interview if asked the same question in a roundabout way.

Strong work ethic - you must be able to prove that you are willing to go beyond the call of duty for your employer and that you are willing to give them 100% commitment to the company and the job.
Motivation and initiative - You should give examples during your interview to get across that you are willing to show imitative and can show motivation when left to your own devices.

v. Are the students of private university can compete with the students of public university?

The employer’s point of view is a bit different towards things in Bangladesh. From my research and from direct interview I have tried to find out what Bangladeshi employer’s think or what the qualities they look for in a candidate are. Prof. Dr. M Z Mamun, Director, Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, in a seminar on “Common Attributes Employers Look in Fresh Graduates” Stated that, students must be disciplined from the very beginning. He also said that from the very first day they need to believe that they are manager. He indicated the importance of the overall get up of the graduates. Besides discipline, he also stressed on the communication skill of the graduates. Dr. Mamun focused on honesty and co-curriculum activities of the students and while talking about resume, he called on the graduates to be honest while making their resumes and include only those areas which the company is looking for in order to make the resumes precise.
Sandeep Mookharjea, Head of HR, Standard Chartered Bank also said about the resume to be precise. Besides communication skills, interpersonal skills, a clear vision, knowledge about the subject and the job is very necessary. Asif Zaman, Head of HR Division, Huawei Technologies Bangladesh brought his personal experience while talking about the common attributes the companies look for in fresh graduates. He said that his company wanted people who can challenge and are determined. While it is not stated in any of the information given by the above mentioned people, but the GPA is a big factor in Bangladesh. In many job circular it is clearly stated now-a-days about what the GPA of the applicants should be. It is a bigger factor here than it is in any other country. In our private university faculty members teaches a students from very begging that how to communicate and manage a team which help to build the interpersonal skills. So he or she can compete with any other students not only with the public universities but also the foreign universities.

vi. Do the private universities provide the students well equipped lab and library?
Most of the Private universities are providing well equipped laboratory facilities for its different engineering and science disciplines. In addition to those, university is also providing 7 to 20 computer laboratories with a local network of 500-2000 PCs and personal VSAT services.
Most of the well known private universities are provide fully automated library facilities in Bangladesh using self-developed library management software. Some of the universities are actually first university library in Bangladesh where Library of Congress Classification System is being used to organize and arrange books, journals and other resources, so that items on the same or related subjects can generally be found together. Automated library system supports web-based online circulation system, full-text e-books and online journal article services. Its online database provides full access to all users, facilitates navigation and reservation of books from distant work-stations through its own website. The users can also check their borrowing status and can reserve three books at a time for 48 hours through the Internet. They holdings in the library liberal arts, pure sciences, social sciences and commerce, particularly business, management, marketing, finance, economics, computer science and engineering, telecommunication, environmental studies, English language and literature, history and culture, psychology, architecture, sociology, pharmacy, public health, bio-technology etc. Currently most of the private universities have approximately more than 25000-27000 books, bound journals and magazines, they also stored CD ROM databases and books,videos,audio-cassettes, and DVDs.
Their libraries subscribes to more 15-20 local journals, 10-18 foreign and 6-12 local magazines, few foreign dailies and most of the leading national dailies published from Dhaka. In addition to this, their library also ensures easy access to the Internet for the users to browse, download, and print full text articles from over 9550 journals from Blackwell, IEEE, Jstor, HINARI, OARE, AGORA, Oxford University Press, Wiley Inter-science, Springer online databases etc. They sometime also offers a certificate course titled 'Certificate Course in Digital & Online Librarianship ' for those who are interested to know how to use the Internet resources in higher education and research, and how to design and maintain website, and set up online digital libraries.

Hypothesis
As a student of a leading private university, I am expecting to find out that the reputation of the private university is excellent in our country. I believe that the private university can hold their reputation towards the society and job market through their quality education.

Methodology
This section of paper reveals how the research has been done. It specially deals with where the data have been collected from, what kinds of data have been collected, how the data has been collected and recorded. This research is made on the basis of mainly primary data, but I have also taken help from some secondary sources. To prepare this paper I have surveyed several students of public and private universities and also from some guardians. As secondary data I have taken help from the internet and different articles, journals to gather information about the related topic so that I can make this research more valuable and informative.
This research paper is extensively based on sample survey. The research has been done by asking question to these people through comprehensive questionnaire. There are 16 questions in the questionnaire. These questions are mostly about what the people think, feel about the private universities reputation. The questionnaire goes deep into the matter. Thus it can give comprehensive coverage of the issue. A total of 90 people were surveyed. Primary data has been collected from people of different age and sex.

Primary Data Analysis and Presentation No. Of Questions | Option (a) | Option (b) | Option (c) | Option (d) | 01. | 15 | 32 | 19 | 24 | 02. | 39 | 9 | 25 | 17 | 03. | 35 | 4 | 29 | 22 | 04. | 20 | 19 | 44 | 7 | 05. | 41 | 37 | 12 | No Option | 06. | 17 | 16 | 43 | 14 | 07. | 34 | 19 | 11 | 26 | 08. | 40 | 43 | 6 | 1 | 09. | 49 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 10. | 47 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 11. | 16 | 27 | 48 | No Option | 12. | 36 | 13 | 41 | No Option | 13. | 40 | 24 | 1 | 25 | 14. | 59 | 17 | 14 | No Option | 15. | 39 | 28 | 3 | 20 | 16. | 36 | 26 | 11 | 17 |

1. Your opinion about the campus of private university-

I did survey of 60 people from different age, sex and student, guardian, and faculties. First question I asked that is what their opinion about the campus of private universities? 17% of people agreed with option (a) that is private universities have enough space. The majority (35%) goes with option (b). that means 35% of them said the campus are not spacious. 21% people said that it is very nice. And the rest 27% said that the private university campus is worst.

2. Private university campus is well equipped

When I asked that the Private university campus is well equipped or not. The reaction was like this. The majority agreed whit option (a). Means 39% people believe that the private universities are now providing enough lab facilities for the students. The list 9% of them said that no the universities do not have enough equipment.25% said they provide minimum lab facilities. And the rest 17% goes whit option (d) public universities are better equipped than private one.

3. Do u think private university campuses are meeting international standards

When I asked Does private university campuses are meeting international standards? 39% people agreed that private university of our country now maintaining international standard. 5% of them do not agree. 32% people said some leading private universities of our country try to maintain international standard. And the rest 24% of them goes with option (d) that is the public universities maintain international standards.

4. The course curriculum of private university

When I asked question regarding the course curriculum of private university. 22% people go with option (a) which is the agreed the private universities follow international quality.
21% people said that it is highly qualitative in Bangladeshi perspective. 49% of people moderately agreed. And the other 8% said Crouse curriculum is poor.

5. Your perspective about educational quality of private university

When I want to know the perspective about educational quality of private university most of them gave positive answer. 46% people said private universities are maintaining international standard. 41% people said that the quality is good enough. And the rest 13% claimed that it is poor. The reaction towards the educational quality of private university is over all positive which is very good for our country.

6. Educational environment of private university-

The opinion regarding the Educational environment of public university was like that 18% people go with option (a) that is the environment is very good. 17% said it is very regular. The half of the people said that the exams held on time in private universities which are very true. For this reason there is no session jam in private universities. And the rest 15% said it is bad.

7. Academic facilities, including laboratory, library, research departments for faculties and all other materials of private university are -

When I asked about the Academic facilities, including laboratory, library, research departments for faculties and all other materials of private university the reaction was very favorable. 52% people said that it is better than public universities. 29% of them said that it is well enough. 17% people claimed that the academic facilities are not up to date it is inadequate. 2% said it is very poor.

8. Do you think quality of faculty members of private university are –

When the term of the quality of faculty members of private university the reaction was very positive. Many people posses the same opinion. 48% people said that the private universities of our country recruit faculties with international degree. 44% of them claimed that faculties hired from well known public universities. 7% said the qualifications of faculties are average. 1% said that low quality which is not important.

9. Your perspective about teaching skills of faculty members of private university-

When I wanted to know about their perspective about teaching skills of faculty members of private university the reaction was very good. Almost half of them agreed that the faculties are very skillful. 21% people said they are skilled enough. 13% of them claimed that they are not much skillful. 11% claimed that private university have unskilled faculty.

10. Do you think canteen facilities of private university are –

When I asked about the canteen facilities of private university the reaction was positive. 52% people said that the canteen facilities are much better than public university. 34% people said that private university’s food quality is high. 12% said the foods are expensive but quality full. 2% of them said they do not have canteen.

11. Service facilities for student transportation of private university are –

When i asked what do they think about the Service facilities for student transportation of private university the reaction was not satisfactory. Half of them said the transportation facilities are not satisfactory of private universities. 17% people said that very well. Rest 30% said it is well enough.

12. Seminars, cultural programs, sports, event organization, club activities, recreation program of private university –

Reaction regarding the Seminars, cultural programs, sports, event organization, club activities, and recreation program of private university is very positive. 64% people said that these things are very standard than public universities. 25% claimed that private university do not arrange at all. And the rest 11% go with option (c) that is they strictly maintain these things.

13. Maintenance and service facilities of private university –

Then I asked about the Maintenance and service facilities of private university.44% people said that it is very good than public university. 27% said satisfactory. 1% said that it is good enough. 28% people claimed that service facilities are poor.

14. Service facilities for students’ healthcare, recreations, for spending time private university

The opinion about the Service facilities for students’ healthcare, recreations, for spending time in private university was very positive. 64% people said that it is very good. 25% of them said that it is satisfactory. And the rest 11% people said that it is not satisfactory.

15. A student of private university can much easily get job than a student of public university-

My second last question was do a student of private university can much easily get job than a student of public university. And the reaction is mixed. 44% people said it is not necessary for getting a job for a graduate from where he/she completed their graduation. University does not matter. Most important in the result. 31% people said agreed with option (b). They agreed that it is obvious to get a good job for a student of private university because they have much practical knowledge than the student of public one. 3% people said never it’s not the issues. 22% people claimed that sometimes it is university is a great matter for getting a job.

16. Private university students are very good in official work than public university student because-

When I want to know do the Private University students are very good in official work than public university student. 40% people’s reaction was positive. They goes with option (a). They said that the student of private university are very smart than the students of public university. 29% people said that they have much technical knowledge that the other student. 12% of them claimed that they are very skilled in official work. And the rest 19% goes with option (d) that is they are not good than the student of public universities.

Secondary Data Analysis
I have search different websites for my research. Then I found one website called versityaddmission.com where the actually help to compare universities. The comparisons is given below.

From Above two tables I found that the overall private universities situation is not that bad. They have sufficient faculty members and books in the library. Most importantly the student-teacher, student-staff ratio is good enough in the private universities.

Comparison of Best Private Universities

In the versity admission website I found an online voting system where anyone give their opinion through vote. From there I found that the private universities are in the good position now a day. Here NSU got 30% votes (878 votes) and AIUB got 22% votes from 2906 votes.

Best University for BBA?
Here, I saw the most desirable result for private universities that NSU and IBA got almost same votes for BBA. It is very good news for the private universities that they can not only compete but also can go ahead from public universities.

Comparison of Best University in Bangladesh

In the above survey I found that for the comparisons of best universities BUET got 19% votes (439 votes). Dhaka University got 12 % votes and NSU, AIUB got 17% and 15% votes. Which is very positive news for the private sector.

I have searched many of journal, article and websites and I found that the students of different university face many problems because of their university name, reputation and educational system like grading policy. So from the secondary sources I have collected many interviews of different group of people. Their view towards different universities in our country, how they influence recruitment decisions etc. The first qualities we have got that gets top most priority to them is a updated, well written, and precise resume. Almost everyone that we have interviewed has mentioned about a good resume. That creates the first impression, so its important. And then we got good communication skill, managerial skill, confidence, knowing about the job and every other qualities that has already been discussed above. But we mainly wanted to know if there is an impact of the institution and the GPA’s on them. Answering this part we have got mixed reaction. Some said the GPA is an indication of the candidate being serious with his life. So a good GPA is very much necessary. It helps to get a good impression. One other said that they don’t give GPA the highest priority but they screen candidates based on the GPA’s. According to every employer that we have interviewed, there is a institution factor. The same GPA doesn’t create the same value for all the universities. A perfect 4 out of 4 CGPA from Stamford often doesn’t create the same value as a 4 out of 4 CGPA from NSU or IUB. There is a recent incident that in one of the companies recruitment, they have recruited an IUB graduate who has a CGPA of below 3.5 whereas a Stamford graduate who has a good CGPA of 3.82 got rejected. So that justifies our research conclusion that the organization or the institutions from which the candidates are graduating; has a huge impact on the employers. We have prepared a chart and told our interviewees to rank different attributes for different universities. We have taken the average marks and based on that a ranking of which university gets the higher priority or have a competitive advantage over the competitors. All score are given out of 10.

Limitation
As the goal of my research is to get opinions of the citizens and from that try to sculpture out a possible outcome which would be somewhat of an indication of what the future holds for this country, I have tried to utilize whatever feedback I could get from any individual on the matter. For this purpose I had to relate to anyone, from students to guardians, general public, in a specific way for which I would get the inner view-points. But we are now in a situation where people are uncomfortable about expressing their flavorings. I had hard time bringing out the inner views. Also some students of public universities got angry when they saw this interview. Time limit was too short for this research paper that’s why I thought somehow I’m unable to dig out the actual scenario. So it was never possible to deal with the up to date information. Conclusion
This has been evident from the above study that the development of a country and its economy is dependent on the proper management of the contemporary issues and the success of such issues mostly depends on the development of well trained, educated and groomed human resources. In each of these cases higher study has been remained as a crucial factor over the years and the private university industry just like the other private initiatives of the economy is playing a major role in this context of Bangladesh. This industry is now almost in the growth stage of its life cycle. Therefore, if international standard quality education can be ensured through the analysis of the strategic issues of higher education, then the development of appropriate strategies will be possible. In this regard, the case of private universities with the analyzed matrixes and suggested strategies through this paper may be a glaring example and lesson for the other universities to develop their marketing plans, programs, and strategies to ensure international reputation for excellence.

References
Leppard J.W, McDonald MHB (1991) Marketing planning and corporate culture: A conceptual framework which examines management attitudes in the context of marketing planning. Journal of Marketing Management 7(3): (pp.) 213-25.
Levitt T (1960), Marketing myopia, reprinted in: Levitt T, (Ed.). (1991), Levitt on Marketing. Boston: Harvard Business Review.
McDonald M.H.B (1991), Planning the marketing function In: Baker MJ, (Ed.). The Marketing, (2nd ed.) .Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Matin M.A. (2003, May 30) Education Economic Growth & Our Private Universities.Observer Magazine
Muzaffar A.T. and Khan A.H. (2004,August 20.), Overcoming the Challenges in Higher Education in Bangladesh, Observer Magazine.
Octon C.M (1983), a re-examination of marketing for British non-profit organizations. European Journal of Marketing 17 (5), 33-43.
Lovelock C.H (1981), Why marketing needs to be different. In Donnelly, JH, George WR, (Eds.) Marketing of Services. Chicago: American Marketing Association.
Levelock C.H (1984) Services Marketing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

References: Leppard J.W, McDonald MHB (1991) Marketing planning and corporate culture: A conceptual framework which examines management attitudes in the context of marketing planning. Journal of Marketing Management 7(3): (pp.) 213-25. Levitt T (1960), Marketing myopia, reprinted in: Levitt T, (Ed.). (1991), Levitt on Marketing. Boston: Harvard Business Review. McDonald M.H.B (1991), Planning the marketing function In: Baker MJ, (Ed.). The Marketing, (2nd ed.) .Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Matin M.A. (2003, May 30) Education Economic Growth & Our Private Universities.Observer Magazine Muzaffar A.T. and Khan A.H. (2004,August 20.), Overcoming the Challenges in Higher Education in Bangladesh, Observer Magazine. Octon C.M (1983), a re-examination of marketing for British non-profit organizations. European Journal of Marketing 17 (5), 33-43. Lovelock C.H (1981), Why marketing needs to be different. In Donnelly, JH, George WR, (Eds.) Marketing of Services. Chicago: American Marketing Association. Levelock C.H (1984) Services Marketing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.