FAQs about MSU Vision 2020
Q: How is MSU Vision 2020 organized and operating?
The current MSU Vision 2020 governance team is loosely organized “global” alumni members (India, USA, Canada, Africa, Middle-East, Europe, and Singapore to name a few places).
The governance team has formed the following teams and committees, with an aim to hand the governance to a new team every two or three years.
MSU Vision 2020 Governance Team
Core governance of MSU Vision 2020 (about 10 members).
Non-profit 501c3 Organization (U.S.) - ‘MSU Alumni Network’
Non-profit Section-8 Organization (India) - 'MSU Alumni Network’
Financial activities and fiduciary duties
MSU University Alumni Office Liason and coordination
Fundraising - with support from alumni volunteers
Website, Events, etc. - - with support from alumni volunteers
MSU Vision 2020 Program Committee
Mentoring Program Committee (2 to 5 alumni members)
Mentors of 80+ alumni members
Incubator Program Committee (2 to 5 alumni members)
Incubator Council of 10+ alumni + professor members
Merit Awards Program Committee (2 to 5 alumni members)
Catalyst Program Committee (2 to 5 alumni members)
Q: What is your relationship with the MSU of Baroda?
We are an independent group of alumni organized to perform charitable activities to benefit the students of the M.S. University of Baroda. M.S. University of Baroda has signed an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MSU Vision 2020, which defines the interfaces and responsibilities of each entity. The M.S. University Office of Alumni Affairs is the official department through which MSU Vision 2020 interacts with the university. The Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Alumni Affairs are members of MSU Vision 2020 governance team.
Q: In the past, many alumni initiatives have not succeeded. What are the approach and the philosophy of MSU Vision 2020 to ensure that it will succeed?
Our philosophy to date has been to work bottom-up while keeping the students at the center of our activities and our missions. The activities are conceived and planned after two litmus tests: Will it help the student of M.S. University to gain an edge in today’s modern world? Will the program inspire the student to be the best she/he can be and lead the world for common good? We have signed up student teams for each of the initiatives which are helping us shape, launch, and execute the programs. The students are on our execution team.
Second, we believe in trusted partnerships with all stakeholders. Our stakeholders are alumni, students, faculty staff, and university administrators. With our commitment to resources, expert support, valuable time to execute the programs, and transparency in all aspects of the governance, we have found M.S. University agencies to be very proactive in supporting our mission. The university has aligned its processes with ours to deliver the results we intend in the manner we have envisioned.
We have nothing but praise for the M.S. University administration so far. We are delighted by the cooperation extended by the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Syndicate members, and university legal and financial cells.
Q: What is the short-term goals of MSU Vision 2020?
In a short time, MSU Vision 2020 wants to involve more alumni of the Faculty of Technology and Engineering (FTE) to join forces with us so we have a bigger impact on the student body. In the short term, we want to firmly establish the aforementioned four programs, be ready to increase the financial commitment for each program as necessary, and smooth out the implementation.
Our goal is to graduate 30 incubator teams in three years and see some of them advance to the start-up phase. We want more mentors so we can ensure that every student, from the first year to the fourth year, has mentoring support. We want to create a circle of academic excellence in FTE by involving Merit scholars. We want to launch a number of certificate courses on cutting-edge topics under Catalyst.
Q: What are the medium-term goals of MSU Vision 2020?
In the next two years or so we aspire to set up an ENDOWMENT FUND of a very large sum, say INR 100 crores or more. The goal of the endowment fund is for perpetual support of some initiatives and projects for the students as part of midterm endowment funds and not capital projects.
The other goal is to connect other alumni associations from other faculty and come up with a university-wide alumni structure that would bring all 1 million living alumni of the university together.
We should in the long run think about programs such as:
Establishment of centers of excellence for various engineering areas (examples: artificial intelligence, robotics, nano-technology, hypersonics, specialty materials, etc.)
Incubator for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Establish centers of excellence for various scientific and liberal arts areas
Form partnerships with state and central governments to promote the priorities of the society/nation (examples: green living, water conservation, durable textile, eco-friendly housing)
… other projects.
Q: How will my donation to MSU Vision 2020 be managed?
Two ways the money reaches its intended purpose:
US DONATIONS: The donors from the USA can electronically send money to the MSU Vision 2020 bank account of our 501c3 corporation. This donation is considered charitable donation per the US tax laws. The money collected in the USA account will then be deposited in the M.S. University administered account in India (see #2 below).
INDIA DONATIONS: M.S. University of Baroda has established a separate bank account in Vadodara for the MSU Vision 2020 donations. The path that the money takes is simple: the donated money will end up in this account, the money will only be disbursed as advised by MSU Vision 2020 governance team. This documented process fully satisfies MSU Vision 2020 governance team’s requirements and expectations. The donors from India can electronically send money to this account set up by the university solely for MSU Vision 2020. The donation is text exempt in India.
Note: M.S. University of Baroda has agreed to assess no administrative or handling fee for the account set up for MS Vision 2020. A group of US alumni members has agreed to fund all administrative costs for the first two years which supports costs of communications, website, 501 c3 legal setups, etc. This ensures that 100% of the money we all donate will be used for student programs for the first two years.
Q. What type of help is MSU Vision 2020 looking for from the Alumni?
First, we simply want you to join us and get reconnected. We request you to learn about what we have embarked upon. Then you can decide the area you are ready and able to contribute to. We want passionate and dedicated people like you with experience in start-up, expertise in a particular technology, eagerness to mentor young minds, zeal for administration, experience with process streamlining, and a drive for fundraising to name a few.
We have made the website the ultimate repository of MSU Vision 2020 information including program details, recording of past events, recording of webinars, news, newsletter, impact dashboard, blogs (can you write one for us?), and upcoming events to name a few areas. The website is at URL: msuvision2020.org
We want every member of the Faculty of Technology and Engineering to join us.
To join and get reconnected with: msuvision2020.org/get-involved
To pledge your donation: https://msuvision2020.org/donate
To join as a mentor: https://msuvision2020.org/mentor
Q: MSU Vision 2020 may be duplicating what other alumni organizations are doing. Why duplicate?
We strongly believe in collaborating with existing teams of alumni. In our effort to get started, we did just the same. However, different MSU Baroda alumni teams have different visions and specialization of services that differ from what MSU Vision 2020 offers. For example, some funds focus on the whole university, and some focus on capital projects. Some are scholarship-oriented initiatives only.
MSU Vision 2020 by design wants to use the 'Agile Principles' of giving and use MSU Baroda Faculty of Technology and Engineering first to perfect its systems. We will lend help to other umbrella organizations that want to create a federation of non-profits for the greater good of MSU Baroda. More importantly, we want to push towards an endowment funding of these genuinely sustainable programs in the long run. Please keep us honest, and contact us for collaboration on a bigger vision.