The development of a society in general and on individual in particular is closely linked to the educational attainments of its people, a doctrine that has perhaps remained unquestioned over time. What have been the topics of the debate are the constituents and definitions, both of development and educational attainments.

With rapid changes in demographics, information technology and the world-order, the higher education sector is poised for a major transformation. With globalization and privatization, increased student mobility, reduced public funding and rising stakeholder expectations, delivering quality has become an extremely challenging task.

The best/rated (and often the most profitable and/or endowed) educational institutions of the world are in the United States of America and there is probably no institution in USA who do not have a significant Indian faculty and students. India has however not yet been able to create similar institutes in India herself. The challenge of delivering quality education profitably seems an elusive one. The questions are many, some of them that immediately come to the mind are:-

• Can institutions of excellence be designed? Is there a blueprint for the same?
• What are the leadership skils required for an institute of excellence? How can they be imbibed?
• How do we attract, motivate and retain good faculty? Should faculty be incentivised?
• How do we attract the best students?
• What are the systems and processes required for an excellent institute?
• How do you design a curricula for the future? What are the necessary industry linkages? and so on..

Perhaps there are no final answers to these and many other questions of similar nature. However, there are instances of success. The solutions may not be universal. They may need to be adapted to the region, local, student profile and the environment. The best practices need to be shared, debated and disseminated.

It is with this thought that the International Forum for Excellence in Higher Education (IFEHE) is conceived. The forum has as its mandate:-

1. To provide a platform for the sharing of best practices in higher education through national and international conferences.
2. To design and conduct training programs for the needs of the institutions and faculty in institutes of Higher Education.
3. To organize and facilitate study tours for acamedecians and the administrators to the best universities in the world.
4. To facilitate faculty and student exchange programs nationally and internationally.
5. To organise and co-ordiante round-tables to discuss and debate issues of institutional management and excellence.
6. To research, publish and disseminate best practices adopted by the best institutions/universities in the world.
7. We invite you to actively participate in this forum and share you experiences and learnings to create a more vibrant and educated world.