APSCHE trains Vice-Chancellors in design thinking for better university governance

Published 29 July 2026 · education

The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), in collaboration with Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0 initiative

The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), in collaboration with Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0 initiative, on Wednesday inaugurated a two-day workshop on “Design Thinking in Higher Education for Vice-Chancellors of Andhra Pradesh” in Vijayawada. APSCHE Chairman K. Madhu Murthy said the workshop aimed to introduce Vice-Chancellors to internationally recognised Design Thinking practices to strengthen leadership capabilities and promote innovative approaches to university governance, teaching and learning, research, student engagement, institutional development and innovation.

The inaugural sessions familiarised participants with the objectives of the workshop before moving to interactive modules on the fundamentals of Design Thinking. The sessions covered the Design Thinking framework, the Empathy Phase and the Define Phase, highlighting the importance of understanding stakeholder needs and framing institutional challenges effectively. Mohan Kancharla, an internationally certified Design Thinking expert and independent adviser, is leading the workshop through interactive, hands-on sessions that emphasise collaborative learning and practical problem-solving rather than conventional lectures. The Vice-Chancellors have been divided into five groups, each assigned a specific institutional problem centred on human resource management and day-to-day administrative challenges faced by universities.

Through structured brainstorming and discussions, the participants are developing practical solutions that can be adapted by their respective institutions. The workshop has brought together Vice-Chancellors from universities specialising in health sciences, agriculture, horticulture, veterinary sciences and fisheries, providing a multidisciplinary platform for exchanging ideas. The organisers said the initiative encourages academic leaders to reimagine higher education in response to rapid technological advances, changing student expectations and evolving economic needs. The participants actively engaged in the sessions and explored the application of Design Thinking principles to academic leadership, research and innovation, institutional governance and decision-making.

Murthy said the initiative reflected APSCHE’s commitment to strengthening leadership capacity, promoting innovation-driven governance and building globally competitive, future-ready universities in line with the objectives of the Education Policy 2020, Swarnandhra and Viksit Bharat 2047.