06.18.07 - 06.23.07

The Past Week: 06.18.07 � 06.23.07

Current project:

• Finish green paper

Almost finished; I put it off for the week until last night but it will be done tonight! Now it’s taking me a long period of time to complete because I’m being overly detail-oriented and thinking of new ways to make it more user-friendly and guide-like.

• Complete SHG documentation (meeting write-ups and bookkeeping)

Half-way done; I finished the meeting write-ups/minutes but have yet to complete the bookkeeping work. I underestimated how much time these tasks would take.

• Contact transport company for Rewari sale

I attempted to do this; I called several numbers that the transport company’s employees gave me but all of them did not work. I asked Ojha Ji for the number but he said he would give it to me when he returned from his business trip. I should be able to contact them tomorrow. Worst case scenario is I use an expensive transport company that I contacted several weeks ago.

Future project:

• Put together implementation plan

Somewhat; I underestimated how much time it would take for information gathering. I’m not surprised that I didn’t meet this goal because not only did I not break this large goal into smaller, more manageable goals, but this project is also new and I was still searching for what I didn’t know. While I did create tasks within this larger goals, I think I could have been even more detailed about it. Read on:

• • Determine how many people I need

Yes; I finally I have a pretty clear idea of how many people I need. My meeting with the local ITI headmaster yesterday helped

me out. I was pretty wed to the idea of wanting to create partnerships with large companies for job placement but he reiterated

what others in the vocational training industry had also been saying: that these relationships are not necessarily forged in

some strategic way nor are they formed when an institute is just starting. Large companies that want entry-level employees

skilled in a certain trade need to see that the institute is first providing quality education before they agree to placement quotas

and such. So, while I initially thought a career center comprised of a team of five to ten people, I think I can do with two during

the pilot program where I estimate that there will be between 40 to 50 students. In terms of administration and faculty,

yesterday’s meeting also elucidated how many people I will need for an institute that’s starting out much smaller scale than the

local ITI.

• • Create position descriptions

Somewhat; I have an idea of the headmaster, resource development person, and career advisors’ roles. Because I have not yet decided on which courses to offer, I still have not decided upon the teachers’ descriptions and the qualifications required.

• • Create budget

Haven’t done; this is one of the more daunting tasks I’m facing. The more I talk to people the more I realize that I have to be very innovative about this. I thought that existing institutions would have financial analysis frameworks to share with me that I could refer to as models. One vocational institute has done so but the others are not relevant to the school I wish to start because one gets subsidized by the government and the other is funded largely by high student fees (Rs. 30,000) and trust money.

• • Determine how Ashish and I can work together or pool resources

Haven’t done; I think it was premature to be able to reach this goal as we are still hashing out our plans. I think we’ll discuss this in the next couple of weeks.