Dean’s Message

Dean’s Message

Welcome to SGPA !

I am delighted to welcome you to the newly-established School of Government and Public Affairs, where we are committed to providing the highest levels of training for future leaders in governance and public policy. These are particularly challenging times in our history as we grapple with a range of public issues that require immediate, and often times innovative, policy responses from leaders and thinkers who are required to review these challenges from global perspectives. In an increasingly interconnected world, policy challenges are at once particular to certain regions, yet global in their reach—climate change, political accountability, sustainable livelihoods, effective conflict management, being a few examples. 

It will be our endeavour to train our students in policy models that are relevant to Odisha and India as a whole, but also through a lens that connects us to the rest of the world. 

Prof. Shobhana Rana

Dean, School of Government and Public Affairs
Xavier University Bhubaneswar

Welcome to SGPA !

I am delighted to welcome you to the newly-established School of Government and Public Affairs, where we are committed to providing the highest levels of training for future leaders in governance and public policy. These are particularly challenging times in our history as we grapple with a range of public issues that require immediate, and often times innovative, policy responses from leaders and thinkers who are required to review these challenges from global perspectives. In an increasingly interconnected world, policy challenges are at once particular to certain regions, yet global in their reach—climate change, political accountability, sustainable livelihoods, effective conflict management, being a few examples. 

It will be our endeavour to train our students in policy models that are relevant to Odisha and India as a whole, but also through a lens that connects us to the rest of the world. 

Prof. Shobhana Rana

Dean, School of Government and Public Affairs
Xavier University Bhubaneswar

The world is witnessing unprecedented existential crisis in the form of public problems such as extreme poverty, persistent inequality, security threat, climate change and the current defining global crisis caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. Public problems need public action. To make public action effective and transformative we need public leaders.
Institutions and agencies engaged in public governance and development need human resources trained in public policy theories, tools and practices. To respond to this growing need, XIM University has set up School of Governance and Public Affairs with a vision of “Creating Leaders of Tomorrow.” Since its inception in 2013, XIM University has built a reputation as a leader in higher education in India. After all, it is a University that inherits nearly 33 years of the rich legacy of one of India’s premier business schools, the Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB).

Prof. Vaishali Singh

Acting Dean (Academics), School of Governance and Public Affairs

Shri. Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha inaugurated SGPA on February 5, 2020. With the start of SGPA, XIM University fulfils a major demand of the eastern part of the country, for a public policy school that matches the best in the world and educates the best in the country to become competent, committed and compassionate crusaders of public policy. One of the key mandates of SGPA is to build leaders at all levels of governance, from local levels in village Panchayat to the highest levels of the bureaucracy and the executive.

Our Master’s programme in Public Policy & Governance is designed with the help of an expert group having proven record in teaching, research, training and practice in public policy. SGPA provides a learning ecosystem that is intense, interactive, inclusive, inspiring, and invoking. The curriculum, taught through lectures, case studies, simulation exercises, extensive field work, internships, capstone projects, dissertations, policy debates and workshops, is interdisciplinary in nature and matches the best in class. While studying at SGPA, the students will be assisted by the ‘Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm’ that enables them to develop the spirit of inquiry, critical thinking and innovative public policy for impactful actions in the community. Students will gain sound theoretical perspectives, apply analytical tools, and develop social and emotional intelligence required to function as public policy professionals in government, business, research, teaching organisations and national and international development agencies. In their learning and self discovering journey, the students will be taught and mentored by a community of teachers and field practitioners with considerable experience that meets global standards. 

Here is your opportunity to lead the world of public policy in a University that is part of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) well known for providing value based quality higher education in the world. As a student of XIM University, you will be part of this global network.

We are committed to build public leaders who can transform the world and communities. 

I welcome you to join us in this exhilarating and transformative journey.

Prof. Vaishali Singh