Academic schools constitute the very core of higher education systems, serving at least as discrete units that group disciplines with shared aims. They exist in universities, colleges, and institutes as focal points and identities for particular areas of study—science, engineering, commerce, and arts. From an organisational point of view, the role of academic schools serves to aggregate a number of related departments to facilitate processes associated with teaching, research, and innovation. They can be involved in curriculum development at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, faculty hiring, and keeping up to date with what employers need and societal challenges. They are also a research space where faculty and graduate students collaborate in the production of research that adds to our knowledge. Further, schools can also create intellectual communities and spaces for ideas to be debated and assessed. The students gain by getting formal education, guidance, and access to laboratory facilities, resources, and career counselling. Schools also preserve academic integrity by ensuring quality teaching and assessment are maintained. They essentially connect administrative management and scholarly imagination to ensure institutions operate efficiently while providing quality education. Without them, big education institutions would struggle to sustain coherence, accountability, and academic excellence in diverse areas of study.
The importance of academic institutions is that they are able to introduce order and richness into the learning atmosphere. In colleges/universities, schools influence both teaching and research, accomplishing a balance between delivering knowledge and searching for new knowledge. Their function can be understood in multiple dimensions:
More generally, they maintain accountability and accreditation values, conferring credibility on academic institutions in society. Having robust academic schools means that students don't just graduate with degrees but with employable competencies, ethical sensitivity, and habits of lifelong learning, thus enabling them to become meaningful contributors to the world.
In the MIT Academy of Engineering (MIT AOE), the school is the centre point that gives stewardship to both excellence and innovation. As an autonomous institution under Savitribai Phule Pune University, MIT AOE is accredited by NAAC with an 'A' grade and NBA-approved undergraduate programs. Responsibility is vested within each school to prescribe its own academic curriculum design and ensure that the programmes are industry-oriented and globally relevant. The curriculum design for academics is unique in its five-tier pattern: core courses, discipline electives, multidisciplinary electives, open electives, and professional skill courses.
Practical exposure is an integral part of learning. Students undergo internships, Capstone Work, and live projects, and second-year fieldwork helps develop problem-solving skills at an early level. Courses like Design Thinking, Creative Technologies, and Universal Human Values infuse technical study with creativity and ethics. Liberal Learning electives promote perspectives outside the discipline of engineering.
The academic schools also play a role in having contemporary laboratories, fostering inter-school research, and mentoring through committed faculty. These academic school functions, secured by a robust apparatus of school administration and academics, allow MIT AOE to generate graduates who are innovative, socially conscious, and world-class.