This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Sri Lanka 100 2023 report
NSBM has entered the ranking of the top 100 most valuable and strongest Sri Lankan brands for the first time this year, emerging as Sri Lanka's Higher education flagship. The brand attributes its success to its timely response to addressing national higher education needs, attracting thousands of students through quality, multi-disciplinary degree programmes, global partnerships, financial sustainability, impactful research, and community service.
Hear from Prof. E. A. Weerasinghe, who highlights the brand's core values of fostering an excellent academic environment on par with top global universities, all while while preserving local values, positioning students first, and encouraging pioneering sustainability research and initiatives that constructively impact society.
Interview with Prof. E. A. Weerasinghe
NSBM Green University is ranked for the first time in the Sri Lanka 100 rankings this year, placed at the 62nd rank and a AAA brand rating. What is the role played by NSBM Green University over the last years to achieve this position?
NSBM Green University marked its entrance to the Sri Lankan Higher Education arena in an era where our country was striving to bridge the gap created between the capacity and the demand for higher education. Being a timely solution, NSBM Green University got into the action as a one-of-a-kind knowledge centre that opened a new pathway in holistic higher education for the nation's youth while implicating an unrivalled effect on the job market and the economy. Going beyond the traditional university setting, the novel and fully-fledged university experience brought in by NSBM Green University is vitally coupled with international standards, world-class opportunities, and state-of-the-art infrastructure.
The victorious journey pursued by our university over a relatively short spell of nearly seven years is extraordinary, and it is a journey that NSBM emerged with each passing year. As we stand in this moment, NSBM Green University has become the national flagship of higher learning, demonstrating consistent progress over the years to empower this nation. With a magnificent track record of delivering quality in multi-disciplinary higher education that has even attracted global attention, our university has managed to design industry-compelling degree programs, forge multiple local and global strategic partnerships, achieve financial sustainability, conduct innovative and meaningful research, contribute to society's development through service to the communities and most importantly gathered thousands of students under our wings who are the testimony of our success story. However, we always put our emphasis on the fact that it is not just the enrolment of students that matters; it is that those students be productive and successful in their lives through significant social impact resulting from the university experience they have had at a magnificent institution like NSBM Green University.
Despite its relatively late entry into the tertiary education sector, NSBM Green University can be seen to be competing well with other similar institutions. What are the core values that differentiate NSBM Green University from other similar institutions?
At NSBM Green University, we are deeply committed to fostering a culture where our vision, mission and objectives are at the heart of everything we do. Our primary role since inception has been creating an excellent academic environment on par with the standards of the world's well-renowned universities while preserving the values of SL higher education. This is firmly supported by our unique operational system, which revolves around our solid dedication to delivering value to society and the business industries via our most precious graduates who are equipped with appropriate skills, relevant knowledge and exceptional qualities. Positioning our students at first, we offer invaluable opportunities for them to thrive individually and eventually empower a sustainable future for the entire humankind.
Since our university has been extremely triumphant in reaching and perhaps exceeding our own expectations for success, NSBM Team, our valued staff on all levels, is the lifeblood that ensures NSBM's longevity in climbing the ladder. Within NSBM Team, we act as a close-knit community, each and every one of us playing significant parts to dedicatedly go above and beyond in their contribution towards achieving NSBM's goals, be it academic, operational, or financial.
Just as NSBM Green University strives to achieve excellence in our operations, we also recognise our responsibility to the larger community. As a responsible university of national service, we seek and create new knowledge through meaningful research that connects with societal concerns aiming to benefit humanity. Moreover, without confining our academic community into winning their individual selves or the institution, we encourage initiatives to serve the needy communities and contribute towards making a constructive impact in our society.
What role do you think sustainability plays in this day and age relating to Brand? As a higher education institute committed to sustainability, what measures have NSBM Green University taken towards this?
Sustainability plays an increasingly crucial role for our Brand in modern times. Today, we find a rather environmentally and socially conscious community of people who are more concerned about the commitment that their service providers have towards sustainability. Organisations that successfully build and maintain sustainability in operations and services can be benefited not only through their service to the environment, it also provides long-term competitive advantages in terms of their own success and credibility as well.
Amidst the many reasons that make NSBM Green University an exemplary educational institution in the country, that key factor which raises itself above the rest is our remarkable commitment towards sustainability and green practices. Branded as a 'Green' university, NSBM's overwhelming dedication towards being environmentally and socially conscious across all its operations truly personifies this brand ethos. The overall architectural design of our university itself speaks volumes for our unwavering focus on green practices that underpin sustainability and environmental preservation. Going beyond, NSBM Green University practices many other impactful sustainability initiatives in our day-to-day operations and delivery as well, which includes the introduction of a mandatory course module titled 'Introduction to Sustainability Development' across all our study programmes, the establishment of an in-house rainwater harvesting system, optimal usage of renewable energy sources to facilitate university's functions, production of compost for internal gardening purposes. Moreover, we carry out a remarkable number of projects and endeavours aligned with the 'green concept' along with the active participation of our students.
