Many Guest Lectures and Workshops are conducted by Alumni and stalwarts from the Industry, says HOD Sarode

HOD Aniket Sarode of Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Hotel and Tourism Management Studies talks in length with Shiksha.com about the characteristics and initiatives made that enable them to stand out from other institutes offering comparable programmes. He goes into great detail about the ABCD curriculum and how the institute helps students become industry-ready.

Sarode is an Associate professor and HOD of Food Production department. He is an MSc graduate in Tourism and Hospitality Management with over 31 years of extensive work experience.

Read the complete interview below

Q: What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

A: Following are a few features that help us differentiate from other institutes offering similar programmes:

• Project and Assignment based Learning – Many platforms such as participation in competitions, and theme lunches are created where the students can learn better through projects/assignments.
• Engage them with professionals from the Industry to update the latest trends of the Culinary Industry.
• Give my students creative freedom to develop new recipes, and plating techniques.
• Facilitate Interaction and engagement through active participation in Classroom debates and Extempore.
• Give them assignments and encourage them to make videos on various recipes prepared by them with an aim to make their presence felt in the Social media.
• Our students have also performed on national television cookery shows.
• Guiding and Mentoring students to write and publish research papers pertaining to the hospitality industry

Q: How are you preparing your students to be Industry ready?

A: Industry readiness is a crucial skill in today’s time and to impart the same into our students:

• We design and conduct an array of extracurricular activities throughout the year which gives students ample opportunities to put into application what they have learnt in the classroom/practical laboratory.
• To name a few we have Events Like – Theme Lunches, Food Festival, Ganpati Festival, Alumni Meet, Hosting Campus Interviews, Fresher’s Party, Valedictory function, etc
• We have An In-house cake and pastry shop which is run by students.
• In addition to this, students participate in Inter College Competitions and have won many accolades for our college.
• We also have Yoga Workshops, Sports Competitions to nurture their mental and physical wellbeing. All these activities make them ready for the challenges and opportunities in the Hospitality Industry.
• Many Guest Lectures and Workshops are conducted by Alumni and stalwarts from the Industry.

Q: What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

A: The Following Qualities are required to do well in our Course ABCD

A - Appearance – Groomed Well

B - Body language – Good Facial and Body Language

C – Communication – Good Language proficiency (Oral and Written)

D - Digital Footprint – LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

Q: How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up to date and meets industry requirements?

A: The Curriculum is updated every six months by the University of Mumbai to keep abreast with the latest trends.

BVCHTMS primarily focuses on imparting knowledge and skills sets as per the Curriculum given by University of Mumbai.

On a regular basis mock interviews, industrial exposure, monthly assessment and assignments, viva are conducted to judge the knowledge and competency levels of the students. The College also ensures that students participate in Inter College Competitions, attend workshops and seminars, etc so as to prepare them for professional challenges. 

A six Months Internship which is mandatory for the students which happens in the 4th Semester

Q: Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

A: We have the Latest Equipment which are being used by Chefs at Hotels. As we have regular workshops conducted latest tools/equipment used by chefs are procured. We have a state of the art infrastructure. The Campus is Wifi. We have a digital Library and an Entrepreneurship Development Cell.

We have recently upgraded our Restaurant with the Latest Equipment and The Kitchen was recently equipped with a State of the Art Oven from Germany, “Rational”

To promote entrepreneurship we have taken help from our Entrepreneur Alumni who conduct guest lectures on entrepreneurship and assist students in startups.