Not marks, but performing well means understanding concepts and putting it to practice: Bachelor of Pharma Faculty

MIT WPU is known for its special focus on ensuring students are industry-ready from the very beginning of their higher-education journey. Emphasising on the same Assistant Professor of Bachelor of Pharma at MIT WPU - World Peace University, Pune Chandrashekhar Bobade spoke to Shiksha.com and shared what the industry expects from graduates of today, and how MIT WPU is helping students inculcate those skills. The University understands the need of updated curriculum to help students stay at par with the industry standards.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the three things that MIT World Peace University is doing enables it to differentiate itself from other universities? 

A: Our industry-embedded curriculum and unique pedagogy is what differentiates us from the institutes offering similar courses, We,

• Organise national and international study tours to give students exposure to international working standards and corporate culture.
• Organise Yoga and peace classes as part of the curriculum. Being a Pharma school, we still believe what nature can do to us is uncomparable. A healthy mind is itself a solution to many of our problems.
• Have introduced Rural Immersion Programme. Our students visit nearby rural areas, understand the lifestyle of people living there, come across challenges they are facing and then find solutions to those real-life problems.

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by MIT World Peace University that are helping your students become more industry-ready?

A: Industry-readiness is an important aspect these days. Not just knowledgable but the industry is looking for skilled professionals these days who need not require a lot of training. So to keep our students at par with the industry standards, we bring them opportunities such as:

• Live Projects to make them experience project-based learning. We also use real-life case studies in class to give students perspective a different edge.
• MIT Hackathon called HackMIT  for intra-university competition
• Exposure to the Internet of Things-related programme as its one of the evolving industry today

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for the institute and perform well in the curriculum

A: Every year a new journey begins for a lot of graduates. Every student has different aspirations and expectations. We try to evaluate students on the basis of parameters such as passion, zeal to learn, skills, values, ethics, sincerity, knowledge and research aptitude. Students with the right attitude always succeed.

As far as performing well in the curriculum, we do not want our students to chase marks. Performing well for us means understanding the concept and being able to put it into practice. This is possible if the student is attentive during sessions, inculcate the habit of self-study, develop competency and employable skills.

Q: Which programmes according to you are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme? 

A: More than a programme, I believe the curriculum and the pedagogy matters. Having an updated curriculum at par with the industry standards and qualified faculty members who can deliver the content well is what the mantra for quality education is.

Also, I believe the foundation for a professional career relies on the curriculum, teaching-learning practices, skill development programmes, etc. during the course of study for a student

Q: What are you doing to drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: Last academic year we have organised a grand alumni meet. The outcome of that we could generate a significant database of alumni which is the best contact point to improve the placements. We have also a good number of functional MoU with recognised pharmaceutical industries in India. Every year leading companies recruit our undergraduate students in the IT Pharmacy, Data management, Production Marketing and Sales as well. Apart from this, we have alumni WhatsApp groups where not only our placement officer also every teacher shares the job opportunities. In the coming years, we are making efforts to increase more number of campus recruitments in the core Pharmacy i.e. Research and Developments.