Our mentoring programme grooms students & enhance chances of employability, says Head of Research at iFeel

In this Take 5-Series with Shiksha, Institute for Future Education, Entrepreneurship and Leadership Associate professor, Head of Research Dr Shraddha Purandare, talks about the methodologies the institute has adopted to reshape tomorrow of the students. The institute has focused on creating a module that teaches and trains iFEEL students.

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

A. Institute has put in place a holistic system for student support and progression by adopting innovative teaching methodology.

The learning is made student-centric through case studies, group projects, presentations, etc. Critical thinking, creativity and scientific temper are instilled through management games, role plays, group discussions and participation into inter-collegiate event.

Global Citizen Leader (GCL) Program provides specific focused learning where in students work on real time problem statement provided by the organisations and develop a prototype to solve the problem. Students also work on social projects to give back to society. Entrepreneurship ideas are nurture during GCL projects to promote entrepreneurial mindset among students.

Continuous engagement with the experts, industry and experiential learning initiatives enhance the social and economic relevance of the courses offered.

An international study tour gives global exposure to students. Visits to countries such as Germany, Italy, China helped students understand technological innovations, organisational culture etc.

Q. How are you preparing your students to be industry-ready?

A. We take the following steps to prepare students to be industry-ready:

• Academic, curricular, personal and career counseling, mentoring and on-going support is provided to the learners right from the pre-admission stage till the time they pass out and even beyond.
• Mentoring programme plays a pivotal role in grooming students & enhancing their employability. Faculty mentors have been assigned to students to sensitise them about needs of industry and helping them to improve on their personality, attitude, GD skills etc.
• Personality mapping and career guidance is undertaken at the institute with an objective of nurturing an ecosystem that enables learners to be workplace ready, professionally articulate, digitally literate and socially responsible.
• Add-on certifications in domain areas such as Marketing, HR, Finance and operations are provided to all students.
• Various guest lectures by imminent personalities from the industry through i6 series are organised to make students understand current trends and needs of industry.
• The students are encouraged to garner required skills for gainful employment which also takes care of overall personality development and confidence building.

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

A. Below are the qualities we look for in student applicants:

• Hunger for continuous learning
• An academic score in graduation, as prescribed by the AICTE
• Decent entrance test scores
• Every student is unique and has his own set of potential. Students need to express themselves and accept themselves for who they are, as well embrace the differences of others.
• To perform well, a student should participate in all the activities in the class and in all events, extracurricular activities. Dedication, perseverance, positive attitude and hard work will assist them to succeed.

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

A. Based on the feedback from industry experts and GB members, on time to time basis, syllabus is modified to cater the changing demands of industry. IBM analytics course, predictive analysis arte introduced to well verse students with changing technology. This boosts their confidence and develops their personality.

MoU’s with various industries, industry associations also provide a platform for such interactions and helps to design the curriculum. Application based learning is a key which enable students to understand real time challenges.

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

A. Yes, the institute has a Business Incubation Centre (E Cell). Institute encourages imagination, innovation and creativity.

Students who opt out from the placement process of the college to try out their business idea are given a time period of 18 months to work on their business. If not successful, they can come back for   placement process

Seed funding provided to students of iFEEL to nurture and execute their business plans.

iFEEL’s Entrepreneurship Cell Team got nationally recognized at the National Entrepreneurship Challenge 2015 at IIT Bomaby due to its entrepreneurship ecosystem in the campus.