Students are trained and evaluated online through AI-enabled training platform for individualistic development, says VC

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Vice-Chancellor JIS University, Kolkata Dr Bimal Chnadra Mal talks at length about the industry readiness as a skill that is acquired by students over time. He says that placements is the ultimate step of students’ journey with JIS University. And to make it successful, University regularly conducts workshops and seminars, soft skills and technical training classes, personality development sessions, exposure to live projects, field and internship experiences, etc.

Dr Mal is MTech and PhD degree holder from IIT Kharagpur and has over 40 years of rich academic experience

Read the excerpt of the conversation below:

Q: What are the three things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from the competition?

A: The curriculum more or less is the same everywhere in every institute but what differs is the delivery of the content. This is what differentiates us from the competition. Apart from this, the factors below also equally contribute:

• Successful implementation of the immersive learning process with a harmonious blend of online and traditional modes of education with a multidisciplinary approach
• Vibrant and engaging methods of education, research, and co-curricular activities to ensure the holistic development of students
• Implementation of modern teaching aids and methodology with virtual and online technologies towards professional development to attain a global standard

Q: What are the initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

A: At JIS University, we believe that industry readiness is a skill that is acquired over time. To make sure our graduated students are equally competitive and at par with the latest industry standards, we encourage:

• Active participation in specific workshops that are facilitated by eminent industry leaders and mentors
• Students to attend Soft Skills and Technical Training Classes conducted by Industry Alliance Cell of the JIS Group
• Intensive practical research-oriented experiential form of education to ensure a high level of cognitive development and problem-solving ability
• Continuous online training and evaluation through artificial intelligence-enabled training platform for individualistic competence development
• Integrated industrial training and professional exposure with top multinational companies to ensure industry readiness

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

A: To qualify for admissions at JIS University, students must be 

• Flexible and adaptive to situations
• Passion to learn and grow. This can be observed looking at the level of curiosity of the student to dig deep into the concept for better understanding and complete clarity
• Having a positive and progressive mindset
• Competent

To perform better in the curriculum:

• They must be consistent in their performance throughout the year. This can be evaluated on the basis of the continuous evaluation scheme
• Ensure timely execution of courses, projects, dissertation, etc.
• Involvement in extra-curricular, co-curricular and leadership programmes
• Rigorously participate in practical/field/internship assignments
• Consistent performance in mid-term, end-term and semester examinations

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

A: BTech in Computer Science and Engineering

Faculty of Engineering and Technology at JIS University is unique in its nature as it aims at transforming the students into a competitive engineer with adequate analytical skills to make them more acceptable to top employers nationally as well as internationally. The uniqueness lies in its Lab as it is well equipped with Super Computer (Param Sevak) with the high-performance computing ability which is the only Super Computer among the educational institutes in Eastern India

BSc (Hons) in Biotechnology

The Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at JIS University has a broad sweep, so as to offer a well-planned selection of courses that enable flexibility and lateral integration while maintaining the coherence and rigour of specific disciplines. The options include basic areas of study as well as those geared towards our practical needs in agriculture, health and industry. In research, the faculty encourages complete academic freedom and collaboration with other faculties including those of Physical Social Sciences. It strives for originality and innovation, which gives it a prominent place in the web of science as also it lends international visibility and connectivity.

Q: What are you doing to improve/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 university/college (observed over the past five years at your institute)?

A: Placements is the ultimate step of a students’ undergraduate or postgraduate journey and this how an institute’s success is also defined. To ensure quality placements for each and every student, we have taken the following initiatives:

• Approaching organisations and maintaining relationships with those who are looking out for fresh talents
• We are being mainly requested to service openings for marketing, customer support and trainee developers, along with some production and online teaching jobs
• The trend of recruitment over the last few years has been mainly for people with good communication skills and presence of mind. We aim at equipping students with good communication skills through their journey with us by conducting regular workshops and seminars