We keep a complete check on faculty input delivery to ensure quality education, says Director, AIMS

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Director of AIMS - Atharva Institute of Management Studies Dr Sujata Pandey talks about the factors that drive the institution's growth. She also referred to various initiatives such as mock group discussion and interview rounds, regular guest lectures, conferences, live projects and industry connects that contributes to make students industry-ready. Dr Pandey is PhD holder from National Law University, Jodhpur and has over 25 years of rich teaching experience

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

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

 A: The three most important factors that differentiate us from the competition and also drive our growth. These are students, faculty and curriculum.

• We provide individual attention to students through mentor-mentee programme, addressing their specific needs by way of guiding, counselling and advising on required issues.
• We keep a complete check on faculty-input delivery in terms of case studies, discussion on live issues and conceptual knowledge delivery. Continuous online and offline feedback of faculty members is taken from students and intimated to them to make improvements. This also enables us to understand the teaching pedagogy used by the faculty, usage of technology, their level of class involvement and the value addition made by them.
• Course structuring every year is done after consulting corporates and our advisory council members. In addition to academics, the kind of soft skills required by the corporates is also given to students. For this purpose, expert corporate trainers are invited to take sessions with the students. We also have in-house soft skill trainer to conduct regular sessions. The aim is to make students corporate-ready.

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

A: To get students good placements at the end of the curriculum is our final goal and our management works hard to achieve the same. We have taken a few initiatives in this direction, such as:

• Conferences, seminars, panel discussions and presentation competitions are conducted on a regular basis by industry experts. These events are managed by the students under our guidance. This gives a wonderful platform to our students to gain industry exposure and industry interaction.
• Guest lectures or workshops are organized on every Saturday by renowned industry experts or our alumni who are placed at high-level designations in industry or are successful entrepreneurs.
• Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GDPI) sessions are conducted by industry experts at certain intervals. We have a vibrant Career Management Centre. Apart from taking care of summer and final placements, they also organise pre-placement interviews carried out by experts and ‘know your domain’ sessions by industry insiders where they help students to understand the scope of a specific specialisation, which helps students to choose a particular specialisation.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and get top grades in your institution?

A: To qualify for admission, an applicant must meet the eligibility criteria, i.e. obtain an aggregate of 50 per cent or more in graduation from any UGC-recognised university in any stream. To perform well in curriculum or score a good grade, it is important to have:

• Conceptual knowledge
• For awareness of the current business environment, students are encouraged to read newspapers. Business news updates are created taking bits of news from various sources and sent to students.
• Presentation skills for which students are trained. Workshops are conducted to teach them presentation skills. Faculty members have to submit mentor-mentee report on a monthly basis, students who are weak in presentations are taken special care of.
• Participation in various events, activities and classes
• Understanding of virtual lectures by foreign universities faculty and documentary films on management issues

Q: Do you offer any added certification courses to students?

A: Yes, we do offer added certifications to help students match the pace of the industry. Certification programmes include Excel Certification by Microsoft, SAP,  Soft Skill Certification and Foreign Language Certification. We are in constant touch with corporates. Anything suggested by them for students’ improvement is implemented either by in-house sources or we call external people to address the issue.

We have i-lead programme conducted on Saturdays wherein we manage E-cell and various leadership programmes. We have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with MCX where certification programme help students in domestic as well as international placements, EduPristine and start-up funding company to help students start their own company.

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: To drive better placements, we are in constant connect with the industry. Students are given rigorous training on communication, presentation skills, attitude management, pre-placement interviews and workshops on business world reality by our alumni. Besides these, many programmes and competitions are held to keep them updated.

We have a record of 100 per cent placements last year. The highest package reported was Rs 16 lakh per annum. We also succeeded in international placements at Singapore and Dubai.

Companies such as BNP Paribas, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Globe-Op, Haldiram, Kotak securities, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank and many more participated in the placements. Our focus is to raise the bar by taking up the average salary and highest package than the last year and bringing big brands for placement.