1. How has been your experience in JAIPURIA?
My journey in Jaipuria has been a life changing experience. I
joined Jaipuria in 2010 as a professor at the Noida campus then I was promoted
to the position of Dean (Academics). Later I was assigned the position of
Director In-charge for the Jaipur campus which I served for 3 months. I got the
opportunity to serve as Director In-charge at Indore campus for 6 months and
subsequently assumed the role of full Director at Jaipur campus in March 2013.
Today, I can boast of being a true example of Jaipuria’s uncampus philosophy
for serving three out of its four campuses. Jaipuria has given me opportunity
to grow holistically, as a faculty as well as academic administrator. It has
been a journey full of learning for me. My personal and professional growth has
been phenomenal in Jaipuria. But I surely believe that it is not the end of it,
a lot is still to be accomplished and learnt. There is always a next level and
Jaipuria is an excellent platform which enables the journey.
2. What are the short term goals of JAIPURIA?
Have there been any challenges in fulfilling these goals?
The
immediate goals of Jaipuria are four-fold:
a) To promote practical inputs in an
industry driven curriculum: This means we are focusing on creating a good mix of practice
and theory as per the demand of the industry. Management education is about
making our students industry ready. This in turn means that our students need
to develop to meet the industry requirements. Jaipuria has a systematic
approach towards understanding industry demand. We do this through a process of
engagement and feedback from industry, employer, alumni, experts, and current
students. These inputs are discussed and weaved into our curriculum, delivery,
and outside classroom engagement. We have travelled a long way in this direction;
nevertheless we are committed to put in constant effort to strengthen this
aspect. Some of the courses at Jaipuria is launched and delivered by industry
under exclusive MoUs towards course delivery and final placement.
b) To ensure high quality training and
placement for our students: Placement record of Jaipuria has improved substantially year-after-year.
We are committed to move to the next level each time. This means that our focus
would be on further improving the average package, increasing the number of
students entering a bracket of 10 lakh plus package, ensuring more global
placements, and securing global companies for placement of our students.
Jaipuria has done a good job not only in the area of global placement, but also
has been able to secure international summer internship for students. In order
to secure this, Jaipuria focuses on quality training for students. Perhaps,
Jaipuria’s training framework and the allocation of budget on training &
placement would be one of the best in the B-school space.
c) To promote global exposure for our students and faculty: Another goal of Jaipuria is to secure
maximum global exposure for students and faculty. This is ensured by signing
several MoUs with institutions of global standing. Every year the number of
students visiting foreign institutions is increasing, while there is an
increase in the number of foreign students visiting us. Recently, six of our
students have secured summer internship at various MNCs in Johannesburg and South
Africa under MoU. Global placement record of Jaipuria is also improving each
year, we are also committed to faculty exchange programme wherein many of our
faculty visited foreign institutions and many foreign professors delivered
sessions at Jaipuria under MoUs. In the era of globalization, it is of utmost
significance that our students and faculty get greater global experience and
exposure.
d) To promote use of technology and
non-formal learning for holistic growth of students: The pace of technological change is
too rapid to comprehend, this has brought about major changes in the manner
management education is delivered and managed. For example, development of apps
and free-access online resources like MOOCs are rapidly making traditional
classroom delivery out of sync. This calls for change in paradigm of
teaching-learning, classroom management, managing research outcome, and role of
faculty in shaping life & career of students. At Jaipuria, we are quite
conscious of this development and accordingly putting measures in place. The uses
of LMS-Moodle, classroom lecture-capture solution are two major initiatives
taken up in this direction. These developments ensure that 24×7 learning
environment is provided to students and students have access to repeated
learning solutions. We have also introduced ‘kindle’ in the library for
promoting books reading for the tech-savvy generation. Non-formal learning is
given as much significance at Jaipuria as formal structured learning. The blend
of formal and non-formal learning expand much beyond classroom, reaches to
every possible walks, into cafeteria, lush green field, industry visit, and
hostel areas.
3. What about the recent
placement trend at Jaipuria Institute of Management?
The recent placement at Jaipuria has
been quite encouraging. Riding on the possible upbeat Indian economy, Jaipuria
has been able to bring 300+ companies on campus for final placement. This
includes all possible range of companies from consultancy, KPOs, FMCG, consumer
durables, manufacturing, banking, financial services, insurance, marketing,
sales, media, advertising, research,
microfinance, HR functions, IT, ITES, telecommunication, retail, ecommerce, and
logistic & real estate etc. There is almost 100 per cent placement
opportunity for students and the average package and highest package is
consistently improving year-after-year. There is also a new trend of
international placement started at Jaipuria which is proving to be an exciting
opportunity for the graduates. International summer internship with global MNCs
is yet another exciting area to explore at Jaipuria.
A good placement is a matter of
graduates’ preparedness about meeting good opportunities. Jaipuria provides
best possible opportunities on both aspects. I can only say at this moment that
getting into 10 lakh plus opportunity at Jaipuria can easily turn into a
reality for each graduate willing to work towards it. If you are upto it, Jaipuria is a place to be
for you.
4. Any initiative you have taken
to enhance batch diversity in terms of gender, work-ex, academic background,
region etc.?
In terms of diversity, Jaipuria is
doing extremely well. In fact, respecting and promoting diversity is inbuilt
into Jaipuria culture. We have students from all over the country, from down
south to extreme north and north east. We have students from 12 to 15 states of
India at our campuses. Some of the far-flung states such as Assam, Jammu &
Kashmir, and North East states are well represented. Today, Jaipuria is a
preferred destination for students from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Gujarat, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and
Orissa. We have students joining from all strata and tiers. The ratio of female
to male students is almost evenly poised. Female students find Jaipuria
campuses as safe and well-guarded. We have a well-diversified class in terms of
academic backgrounds with engineering, commerce, and arts graduates. At
Jaipuria, we promote and nurture diversity. Celebrations of all major festivals
in college and hostels are promoted with all fanfare. Knowledgeable discourse
by people from different faiths is organized to promote human values. Now, the
next step for us is to promote international diversity.
5. Any message to B-school aspirants?
Being focused is the first step towards success. You must
know the what, why, and how of your decision to join a B-school. Develop your
aim and aspiration to be at a certain place in life, then prepare strategy and
plan to go after it. The key lies in becoming consistent in implementing your
plan and strategy. Quite often, we become lazy and drift away from objectives.
You must develop mental strength and resilience to work consistently on few key
factors. For B-school aspirants, following may come handy in cracking
interviews as well as self-development:
Pick up a newspaper everyday, read the headlines and
editorial page (Step 1). Maintain a notebook and keep writing main points (Step
2). You can also keep this note in your laptop, desktop, or smart phone. Join
your likeminded friends over a cup of tea or samosa every day and talk about
what you have read and recorded in notebook (Step 3). This is a three step process
which has multiple impacts. It helps improving general awareness and analysis, writing
skills, spoken & fluency, and overall boosting of confidence. Nevertheless,
key lies in doing it every day without fail and also completing all three
steps. You still have 2 to 3 months to go before joining a B-school, start
doing it from today and you will discover a ‘new you’!!
I will be happy to respond to your query, you can write to me
on prabhat.pankaj@jaipuria.ac.in. Visit my website at www.profprabhatpankaj.com.
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