SIBM Pune

Mr.Vidyasagar is the Deputy Director of SIBM, Bangalore. He envisions his students pursuing their desired career while he provides a strong foundation for them to flourish. Read what he has to say in his interview. 

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty?

“Conducting interactive classroom sessions”

In SIBM-B, the faculty as a rule ensures that the students are encouraged to ask questions and they try to answer them during the session. There is an emphasis on personal attention to the students. This is also accentuated by the fact that each of our faculty is also a mentor for a group of students from the first and second year where the student can approach the faculty for any issues – both personal and academic. In the event the faculty is unable to resolve the issue, the student is directed to another faculty or the in-house counselor for further advice. 

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make it industry-oriented?

“Involving the industry personnel in our key programs and classrooms”

While in the first year, the emphasis is on building a strong foundation in all the specializations through classroom sessions and case studies. The students are exposed to guest lectures from leading lights in the industry. Almost 35% of our teaching faculty in the first year are industry practitioners. In the second year, this number goes up to 50%. Annual Events like Alchemy – an industry conclave, helps the students in interacting with the industry experts at the campus.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain the necessary skills? 

“Mandatory internships and projects to get a glimpse of how the industry functions”

All our courses have a mandatory evaluation called “Project”. Here the student has to submit a project which involves the hands-on experience of the market/company. The concerned faculty acts as the guide in hand-holding the student through the project and is evaluated through report submission and presentation. In addition at the end of the first year the student has to undergo a Student Internship Program (SIP) in an organization based on his choice of specialization. Our Placement department helps in getting an internship in some of the leading organizations in a specialization of his choice.

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How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated to make it befitting for the students? 

“Acting in the student’s best interest”

We have a proprietary model called “SC-IE-NCE” that forms the basis of curriculum development. We combine the Student Competence (SC) with Industry Expectations (IE) and arrive at New Courses Or Enhancements (NCE). Our curriculum goes through two levels of scrutiny – one through our internal Board of Studies comprising Industry Experts, Faculty and Alumni, and another through the Board of Studies of the University. The final call is made by the Academic Council of the university to include enhancement or a new course as part of the curriculum. A revision of the course catalog is done once every 2 years. Any new and important course requirement is addressed by offering Flexible Credit courses to the students during the period of study.

What are your views upon the placements and higher education about the students from your department?

“Providing proper aid so that they achieve the greatest heights”

The objective of the placement department in our Institute is to ensure that the students meet 3 criteria

  1. Requisite skills/knowledge in the area of their specialization.
  2. Use these skills to apply them to specific industry situations. In addition to case studies, we have several clubs in the institute which are continuously bringing the students up to speed in the form of quizzes, group discussions, and case studies.
  3. Good communication and presentation skills. From the first year, the students are required to take courses like Business Analytics and Business Communication where they are exposed to MS Office, Tableau, and popular scripting languages like Python, R, etc.

This, in turn, we believe will aid the students in getting a job of their liking and also provides them opportunities to apply for higher studies. We also encourage students to apply for certification courses like CFA, Project Management even while they are pursuing our program.

How does the department college enhance the skills of the faculty and prepare them according to the industry standards? 

“Making participation in different academic programs a mandatory requirement”

Our faculty must enroll themselves in at least 5 seminars/conferences during the academic year. In addition, internally we have 2 programs for the faculty viz Quest and BrownBag. In Quest one of the faculty can take a 3-hour course on any subject under the sun e.g. topics as divergent as Vedic Math, Genetics, BlockChain, etc. In Brown Bag, one of the faculty will present a paper that he/she is working on for inputs on improving the paper before it goes for publishing. Since the faculty are also involved with the curriculum changes, they are appraised of the feedback from the various stakeholders about the industry requirements. This helps immensely in modifying the curriculum to meet the industry requirements and standards.

Click here SIBM Bangalore Placement

What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead? 

“Have a sincere approach towards whatever you choose”

All our faculty stress two things- Discipline and Hard work. Both of them have to work hand in glove for anyone to realize their life goals. Discipline to handle distractions and hard work to achieve their goals in the job they are currently doing.