Excitement at IIM Indore

We have the 2014-2016 batch of the 2 year MBA program starting at the campus. This will be the 17th batch I think.

Excitement is in the air, and the student-run store on campus (called Pi) along with the loan-offering banks and the phone service companies are in an overdrive. We had a short function to inaugurate the batch and introduce the faculty. Energy levels are up, and classes will be full steam ahead.

The rain is still eluding us though, and hopefully will turn up soon. Before the budget. Heard it rained in the Mumbai metro. We are like this only. Incredible India!

Warm and Fuzzy- New Batch Comes to Town

A warm and fuzzy feeling envelops those that see a new batch of youngsters come in to an academic institute every new year -in academics this happens around June. So it did this week, with a new batch of IMTians entering Nagpur, and seniors returning after summer projects. Mr. Warendra Sinha, MD of GIC Housing Finance, inaugurated the new batch, sharing his views about management education.

This year IDBI Federal gave us a lot of internships, and many students did well in them too. Keeping the tightening job market in view, IMT Nagpur has entered into some new areas such as analytics (where we have tied up with IBM) and some more, like creating new courses or new methods of doing them. One such is built around the Bloomberg terminal which we have installed. Students will get assignments where they use live trading and financial data (global), and that should land them some good jobs as specialists trained in the use of the terminal.

We are also embarking on AACSB accreditation for IMT Nagpur, and this will give us global credibility in a few years.

Apart from an academic orientation in the first week, there are outbound activities that sudents undergo, and a session on Golf at our own IMT Golf Link. Fun way to start on an MBA, I guess. And, this year, there are a few IMT Nagpur alums-turned entrepreneurs who are meeting the new batch with their own stories of starting up.

Moving On

I have a new responsibility given to me. The sad part is that it involves moving away from IMT Nagpur, a place that I have come to like a lot. But such is life. I am moving soon to IMT Ghaziabad as their Dean.

It is gratifying that with the help of excellent team work, we have put IMT Nagpur on the top-20 map of Indian B schools (numbering 3500 plus at last count). A recent reconfirmation of this came in the Business Standard report on Indian B schools published this week. It placed IMT Nagpur in the top 20 which they call the Superleague. The incoming batch which starts Monday will be the largest in our 8 year history, at 360.  Faculty here are among the best anywhere, and the staff's efficiency and courtesy is noticed by all visitors, and missed by faculty who have left us to join the new IIMs.

Alumni have given us great love and support, which was evident in all the five cities where we held alum meets last month. More than 500 alumni turned up to celebrate their bond with the alma mater. IMT Nagpur is also one of the leaders in faculty development programs, particularly in research methods, having done about 5 programs till date for B school, engineering and architecture faculty.

Here is wishing even greater success to IMT Nagpur. Cheers!