1) You have been part of various organizations. What are the networking opportunities provided by VITBS to students?

o VIT Business School
has an on-going ‘The Weekend Leader-VIT Unsung Hero Award and Address Series’,
in which leaders and entrepreneurs who have made a difference in the lives of
others interact with our students on campus.

o A vibrant VIT
Management Alumni Association (VITMAA) meets on August 15th of every
year and this helps in securing internships and placements besides sharing of
experience.

o Various national
and international conferences, seminars and workshops are organized by the
B-school, during which the students get to interact with eminent speakers and
industry captains.

o Chapters of the
Madras Management Association, National HRD Network, ISTD Chennai etc. conduct
various training programmes, providing the students opportunities to interact
with industry.

2) How different is VITBS from colleges offering similar programs?

o  In various B-School
surveys, VIT Business School scores very high in infrastructure when compared
to most other Indian business schools.

o Some
of the faculty members hold degrees from IIMs, IITs and XLRI, and most of them
have a Ph.D.

o This year, a
curriculum for Applied Learning (CAL) has been introduced, wherein the
Management students work on finding solutions to real-time problems faced by
the industry.

o The learning environment incorporates e-learning resources and
digitized textbooks. Harvard Business School and Emerald Management case
studies and business simulations further add value.

o The Fully Flexible
Credit System (FFCS) enables the students to have their choice of subject, time
slot and Faculty.

o
Open-book internal assessments encourage application-based thinking.

o The school has set
up centres of Excellence in Big Data Analytics, Manufacturing and Inclusive
growth to facilitate consultancy and research. Two other centers in the areas
Indian Management and neuro management are on the anvil.

o As part of the
foreign immersion program, Students have gone to the University of Michigan at
Dearborn to earn credits in the US. Such opportunities are also available at
top universities such as Rochester, Cornell, Purdue, SUNY, Michigan, Clemson,
UMass, Maryland, and Clarkson

o Students have been
going to Malaysia, France and USA for internships. The students have the option
to do projects in 112 Universities worldwide including the ones mentioned
above.

o VIT Business School
attracts students from outside India, including China and Africa. We also get
an all India profile of students that brings about a great deal of cultural
sensitivity and mutual respect for each other.

3) What does VITBS
do to assist students with career planning, internships, and job placement?

Career planning: VIT Business School
offers 4 modules on Employability Skills in the MBA course curriculum.
Students are given intensive and extensive training in Soft Skills to make them
place able.

Internships: Summer
internships are for 4-6 weeks. The Placement Centre (PAT) interacts with
recruiters, and assists students in securing internships. Some of the students
get a stipend.

Job placement: VIT University
has a full-fledged Placement Centre with a Director. Our recruiters
include SBI, City Union Bank, RBS, Beroe Inc., HCL, CTS, Hafele, CAMS, TCS,
South Indian Bank, Tata Tele Services, Redington, Rane Group, BNP Paribas,
Kotak Life Insurance, ICICI Securities, InfoEdge, TCI Freight, Vodafone, Airtel
etc.

4) How exciting is student life at VITBS?

Besides academics,
students get a variety of opportunities to develop and showcase their talent by
participating in festivals, being members of Student clubs, participating in
sports, doing outbound training and interacting with eminent personalities from
the industry and other walks of life. As a student, there are numerous forums
to exchange ideas with students of other programmes, states as well as
countries, and learn about their customs and tradition. While organising
events, students learn about planning, organizing, budgeting, leading,
communication and negotiation skills. This gives them a broad outlook in life
and increases their compatibility with others, grooming them with a well-rounded
personality.

Some of the details:

Fests

Riviera is VIT University’s
ISO certified Annual International Sports and Cultural Carnival. This
festival is an endeavour to provide a platform to all individuals to showcase
their skills and develop their potential via arts, sports, music, dance, drama,
debate or fashion.

GraVITas is VIT University’s
Annual technological and design Carnival. This festival is an endeavour
to provide a platform to all individuals to showcase their skills and improve
their innovation skills in the fields of technology.

INVICTUS is VIT Business School’s
annual Management Fest, wherein students from different Business schools
get an opportunity to showcase their talent in events like Brandathon, Best
Manager, HR talkies, Business Quiz etc.

Clubs

These include the Health club, the Creativity
club, the Dance club, the Quiz club, the Dramatics club, the Photography club,
the Music Club, Fine arts Club, the Culinary society, the Debate society, the
Film society, the Trekking club, Youth Red Cross, Uddeshya, TEDx, fepsi etc.

Sports and Physical fitness

VIT has 2 cricket
grounds, 18 badminton courts, 7 basketball courts, 4 football fields, 2 hockey
fields, 4 handball courts, 5 tennis courts (with floodlights), separate
swimming pools for men and women, and a track and field 4X 100 m stadium
complex. There are 4 gymnasia, two for men, one for women, including an AC gym.
There are trained instructors for swimming, karate, tennis, snooker and
gymnasia.

Hostels

VIT has well equipped men’s and women’s hostels,
with excellent catering facilities, catering to every palate.

Campus life is indeed very exciting, and
is the best any Indian University can offer.

5) Being an important resource for EDPs, do you
feel that management institutes in India are lagging behind their global
counterparts in encouraging entrepreneurs?

The development of
entrepreneurship as a field of study in business courses has been largely
inspired by the acceptance of entrepreneurship as a legitimate tool for economic
growth. Yes, I agree that management institutes have not been able to create
entrepreneurs, though it could be argued that entrepreneurs have an innate
drive, and that entrepreneurship cannot be ‘taught’. Culturally, we seem to be
a risk-averse nation. But with the internet spreading its tentacles everywhere,
offering myriad business opportunities, we are seeing many Indians taking the
entrepreneurship route to success. I think the ability to experiment and take
risks have to be inculcated early among our school children, so that when they
enter the B-School, they are prepared to take risks, and in future, become
successful entrepreneurs.

Acknowledgement: I
deliberately thank Prof. Ramaseshan H, Prof. Subashini R, VITBS for their input given for compilation.

Dr. D. ASHOK, Professor and Dean, VIT Business School, VIT University,
Vellore – 14. .