IIM-Kashipur, foreign varsities ink MoU

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 27

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kashipur, has signed MoUs with three foreign universities—Ecole de Management de Normandie (EM Normandie), ESDES Lyon Business School and Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, for student and faculty exchange programmes. The move is an effort to keep in trend with globalisation and international exposure.

This year, the institute witnessed many prominent recruiters visiting the campus for placements, including firms such as Vodafone, PwC, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Wipro, Berger Paints, MAQ Software, Mindtree, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Life, Jindal Steel and Power, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, TVS Group, Hewlett Packard, TATA Steel, Thomson Reuters, Mphasis, Mother Dairy, GSK Pharmaceuticals, HansaCequity, Hero MotoCorp, HPCL, Larsen & Toubro and Ericsson. The average placement figure has increased by about 11.5 per cent.

The highest international stipend for summer internship offered to students has risen by 61 per cent and stands at Rs 4.38 lakh. The highest domestic stipend was Rs 1.29 lakh. Overall, the average stipend has increased by 29 per cent to Rs 49,000.

The institute will move from the temporary campus to the 200-acre permanent campus in Kundeswari in the coming academic year.

Located in a two-tier city, IIM-Kashipur was set up in 2011. The college has given a tough fight to the other established B-Schools located in metropolitan cities. Almost every major company in every sector visits the institute to recruit young talent.

“Though there were some initial apprehensions, however, over the years we have understood that location has no role to play in the quality of life at an IIM. A typical day of students is packed with assignments, quizzes and guest lectures. IIM-Kashipur follows case-based learning and every student does his homework and research to actively participate in the discussion. Apart from the academic rigour, students conduct and participate in a variety of extra and co-curricular events,” said Prof Gautam Sinha, Director, IIM-Kashipur.

During holidays and term breaks, students visit the nearby hill stations for adventure trips, such as trekking, cycling, biking, boating and camping.

“Today, I feel that it has played a good role in shaping the students into environmentally conscious business managers. We would not have been able to provide these added experiences or leisure activities to our students if we were located in a metropolitan city. It is a classic case of converting a disadvantage into our own differentiation in today’s business world. So, in my opinion, we are able to provide things which even the leaders of the industry can’t provide to the students – a holistic experience along with quality education. Adding to this, the Rudrapur belt has evolved into a manufacturing hub and has helped us in exposing our students to various industries and to the day to day problems faced by the industry,” Sinha added.