Q.
What led you to think of a Business
School for ‘needy students’ …?
SAC has had an MBA program over the last
few years and have already received a good following. In fact, the Top 3
rank holders in 2008 for the MBA Program of the Mangalore University were
all from SAC – and as it happens, all were also female students. As you may
know, there is a great demand for well trained talent to support the growing
business environment in India and especially in Karnataka including in and
around Mangalore and Kerala, where substantial growth is in progress. With
this new and heightened demand for MBA as well as the IT programs, which
have been in effect for a few years as well, SAC has now felt the need for
more space. SAC which has a rich history of 128 years has completely run
out of space at their existing main campus on
Lighthouse Hill.
As there is a need for additional capacity
in every one of their programs at all levels – KG to Masters – they
concluded that a new campus to house the MBA (Masters Business
Administration) and MCA (Masters in Computer Applications) programs would be the best
way to streamline their programs and leave the main campus for their traditional
programs in other disciplines, with room to grow.
As for the Business School being for needy students, we
need to clarify that this school is not only for needy students. SAC
has always had a very compassionate approach to students who enter their
programs and do not turn away any students who do not have the
means. While in their current program they have students who pay their fees
in full, SAC has met the needs of deserving yet disadvantaged students even
for the Business programs, which are more expensive than the other programs,
due to the high level of Faculty, equipment, IT and other resources. While
there are a few Business Schools with good record, often they are out of
reach to many students in the Mangalore and surrounding community, who are
academically qualified, but do not have the means. So our effort is not only
to build a good Business School, but also provide an Endowment Fund to
support these needy students.
Q.
How can this institute serve the benefits of deserving
students?
SAC has had a proven record of supporting deserving
students throughout their rich history with scholarships. They also have a
consistent and secular approach to admission of all students irrespective of
their religious persuasion or financial support. SAC also runs an Aloysian
Boys home, which is an orphanage for boys and girls, who are provided with a
home and education up to high school. In addition, SAC supports certain
outreach programs in under served areas like Bijapur. So, looking after the
less fortunate among their students has been a way of life for SAC and an
integral part of their mission.
Q.
What will be your special ‘mantra’ to attain the goal
of a Top Business School?
You are right, there are Business Schools in India
running into the hundreds, as just about every university has appended a
Business program. However, as conveyed to me by Mr. K. V. Kamath, CEO of
the ICICI Bank, who recruits several thousand new graduates every year, they
don’t look for talent from any B-schools below the top 15 to 20, as they
simply do not have the strong curriculum and emphasis on modern management
programs.
This is where the proven SAC ‘brand’ offers reason for
hope. Though SAC has had a good start with their MBA program, it is
certainly not in the top 10 or even top 25, as they wanted to get a program
started. But, SAC has the credentials to take up a challenge and do whatever
it takes to achieve the results. In this case, due to the large investment
in the new Business School, we as the alumni have strongly suggested to SAC
that from the start, this new Aloysian Business School will have to set a
clear goal to be among the ‘Top 10’ Business Schools in India, within 5 to
10 years after they start.
Apart from their emphasis on curriculum,
discipline and accountability, the special mantra will be the make up
of the programs and the teaching methodology to include modern methods like
the ‘Case method’ of teaching, that is used at the IIM Ahmedabad (the top
business school in India, which I was fortunate to attend!), focus on
special programs such as ‘Financial Management’ programs tailored to Banks
and other financial institutions, due to the preponderance of numerous banks
around Mangalore, a specialization in Entrepreneurship and Small Business
management. Besides, we also plan to enlist a few US and Canadian Business
schools to partner with SAC, to bring and transfer proven expertise and
knowledge base to SAC. SAC has also accepted our suggestion to broaden their
management approach to include a Board of Advisors, comprising of
international professionals, who have been successful in careers in USA,
Canada, Europe and elsewhere in India to seek their input and guidance. SAC
truly aspires to be one of the Top Business Schools.
Q.
The modern education system lacks
values of humanity…Can SAC overcome this by applying traditional values to
core subjects?
SAC is emblematic of the belief that a modern education
system does not need to exclude great values of humanity. Your observation
is right – that such institutions are rare these days as many modern
educational programs are run more as a business rather than as a purveyor
of humanitarian causes as well.
SAC despite their long history, has changed with the
times, being open to new ideas, while holding on to the traditional core
values and beliefs. Having always been well anchored to a strong emphasis on
spirituality, while being thoroughly secular in its approach to
students, SAC can better implement these twin goals than most others.
Q.
What are the disciplines that offer Masters Degree
programs…?
Complete scope of the disciplines being offered by the SAC’s MBA program is still being worked out. In addition to the traditional
disciplines of Human Resource Management, Marketing and Production
management, SAC seeks to specialize in programs that will be more conducive
to banks and insurance companies, including actuarial sciences, using their
strong applied mathematics program as well as special programs in
Entrepreneurship and Small Business management.
Q. Notable
differences between SAC and other business schools...
SAC will not be run strictly as a business. Rather it
will be a conduit for excellence in education with a profound appreciation
of the need for compassion. SAC has already proved that these two
priorities can indeed be complementary and it is their record that can
reassure potential supporters of the new business school of their commitment
to both.
SAC also plans to be highly transparent and open minded
to accept new ideas and community feedback, as it has evolved its methods,
even as it has held steadfast in their core beliefs of service to the local
community. The high level of loyalty, gratitude and support to SAC from the
non-catholic alumni is a testimony to SAC’s stellar secular credentials.
Q.
Could you explain your plan on the IT University?
St. Aloysius College (SAC) had already started a MCA
(Master in Computer Applications) a few years back in their main campus and
have been graduating IT students for the past few years. As Mangalore is
turning out to be a growing provider of IT talent, with a large INFOSYS
campus already active, with plans for a major expansion along with other
companies like WIPRO and MPHASIS having started or planning to expand
activity in the Mangalore area, we expect the IT programs at SAC will grow
in demand and value. Three years back SAC started an MBA program again at
the old campus, working mostly from the IT building.
However, with the new campus planned at nearby Beeri,
coming on stream from 2009 onwards in 2 or 3 phases, the plan is to
restructure the programs of the main campus to move all MBA and MCA programs
to the new campus. In as much as IT is a big part of any Business program
these days, the combination of MBA and MCA on one campus is
certainly synergic and makes tactical sense.
Q.
Did you get help from other
Aloysians / volunteers for this project?
Yes, most certainly, a number of Aloysian alumni have
been involved in this project, even before I stepped forward. In fact, an organization
called APNA (Aloysian Partners of North America) was already registered in
2004 and had processed and obtained tax exempt status for American donors.
However, the APNA team had not developed a significant strategic plan, nor
had it expanded its presence and promotional effort beyond the NY/NJ area,
though it does have a few members in other parts of USA and a few in
Canada.
They were effective in raising modest amounts which had been all
forwarded to SAC to fund their various current programs, including the Aloysian Boys Home, where over 130 orphaned and abandoned children are
housed and educated up to high school. However, with the current large
project of a new campus to house the proposed MBA, the scope and the
magnitude of the project grew substantially and during the visit of Fr.
Denzil Lobo, the Director of the MBA/MCA programs in 2007, I came forward to
provide a bigger dimension to the planning and implementation of the project
and also to globalize this effort as Aloysians are represented in almost all
parts of the world, especially in the Middle East and Australia and of
course in India itself. The current effort is to unite all the various
programs together into one global effort in somewhat of a 'think
global...but act local' paradigm.
Q.
What is your target amount and what is the
expense do you expect to make this program a reality?
Our target goal for resources to be raised is $20
million, out of which we have earmarked about $15 M for the capital
expenditure of the new campus and $5 M, fro a modest start of the Endowment
Fund, to support scholarships and the current budgetary needs. As for
expenses for making this project, we do not have a budget yet, as most of
the expenses have been met either by the current volunteers at a personal
capacity or from the small resources of APNA. However, as we move forward
to mobilize and structure API to be a global organization, with chapters in
every continent and sections within the regional chapters, we will have to
allocate a certain budget for just the out of pocket expenses that are
expected, which are only inevitable to run any effort. That said, a huge
amount of time and even expenses will be met by individual members who are
committed to this noble mission.
Recent Articles by Author:
War Clouds; they hide
and seek in the Middle East
Please write your comment on the subject / presentation at our Binsar.com Blog
forum
-
By Rajesh
Kumar for CalicutNet.com
