New Director Takes New Direction At IMT Nagpur

Online, September 11, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Sweeping changes are in the works for Institute of Management Technology Nagpur.

Recently appointed Director Dr. Subhash Datta has launched plans under which "I intend to transform IMT Nagpur and take it to a different level."

Exposing students to more on-the-job training, revamping and expanding the summer internship program, making teaching more purposeful and putting more emphasis on entrepreneurship are all at the core of Dr. Datta's plans.

Passionate about IMT Nagpur creating entrepreneurs, one of the first things he established, after taking over as director in June, was a Centre for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Development.

"We are looking forward to join hands with the Ministry of Science and Technology - or even angel brokers - to provide the right kind of seed capital for what is recognized as the best business idea in a particular batch," said Dr. Datta.

The entrepreneurship centre was rapidly followed by the creation of Centres for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development.

Aiming to make teaching more purposeful, Dr. Datta has studied the situation in the United States and Britain and said: "My personal opinion is that we don't need a plethora of courses in B-schools. In the U.S. or UK they have far fewer courses. The real deal is how to make students work, how to excite them about their curriculum and make them understand the real value of education."

Dr. Datta said: "As a teacher, I'm a facilitator who provides the necessary stimulus for students to work. The bottom line for me is that my students have to be ready for industry. They might blossom into entrepreneurs, or might already have an idea for entrepreneurship, or might ultimately join their family-business three or four years down the line; but at the starting point, almost all of them are looking for a job to get some exposure. The entire curriculum at IMT Nagpur has to be aligned to this one fact."

Along with curriculum, he's aiming to reform the examination system.

"I believe IMT Nagpur is ready for an open-book examination system, where students are encouraged to research and solve problems rather than memorize content or state facts," said Dr. Datta. "Go to the library, go to the net, find out the necessary material, talk to other people and find a solution. So why should examinations continue being a closed book three-hour affair? This system does not test for brilliance; we only create and nurture mediocrity."

He also envisions a shift from the current philosophy of providing domain-centric business education, like an MBA in operations, human resources, finance or marketing.

"It's time we evolved to MBA in banking, or infrastructure, or automobiles, etc., so that a manager is prepared to address an industry rather than a generic domain," he said.

Dr. Datta strongly believes the two-month internship concept needs to be revised and tuned once again to respond to current needs and views internship programs as potent tools for industry-IMT Nagpur collaboration.

"Treat the internship project as four courses, or 12 credit points," he said. "The student will begin his summer internship project after the first year, on a relevant problem pertaining to quality improvement in a company. He will carry out his data collection, research and evaluation, and on the completion of two years, present his thesis. A representative of the company concerned should take the interview at the time of the presentation. This way the quality of internships will improve and industry will know that IMT Nagpur solves real problems."