Download Institutional Distinctiveness pdf

Institutional Distinctiveness

Tirpude Institute of Management Education has many areas of priority and thrust such as educational excellence, imparting skill-based education to students, making them employable, community services, etc. But the one which is identified as institutional distinctiveness is derived from the vision statement of the institute and which aligns with the ideology of Indian value-based education system. Vision of Tirpude Institute of Management Education is “We will be a unique educational institute with strong regional roots, being a nationally influential education centre imbibing moral and cultural values.” Distinctive area of performance for the institute is identified as “Imbibing moral and cultural values based on Indian value system”. Tirpude Institute of Management Education (TIME) focuses on holistic as well as heuristic development of the students. TIME believes that the best way to teach a student holistically is by offering him strong mentorship. Teachers are the best mentors for students. Due to the best practice of Activity Based Learning, students spend maximum time with teachers, learn from the interactions with teachers, and observe their behavioural traits and other skills apart from learning from books. In every activity, program, event or initiative diverse team of students is formed by Institute which comprises of combination of girls and boys, combination of students from different undergraduate and postgraduate programs (BBA, BCCA and MBA), combination of students from urban and rural background, combination of students from different castes, creeds and religions and combination of students from different economic backgrounds. They work as a team naturally, going through forming, storming, norming, and performing stages of team cohesion. While performing various tasks as a team, they learn to interact with each other, cope up with each other and start mutually respecting their differences. They start respecting their differences of gender, caste, creed, religion, culture, language and financial status. This helps in developing strong communal harmony and cultural acceptance which results in becoming good and responsible citizens of tomorrow. Through team work they learn to sensitize and adjust with other students who belong to diverse backgrounds. Interaction of faculty members with students is like Indian ancient Gurukul system where students interact with a teacher, work with a teacher, learn from his/her actions and personality. Teachers share insights with students which is not possible in the conventional classroom teaching to that extent. Teachers and students work together in planning and executing various events. They work together in various committees and clubs. There are various clubs such as Reader’s Club, Music Club, Technical Club, etc and a social work group called Tirpude’s Outreach Program (TOP). One of the examples of working together can be the Placement Committee where in committee members work with teachers involved in training & placement work. Students and teachers jointly develop the strategies and execute various placement drives together. Similarly in Reader’s Club, students in Organizing Committee work with in-charge teachers in conducting meetings and carrying out various events such as Book Review event or Open Mike event. Students who work in organizing committee of an event such as Crescendo, Tirpude’s Premier League, MindQuest, Erudition, Blast, MADness, TiRE, etc work closely with in charge faculties in the same way. Teachers impart values apart from skills required to carry out the events. Institute observes various days of national importance such as Republic Day, Maharashtra Day, International Women’s day, Independence day, Gandhi Jayanti and Constitution day. These days are celebrated/ observed inside or outside class rooms by way of talks, presentation of facts, student discussions, short films, guest lectures, visit to certain places/localities to carry out some activity, etc. On these days students learn various values such as patriotism, gender sensitivity, awareness about the equality offered to the citizens of India by Indian Constitution, etc. Some students are also involved in NSS schemes and Tirpude’s Outreach Program (TOP). Under TOP, students carry out various social activities such as distributing woolens to the homeless and beggars, providing food and celebrating festivals with children in orphanage, visiting old age homes and helping old people, working with NGOs and Organizations which work for national interest such as Traffic Rewards, an organization promoting traffic discipline among commuters. In 2022, more than 100 students participated in an extension service activity, ‘Manak Mitra’ conducted by Bureau of Indian Standards, a Central Government Organization. Students went to households and promoted importance of ISI standards / ISI mark on various home equipment, helmets, etc to the residents. “Imbibing moral and cultural values based on Indian value system” is institutionalized and practiced through such activities throughout the year. Institute continuously strives to focus on this distinctive area.

Best Practices

Institute keeps on innovating and experimenting various dimensions of education and enhancement in institutional operations. Since year 2015-16, institute has identified two best practices and is focusing on those since then. These two best practices are described below:

Best Practice 1

  1. Title of the Practice – Activity Based Learning
  2. Objectives of the Practice
    1. To enhance student’s learning experiences through experimental and skill-based activities.
    2. To help students improve their personality and confidence levels through practical exposure and ability to apply learnt theoretical skills.
    3. To enable students to work in and manage teams, handle contingencies, enhance problem solving skills and improve interpersonal communications.
    4. To strengthen student -teacher bond, improve group activity, self-confidence, creativity and discipline.
    5. To imbibe Indian Values in students through direct mentoring, enhancing gender sensitivity and strengthening social, cultural, and religious harmony among them.
  3. The Context

It was observed that students can adopt the learned theories and concepts in a better way and are also learning various life skills, soft and hard skills and becoming smarter and confident when they are engaged in activities. Activities were found to overcome the limitations of classroom teaching and provide practical exposure to the students. Activities keep students engaged, active and improve class attendance. Major Events which are incorporated are Crescendo , Tirpude’s Premier League TPL, Tirpude’s Industrial Readiness Exercise TiRE, MindQuest and Erudition to name a few.

  1. The Practice

Each event is thoughtfully incorporated and scheduled in the academic calendar. Faculty members work as mentors. They provide equal opportunity to all students and select Organizing committee. Organizing Committee (OC) comprises of students of both genders, various religious and cultural backgrounds. OC chalks plans the event and makes a list of tasks to be carried out. Tasks may consist of promotion of events, designing brochures, Scheduling the event, appointing judges, documentation, report preparation and managing the event. Mentor faculties guide OC as and when needed.

  1. Evidence of Success

Students become confident, smart, better skilled, responsible citizens, employable and work centred. They become better decision makers and learn analytical thinking. They can communicate more effectively and develop interpersonal skills. Students passing out from the institute join or start a business, get placed in an organization or seek higher studies. They remain connected with institute creating a strong alumni base.

  1. Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Major problems encountered were: a) Lack of time due to curricular pressures, semester examinations and b) Challenges faced during Covid 19 Pandemic from2020 to 2022. Many events were conduced online during this period.

Resources required were funds for conducting the events, classrooms/ venues for practice and conduct of events, enhanced ICT tools, s experts in various fields, corporate professionals, alumni, etc.

Best Practice 2

  1. Title of the Practice – Regular Alumni – Institute Interface
  2. Objectives of the Practice
    1. To utilize the knowledge and experience of alumni and bridge the gap between curriculum and industry expectations.
    2. To provide placement and internship opportunities to the alumni on a regular basis and seeking job opportunities from their end for the existing batch of students
    3. To create opportunities and provide platforms for the existing students to interact with and gain insights from the alumni on a regular basis.
    4. To create a framework of operations that will be beneficial to both the parties (Alumni and the institute) and will cater to satisfy mutual interests.
  3. The Context

Institute has a rich alumni base. Institute remains in constant touch with alumni and in turn alumni also remain connected with the institute. Due to this bond between Institute and Alumni, both are getting mutually benefited in various ways. After observing the strength of this interface, it was identified as a best practice of the institute.

  1. The Practice

In order to institutionalize this practice, a thoughtful programme is chalked down as below:

  1. An Alumni Association named TROY (Tirpude’s Reign Of Youth) was formed and legally registered on 16/12/2017
  2. An Alumni meet is arranged every year by the institute on 14th August. Alumni from outside Nagpur also attend the Meet. Reports of Alumni meets are uploaded on institute’s website.
  3. Alumni are engaged in various activities such as Examiners/ judges in various, as guest speakers to address current batch of students, interviews or facilitators in Mock PI / GD sessions for enhancing employability of current batches.
  4. Placement opportunities shared with the alumni for senior level positions.
  5. Institute remains in touch with alumni to find out if they can offer internships/ placement opportunities to current batch students in their organizations.
  6. Institute receives corporate inputs from alumni which help the institute in modifying the teaching pedagogies and curriculum. As the institute has representation on Board of Studies and Academic Council of the affiliating university, inputs are also provided to the University for Enhancement of syllabus.
  1. Evidence of Success

Students get internships and placement opportunities in various organizations through alumni. Alumni approach the institute for any internship or placement vacancies. Current batch students gain lot of insights regarding industry from the alumni, which helps them in fine tuning their skill sets and understanding the vagaries of the corporate world. Institute has been helping alumni in getting better career opportunities. Alumni take pride in promoting and reinforcing the Institute’s brand. Alumni members in IQAC have been instrumental in suggesting many innovative ideas.

  1. Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Due to Covid19 Pandemic, institute could not organize Alumni meet offline in years 2020 and 2021. Meets were organized online. From 2022, Alumni meet is conducted offline again. Many alumni are not able to connect with the institute due to their remote work locations and highly busy work schedule. It requires extra efforts to remain connected with alumni and institute must put deliberate efforts and develop creative ways to connect with Alumni.

Resources required for this best practice to be implemented are 1. Monetary resources to arrange meets, 2. Dedicated faculty members to operate Alumni Association 3. Time and availability of both, faculties as well as alumni