Looking Through a Rose Tinted Glass: The Power of Iims

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WHAT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING AT NEW IIMS?

Although the IIMS called about 10,000 applicants for their Written Aptitude Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI), they ended up taking only 300 candidates out of the planned 800 candidates. IIM Nagpur (55), IIM Amritsar (46) and IIM Gaya (30) have got the least admissions.

Temporary campuses and visiting faculty (only) are some of the major reasons for such low numbers. All the new IIMS are conducting their classes from temporary campuses. While 3 of them (Gaya, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam) have been allocated land for their permanent campuses, it is still undecided for the other three (Sirmaur, Amritsar and Sambalpur).

Despite these initial hiccups the students at the IIMS seem optimistic about the performance of the college. Taking an example of whom, Palak, An MBA aspirant who left Fore business school for IIM Rothak considering it to be one of the best institutes among the ones which were being offered to her. Other B- schools were also decent and well established. But the new IIMS were being mentored by the old established IIMS and had its brand value, which is probably why students are attracted to them.

She talks about the faculty members and how they are highly motivated and encourage them. The campus presently is located at MDU which is one of the best universities of the state.IIM Rothak's own campus will be ready by September.

Palak is quite optimistic about her college's future and its potential to provide decent placements to the students. She also recommends IIM, Rothak to other aspirants.

MENTORS OF NEW IIMS

IIM SAMBALPUR BEING MENTORED BY IIM INDORE

IIM Indore (IIMI) will mentor all activities at IIM Sambalpur till it moves to its permanent campus.

Recruiting full-time faculty takes time. During the mentorship period and while IIM Sambalpur’s own faculty are recruited, faculty members from IIMI (IIMI Faculty profile) will be delivering courses at IIM Sambalpur. This may include a few visiting faculty selected by IIMI to meet their standards. The overall design, quality and delivery of PGP will be up to the expected standards and with direct involvement of IIMI.

It is important to assess the rigour and quality of inputs received during the 2 years of stay in PGP. Although IIM Sambalpur is new, its initial operations are being handled by IIMI, which has nearly two decades of imparting some of the best programmes in management education. In course of time, IIM Sambalpur will undoubtedly evolve its own distinct brand. It should also be borne in mind that although the first job can be greatly influenced by the brand name, subsequent career growth is strongly a function of the quality of training and learning received during the two years of PGP. IIM Sambalpur would start off strong on both parameters.

IIM Sambalpur will start its first academic session from September 23, 2015. The classes will be held in the temporary campus of IIM Sambalpur located in the premises of Silicon Institute of Technology, Sambalpur.

Six new IIM's may not compare to existing seven. But they are IIM's none the less. They will innovate and bring in something new to the way management education is dealt with in our country.

The site selection for IIM has become a contentious issue for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as people from several parts of the state, especially those in western Odisha, have been vocal about establishment of the premier business school in their respective region after the Central team zeroed in on Bhubaneswar to start the campus of IIM as it was found to be most suitable according to the guidelines for site selection. Anticipating severe protest ahead of municipal polls in key western Odisha cities, the state government later requested the MHRD to also consider Sambalpur as another option for establishing Odisha campus of IIM following HRD minister Smriti Irani's letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seeking opinion for establishment of the IIM in western Odisha. In his reply, Patnaik had said that his government would strongly recommend Sambalpur as the site for IIM if the Centre was ready to relax its guidelines.

Source said against the 60 seats, only 12 students have taken admission in the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP).

IIM professors have to shuttle between Indore and Sambalpur as IIM-Indore is a mentor

Institute for IIM-S. Reportedly, many professors are reluctant to come to Sambalpur due to poor connectivity, due to which classes couldn't start from September. They had to reschedule for September 23.

The central government has agreed to the proposal to set up the IIM in Sambalpur which will go a long way in promoting excellent education institutions in western Odisha.

EXHIBIT 1

New IIM

Mentoring IIM

IIM Nagpur

IIM Ahmedabad

IIM Sirmaur

IIM Lucknow

IIM Sambalpur

IIM Indore

IIM Bodh Gaya

IIM Calcutta

IIM Amritsar

IIM Kozhikode

IIM Visakhapatnam

IIM Bangalore

Now with all the facts cleared the question still remains unclear on whether the new IIMs should be preferred over other B-Schools. Whats your take on it?