The Higher Education Review

Students starting their higher education journey at KG College of Arts and Science (KGCAS) located in at the foothills of the Western Ghats, Coimbatore, have much more to look forward to than just studies and fun. An excellent example to an Industry - Institute learning environment, KGCAS is a campus where learning takes place amidst the industry. Sponsored by KG Information Systems Private Limited, the college promotes the idea of “Earn while you learn” in the campus that houses more than 12 reputed companies belonging to IT, ITES, and Publishing viz., BOSCH, CTS and many more. Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Chairman and Managing Trustee of KGiSL Educational Institutions, who is also the mastermind behind this exceptional campus, says, “’Earn while you learn’ gives an opportunity for the students to learn new technologies, behavioural traits and most importantly, it helps them to adapt to the corporate world quickly. The employees working in these corporate companies serve as technical mentors to our students for learning technologies and for project guidance.”

KGCAS was started in the year 2005 with the intent to provide quality education at the undergraduate level and post-graduate level, focusing primarily on meeting the talent requirements of the domestic and global IT and IT-enabled service providers. “Delivering employable human resources is the key challenge that education is facing globally. Be it, institutions of higher learning, under-graduation or the skills training, industry-readiness of the student is what will determine the competitiveness of the student and the institution. At KGCAS, we have perfected this in the delivering “FIRST” Learning Model - a model that purports to deliver ‘Focused, Industry-ready, Smart, Talent,’ elaborates Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam. The institute has created a perfect rapport with industries, to achieve its objective of 100 percent placement by “Delivering FIRST (Focused, Innovative, Industry-Ready, Smart, Talent)” to the community. “I am proud and privileged as I graduated from such an institute which strives to make positive impact on individual’s life and change their generation’s destiny. I can positively say that KG College of Arts and Science has made me a better person,” says Rajagopal (B.C.A. - 2005 Batch), who is now working as an Informatica Etl Consultant at Accenture, Mumbai.

KGCAS strives for preparing and placing the students in well-reputed multinational companies and many of its alumni are working in companies like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, CTS and many more. “Our students are highly sought after by the

leading companies in India. We provide them with pre-placement training from the first year of their course of study. The training includes aptitude, soft skills, communication skills, personality development and mock interviews,” shares Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam. The Placement Cell of KGCAS operates effectively to ensure that the quality is achieved in terms of number of students placed in MNCs with highest possible salary packages. However, KGCAS is not only preparing its students to be job-ready from the day one, but also moulding them to become job providers who can offer employment opportunities for the young generation. “Since our college is located in IT campus, we get industrial experience during our learning process. Our college provides placement training from the first year, which shapes the career goals for us. It is useful for us to attend the drives during the final year,” says R. Manoj Kumar (B.Sc. CS - 2012 Batch), who is now working as an AI Developer at WIPRO Technologies, Bangalore.

"KGCAS strives for preparing and placing the students in well-reputed multinational companies and many of its alumni are working in companies like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, CTS and many more"

Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam says, “Our Entrepreneurship Cell is a very active community in the campus and conducts an Entrepreneur awareness camp sponsored by DST for three days every year. In that, we invite many eminent people and entrepreneurs from various industries to motivate the students.” The institute work vigorously with agencies like MHRD’s Institution Innovation Council (IIC), Center for Agri Business Training, Coimbatore Innovation & Business Incubator, Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology and WE - A women empower forum of TN Chamber Foundation, to train the students in product development, market identification and preparing and presenting the business proposals. Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam adds, “Two of the students are given space for start-up at STEP Campus, Coimbatore through TIE Coimbatore. At present, 4 percent of our students are taking up entrepreneurship and it will be increased to 10 percent in the near future.”

Where Tradition Meets Trends
Anbarasi R. was a student of 2013 Batch - B.Sc. Mathematics at KGCAS. She now works as Process Executive at Cognizant Technologies Solutions, Coimbatore. She says, “Our college is a place for you, if you have the thirst of knowledge. Besides that, this college gave me sweet memories, faithful friends and a sense of confidence to face the challenges and turbulence in life. Faculties here are highly qualified and have high teaching experiences. They guided us to take our ideas forward when we dealt with our projects.” Though KGCAS follows curriculum designed by Bharathiar University, the teaching faculties have taken many initiatives for effective delivery of the curriculum. “We follow not only the globally trusted teaching methodology like black board and lectures, but also the visual

presentations that grab the attention of each and every student in the classroom,” mentions Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam. In annex to the regular subject classes, the college also organizes momentous lectures by inviting veterans from various fields to share their knowledge with the pupil. “Seminars and workshops are conducted regularly for enriching the domain knowledge. We also sponsor for the higher studies and research publications of the faculty members,” claims Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam.

KGCAS offers on-duty and funds for attending Seminars, Workshops, Orientation Courses and Refresher Courses to enrich the knowledge of faculty members in their domains. In addition to that, the college organizes many programmes to enhance research culture and scientific temper among the students through the Creatives Ideas Club and Product Development Center. Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam explains, “The faculty’s whose proposal was called in for presentation submitted to funding agencies held in other states of India, are provided with flight travel and accommodation. We have also established MoUs with reputed research institutions.” During 2017 - 18, the institute has submitted over 41 research proposals.

“My first visit left me awestruck after looking at the infrastructure and maintenance of the college. It's difficult to sum up the memories and experience of three years in few lines. We were blessed with the best faculty members who guided us throughout,” says Gopinath (B.Com. (PA) (2012 - Batch), who is now working as a System Analyst at HCL, Bangalore. As a self-financed institution, KGCAS has witnessed an astonishing growth every year with excellent infrastructure facilities in its campus. The college is functioning in an environmental friendly way with ample space available for all classes, lab, library, conference hall, auditoriums and faculty rooms for effective teaching and learning. The management also instantly acts with full tempo for the enhancement of infrastructure as per the requirement. “We have many plans for the next academic session. Enhancing the number of research publications at International level, taking up more consultancy projects with industries, setting up a Business incubation Centre, applying to funding agencies for major and minor projects, signing MoUs with industries, research centers and foreign universities for students and faculty exchange are few of them,” concludes Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam.

Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Managing Trustee
Dr. Ashok Bakthavathsalam is the man behind KGiSL’s growth by playing a key role in both leadership and management of the company. As the Founder and Director of KG Information Systems Private Limited, he has been responsible for KGiSL's growth by playing a key role in both leadership and management of the company. He has been able to predict the industry trends much ahead, which resulted in the tremendous growth of IT and BPO services at KGiSL.