T. John College: Fostering A Caring And Creative Environment That Emphasizes On Overall Development Of Students

By Suresh. N, College Coordinator, Director of BHM Department
Suresh. N,College Coordinator, Director of BHM Department

Suresh. N

College Coordinator, Director of BHM Department

Qualitative and innovative teaching methodologies are the prime objectives adapted by degree and vocational colleges for creating a thirst for knowledge among the students. A premium college would thrive on providing a global perspective of knowledge gathering in each stream. This is essential for educating, training and molding the students into efficient professionals so that they can be flexible enough to provide service as per the industry requirements. When T. John College started in the year 1993 in Austin Town, Bengaluru, it clinched onto the same measures. Synchronizing the teaching-learning process with the changing education paradigm, presently T. John College has integrated value-added courses to its curriculum in addition to the ones prescribed by the Bangalore University.

T. John College started with a 3-year BHM (Hotel Management) degree course. Crossing new milestones each year, after two and a half decades, the college premises expanded to include new departments and blocks spread over an area of 20 acres of land. In between the years 2011 and 2019, T. John College has produced 31 University Rank Holders who are fulfilling the humanitarian needs in every possible way. Some are holding managerial positions and some have become business leaders and entrepreneurs.

"Initiatives like more skill-oriented training sessions for making students proficient industry performers have proved to be the way in bridging the gap between the harsh realities of the industry expectations and the classroom lectures. The students gain practical knowledge of various departments like food & beverage production and service of the hotel industry and front office and housekeeping from value-added classes. From study tours, they learn how the hospitality industry functions in different parts of the nation," says Suresh. N, College Coordinator, Director of BHM Department, T. John College. During the four years of study duration, students are given at most five hospitality projects which strengthen their core skills in entrepreneurship. They learn market feasibility and viabilities by carrying out market research and quality primary level surveys.

A Perfect Blend of Theoretical and Practical Learning
While the students of T. John College are exposed to every related field of hotel management in the early and mid-semester duration, they
become eligible to take specialization when they enter the 8th semester. The specialization contains major and minor courses. If a student opts for taking food and beverage production as the major specialization, it can include Food and Beverage Service as a minor specialization and vice versa. The same remains with Front Office and House Keeping too. Making the course period imbibed with enthralling activity hours, T. John College organizes inter-college events and festivals like international food fest every year in a beguiling manner.

"Accredited with NAAC-A grade, T. John College follows ISO standards and has been rated the 13th Best Private Professional Hotel Management College in India"

"In the BHM departmental fest ­ Lazeez, the students are in-charge and administrators of entire activities such as arranging sponsorships, conducting celebrities/stars interviews and inviting the VIPs from the hotels. The well-planned festival includes serving 80+ cuisines prepared by the students. These fests are responsible for making the students social and specialists in leadership roles," states Suresh. N.

Upon completion of the degree, T. John College ensures guaranteed placement to the students at national and international locations in various avenues like hotels, resorts, clubs, airlines, cruise lines, roadways, call centres, shopping malls, restaurants, travel houses, IT companies brand stores, air force, naval force, armed force, universities, hospitals, bake houses, theatres, abroad avenues, consultancies, bartending, industrial catering, canteens, teaching, entrepreneurship, banks, BPO, facility management and MNCs. Esteemed companies with which T. John College having both written and unwritten MoUs are The Taj, The Oberoi, Hilton, Marriot, IBIS/NOVOTEL, The Ottera Hotel, The Paul Bengaluru, Kumarakom Lake Resort Kerala, Coort Wilderness Resort and Forte Cochi. These names have been vital for industrial training, placements, guest lecture sessions and also faculty development programs.

Emphasizing on Making Students Industry Ready
The industrial visits organized by T. John College expose each student to the working norms of accommodation management, food and beverage management, marketing, HR, Finance, operation, customer service and logistics segments in the hotel management division. Another segment in which students are exclusively trained is Out Door Catering (ODC). They get the opportunity to experience real-time catering duties on event days and thereby learn professional skills under the respective hotel managers/supervisors. A
stupendous benefit of participating in these events is that students get endowed with financial assistance.

Success has been achieved by the students in their professional field because of the innovative measures taken by the college for teaching them. Every year the college intakes 120 students (largest in Bengaluru), who learn how to improvise and invent a new recipe for food and beverage production.

Accredited with NAAC-A grade, T. John College follows ISO standards and has been rated the 13th Best Private Professional Hotel Management College in India [Courtesy: OUTLOOK MAGAZINE - 2016]. The same year it was rated as the 27th Best Professional Hotel Management College [Private and Govt] in India. [Courtesy: THE WEEK - 2016] and in 2018 T. John College was rated as the 12th Best Private Professional Hotel Management College in India. [Courtesy: OUTLOOK MAGAZINE - 2018]. Students like Satakshi Gupta (3rd with 80.95 percent in 2013), Utsab Pandey (2nd with 81.85 percent in 2014), Aushmitha Bhandari (2nd with 83.62 percent in 2016), Sarita Mishra (3rd with 76.81 percent in 2017), Rakesh Joshi (1st with 84.61 percent) and Connell Anton Sandys (3rd with 83.74 percent in 2019) have secured the stated ranks in the Bangalore University rankings in the mentioned years.

There are massive scholarship schemes available at T. John College for granting admission to quality students from every social stature who wants to enter the Hospitality arena. The college's roadmap is well mapped for infusing ICT enabled academic processes. With these schemes, T. John College is on the verge of receiving autonomous status from the UGC.

Suresh. N, College Coordinator, Director of BHM Department
Suresh holds a B.Sc in Catering and Hotel Management from the Madras University and an M.Sc in Catering and Hotel Management from Annamalai University. He has got over 2 decades of experience working in the hospitality sector and has held reputed positions in various top colleges. He joined T. John College in 2007 as the HOD of BHM Department in 2007. His expertise and experience has been crucial in the rise of the department of Hotel Management of T. John College into the 12thbest private professional hotel management college in India.

Dr. Thomas P John, President
Dr. Thomas has progressively taken the college to heights of optimum success by providing state of the art infrastructure, facilities that truly match international standards. He is backed by a team of immensely talented pedagogues who laboriously work to achieve the goals
Top 10 Hotel Management Education Institutes - 2020