"One major deficiency in the earlier years was that the students were accustomed to learning by rote and were not able to cope with the programs they had joined. Compounding to this predicament, the students were not efficient in their behavioral and communication skills and thus could not be placed in companies. We have to take confident steps to resolve these tribulations", says Dr. A.Kuppurajulu, Honorable Vice-Chairman, SITAMS, and Former Professor of Electrical Engineering and Dean of Academic Courses, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras who initiated new programs in consultation with the IITM professors.
Providing Students with Indispensable Knowledge
"The students joining various programs in our institute were facing two major snags", says Dr. A.Kuppurajulu.
In 2013, SITAMS acquired its Autonomous Status and altered its curriculum in a very significant way. "We realized and desired to shift our emphasis from teaching to a learning aspect which will benefit our students. We try to emphasize the quality of learning rather than just information content of the course that is being covered. Each and every subject has a self-study part, which enables the student to go beyond just the prescribed syllabus content", says Dr. A.Kuppurajulu.
At SITAMS, the faculty members ensure that they are facilitators in the learning process and not class teachers. The faculty is able to teach the subjects effectively as SITAMS is cock-sure that it has built the necessary infrastructure in order to allow the students to fully utilize and develop themselves completely. This has helped the students to understand the latest developments in various industries and enterprises.
Overall Development is considered Relevant
In order to enable the students to mould their behavior and improve their communication skills, the institute introduced programs such as personality development, English communication skills, reasoning and aptitude coaching. "In the beginning the programs received a lukewarm response from the students but later on when they realized the advantages and significant increase in their self-confidence while facing interviews, the response from them was overwhelming", says Dr. A.Kuppurajulu.
"The concepts covered in the personality development program are tips for interview, group discussion skills, study and time management, memory skills, brainstorming and creativity. Through the English Communication classes, the students are sculpted to effectively communicate their ideas and expressions in the interviews and group discussions. Students are taught on how to prepare their resumes. The institute purchased modern English language books along with audio CDs which enhance the language competency of the students", says Dr. S.E.V.
Subrahmanyam, Professor and Director, Department of Management Studies.
Based on the requirements of the industries, Training and Placement cell provides weekly a special and intensive training in Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and Technical Skills. The Cell also conducts online tests for non-verbal, reasoning and aptitude, GRE, GATE and CAT. Coaching for GATE and TOEFL is being imparted to the students who anticipate pursuing their higher studies abroad. With two rooms for group discussion, four rooms for interviews, and one conference room, the cell utilizes the existing infrastructure to lend a hand to the students in improving their standards and skills.
The institute organizes add-on courses, guest lectures, and workshops, project exhibitions, industrial visits and inter-departmental Technical Associations which allow the students to have an enhanced understanding about techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary in various fields. "Students are encouraged to attend conferences, symposia and seminars and present their technical papers and acquire the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context. Students are also provided with an opportunity to gain an exposure to the practical face of engineering, with the MoUs that the institution signed with various prominent organizations and industries", says Dr. S.E.V. Subrahmanyam.
Apart from the central library that has 45,335 books, each department has a separate library and students can access 2,436 on-line journals in the digital library. By utilizing e-class rooms, the Institute provides a unique opportunity to the students to make use of technology and thereby augment the current classroom experience.
"Many of our students are being placed in companies like Accenture, Broadcom India Research, Cognizant, Computer Sciences Corporation, WIPRO, Sankalp semi-conductors, HCL Comnet and others. In the past couple of years, the institute has been able to get most of its students placed after doing a complete introspection and pinpointing the reasons why the previous batches were not being placed appropriately", says Dr.N.R.M.Reddy, Principal .
Kareti Divya, a final year computer engineering student was one of the students that were placed in Broadcom India Research Private Ltd. On getting the offer letter, while acknowledging the support and sacrifices of her family, she said "I am able to get this amazing job due to the skills and knowledge rendered to me by my college". "Apart from providing me with technical skills, the college has propped up my self-confidence", says Kareti.
Besides improving the placement record, the institute looks forward to improve itself further and continue its vision to whittle the students to be well informed and spur them to develop the necessary skills to meet the challenges of the world.
.png){kind=logo}