Dr. V. V. Nageswara Rao is the Founder Director of Aditya Institute of Technology and Management. He holds a B.E. and an M.E. degree from Andhra University. His 35 plus years of experience started out by working as a Professor and HOD at K.L.U. University of Engineering. Thereafter, he has been working as Principal and Director of AITAM.

Dr. Rao regularly publishes papers in his area of research in renowned national and international journals. Over the last five years, he has published three journal publications, and five presentations at conferences and attended/organized 25 team training programs.

Aditya Institute of Technology and Management

You have held key positions at Aditya Institute of Technology and Management throughout your professional career. What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

I find satisfaction in dealing with the younger generation, who are the future of our country. I have been connected with the students for more than 36 years. I have had other opportunities, but I find a lot of satisfaction, particularly in contributing towards establishing the careers of young minds. I enjoy being connected with them, as it helps me stay up to date with the latest trends in education.

Being the Director of Aditya Institute of Technology and Management, what is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership styles?

I want to be honest and open with the students and faculty. There should not be any other second thoughts with respect to students, who also need to be honest with us. Whatever we expect from the students, we also have to show and do the same thing. Unless we are honest, we can't expect them to be honest as well. Teachers should also be role models for the students. Doing so will ensure our attitude and our behaviour are received with respect by the students. I believe that we have to prove ourselves first before expecting the same from the students. For instance, if we are punctual to the college, sincere in our work and connect with the students, they will follow suit. I try to always be available to the students and have published my phone number on all our student ID cards. At any point in time, they can approach me or a faculty member for their grievances. Our college also has a grievance portal where the student can submit their grievance without informing us of their name or roll number, after which we will try to solve it.

How do you strategize about the key programs and plans for marketing and administration of your college?

Taking student’s feedback is a key parameter for any educational institution. Getting their feedback will let us know where we can improve and what needs work. I feel that student and faculty feedback should be at the core of our marketing strategy. We use all media types to approach people, print, digital, and electronic. We also have an activity centre and a digital centre at the college that organise various outreach activities. The college publishes the achievements of teachers and students along with the latest developments. We also make use of social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook in our marketing plans so that we can reach more people.

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The education systems in India and other foreign countries are structured very differently. In your experience, what can an inbound student gain from studying here in your college?

The Western style of education is entirely different from the Indian style. In the Indian education system, there is more of spoon-feeding the students but in Western education, there is a lot of emphasis on projects and case studies. There are a lot of assignments as well. As the AICTE is reducing the number of credits, we need to give more time to the students for their projects and internships. The present curriculum is 160 credits, which leaves 12 to 18 hours for the students, particularly for online courses. Instead of classroom teaching, we are allowing them to take online certification courses. We are also providing around 12 to 25 weeks of internships to the students to take up during their second or third years. We also try to teach the students about societal problems and let them come up with solutions on their own based on their knowledge. This will prepare them to work in the industry and understand their own working style. Similarly, instead of allowing them to be exposed to only the local faculty, we also let them interact with international faculty through online courses. We give equal priority to placements, higher studies, innovations, incubations, and entrepreneurship.

How does the curriculum of Institute of Technology and Management ensure the best Practice of industry?

Being an autonomous college, we have the flexibility to change our curriculum. We can also change our subjects, unlike in the affiliation system, where all the colleges have to follow the university’s set curriculum and subjects. We are tying up with various industries like Hexaware, Wipro, and Virtua to create centres of excellence to provide domain-specific training and knowledge. The experts there will also suggest changes to be made to our syllabus and curriculum. We also have MOUs with industries and certain companies that hire our students. We also use these connections to introduce industry related courses that students can take as electives. Once the student takes up these subjects, they are able to face the industry better.

Any insights into how your university could be more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

In Andhra Pradesh, the government has a 100% or full fee reimbursement policy. Due to this policy, all people below the poverty line can get seats at any chosen college or university. Students who are also unable to pay for hostels and transportation are also given concessions. The college provides placement training and practise interview sessions to make sure these students do not lag behind others. We also provide books to them and have an updated library. We have students across all categories studying at our college who have gone on to become successful graduates through these initiatives.