Shalini Gill is an Assistant Professor at Poddar Group of Institutions. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Biology from Rajasthan University MCA from Banasthali Vidyapith, an M.Phil in Computer Science and an M.Tech. in Information Technology. Moreover, she is also pursuing her PhD degree. Since 2005, Mrs. Shalini has been working at various institutes like MotiLal College, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, NIMS University, and S.S.G. Pareek PG College as Lecturer, Mentor, and Assistant Professor. Mrs. Gill has published five papers in international and nationally reputed journals. She has also attended and participated in 20 faculty development programmes, webinars, workshops and conferences.

a

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

To work as an IT faculty, the responsibilities and roles towards students are numerous. I work to develop teaching and learning methodologies to educate students about the topics better. I tailor my teaching to teach problem-solving skills through case studies and small group discussions. We also implement the same strategy in the laboratory.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty?

We have implemented dedicated strategies to maintain healthy relationships with students and teachers. We operate by the principle of "teacher friend" with the students, where we demonstrate a personal interest in them. We help them in their adjustment process at the college. We serve as a central point of contact for obtaining information that can be used to help the students. For fellow faculty, trusting each other is important, as it can help each other improve our efficiency.

What is your philosophy of leadership and describe your leadership style?

My philosophy of leadership is to work with everyone in a collaborative manner to reach goals. We work with the faculty members, the department heads and the administration to integrate career planning into the academic curricula. One example of this is when we coordinate to introduce project work, summer training, and internship programs to help students understand industry culture better.

How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated to make it befitting for the students?

We regularly update our curriculum to reflect industry changes and trends. In order to do so, we appoint a review committee periodically with experts and professionals from the industry and alumni members. They submit their feedback and recommendations on what to include and remove from the curriculum. They also do a full review of the college's academic curriculum.

How do you build a positive school culture or climate?

I go to college every day thinking that today I will help my children enhance their skills. My efforts are towards preparing them for the outgoing world and industry demands. To achieve this, I pay more personal attention to each student and make them more technically sound. I make sure to be there for my students, listen to their queries and worries and guide them to the best of my ability.

Check Poddar Group of Institutions Courses & Fees

How do you prepare your student to cope up with the competition being so high in the outside world? 

Competition is severe and we try our best to prepare our students for it by giving them the best knowledge and skills. Informing the HODs within a reasonable timeframe about students' progress and how effectively they are learning is a priority for us. The college keeps a secure record of each student's results and attends meetings with the course instructors and course coordinators to discuss issues affecting learning and other classroom issues. With the help of these initiatives, we improve our students’ capabilities for competition in the outside world.

Do you have any extracurricular activities/ programs to enhance the skills of the students or expose them to real world challenges?

We have extracurricular activities to engage our students outside of the classroom. We arrange group discussions and quizzes to test our students. There are regular practical sessions, special classes on communication skills and performance development sessions to prepare our students for placements. Moreover, there are sports competitions and other college events where students take part in planning and managing.

What are the challenges you faced/ are facing to uplift the quality of education of your department? 

Being in the IT faculty, we come across students who do not have technical skills when they first join our college. We provide them with all the requisite basic training so that they can be on par with their classmates and feel comfortable with them. This is a daily challenge for us that we are actively working to remove. Moreover, we also provide grooming sessions for students to polish their interpersonal and communication skills.

What are the interventions and approaches you bring in apart from curriculum to train/teach the students?

To train and teach our students, we prepare a database of the top international and national companies, consisting of their addresses, details of operations, their expectations, their HR team and services that our students can meet. We assist students in developing their academic and career interests and understanding their short and long-term goals through individual counselling and group sessions. Our teachers also assist the students in developing and implementing successful job search strategies.

What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

I would advise students to be creative and innovative in their chosen fields. Analyse what you want to achieve in your career and set goals to achieve them. Look for means to gain the necessary skills and experience that the industry demands from them. Always keep learning to be competitive and to secure the best jobs.