Dr. Hrishikesh Soman has a very rich experience in the field of academics for 38 years and he has been working as the Principal of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce for the last 17 years. Under his leadership, the college got 'Autonomous' status and recognition as 'College with Potential for Excellence'. He has introduced many innovative and student centric programmes such as integration of professional qualifications like ACCA, CIMA, Business Analytics into B.Com. programme. The Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce is the first college to introduce Liberal Arts in India way back in 2006 and Dr. Soman has played a very important role in that process.

Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce

Being the Principal of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce what is your leadership philosophy? How would you describe your leadership style?

We got an open-door policy, we have got delegation, we have got decision making process and delegation of authority and responsibility. We just look into the larger good that is the welfare of the student. As far as my leadership style is concerned, I have my ideas which I convey to my colleagues and bring them on board.

The NEP encourages a shift from rote learning to experiential and competency-based education. How would you facilitate this shift within the college, and what strategies would you employ to ensure effective implementation?

Since 2012, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce have become an Autonomous college. And has introduced many new ideas and many of them have coincidentally got reflected in NEP document as well and therefore implementation of NEP has not become any burdensome. We introduced innovation in teaching methodology and evaluation pattern. As a result implementation of NEP did not feeling challenging.

Being the Principal of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce how do you address the job placement and career guidance needs of Arts and Commerce students, and what support services are available to help them succeed in their careers?

We have got our own placement cell which is looking after the placements and all companies to the campus are multinational companies and they offer job having package anywhere between Six lakhs to Twenty lakhs packages are being offered. Then we also have our skill development center where people learn skills which are related to commerce and economics. We have an entrepreneurship development cell where people are being offered handholding to start their own business. We have got a Campus Entrepreneur Program where the mentors are there who help the students to start their own business. So, we are helping them out in building their own career

The NEP highlights the need for continuous professional development of teachers and faculty members. How would you support and encourage faculty members to stay updated with the latest pedagogical approaches and incorporate them into their teaching practices?

Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce is an autonomous so we have been changing our syllabus on a very regular basis and from that perspective teachers having been naturally updating knowledge and their professional skills. Our students, enrolled in professional or regular courses are also demanding and therefore teacher make sure that they upgraded their knowledge and skills set on regular basis.

The NEP envisions a flexible and learner-centric education system. How would you personalize and cater to the individual learning needs of students within the college?

Even before NEP was introduced, we had tried to introduce flexibility in our program structure when we integrate professional qualification like ACCA, CIMA, BA. We have also integrated liberal arts courses into B.Com which is an indication of flexibility to the core. The very purpose of integrating all these professional or liberal arts courses is to offer comparative advantage to our students. We have always been offering students centric and need based programs.

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students who would like to make a career in Arts and Commerce?

I have always been saying that if you want to make a career in the non-science stream, it is quite possible you can build an excellent career in even in non-science field. Ultimately, it's up to the student and his/her caliber, inclination, passion, etc. to have excellent career. Qualification are helpful to a certain extent but one needs to develop practical skills such as communication skills, negotiation skills to make career more sustainable. 

The NEP encourages collaboration between higher education institutions and industry stakeholders. How would you foster partnerships and collaborations with industries and organizations to enhance students' employability and bridge the gap between academia and the real world? 

We have collaboration with foreign universities from last more than 10 years so it is not new things for us. We have partnerships with Universities from Indonesia, Europe we have partnerships with Universities from France and Germany, then also with Universities from USA. Within India also we are having collaborative arrangement for Internship purpose, placement and for some CSR activities with some industries. Plus, placement related, we are getting so many big companies. So, students are ultimately the beneficiary.

How do you envision implementing the NEP's vision of holistic and multidisciplinary education in Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce?

We are all geared up to implement NEP in two senses, both in later and in spirit. We are all geared up as well as we are all interested, and we are confident that we will be able to carry out the NEP in two senses, both in later and in spirit which will ultimately help students of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce.

The NEP emphasizes the importance of promoting critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills among students. How would you integrate these aspects into the curriculum and teaching methodologies of the college?

Emphasis on problem solving creative and critical thinking. We had initiated our liberal arts in 2006, well before we became an Autonomous College. As a result, we have already included these topics in our curriculum and we have full faith that we will proceed with all these activities further also.

Can you share success stories of your college's alumni and how they have excelled in their careers or contributed to the business world?

There are number of Alumni from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce who have been doing very well, who have been earning good and they all are well placed, some of them have got their own businesses, some of them have gone abroad. Some of the Alumni are in Indian film whereas some are theater actor. We also have Alumni working at multinational companies and some of Alumni have also become Deputy General Manager, Vice President at companies.