Rashmi Aswani is the Head of the Department of the MBA programme at the Corporate Institute of Management. She holds a B.Com. degree in Economics from Sri Satya Sai College for Women and an MBA degree from the Oriental Institute of Management. Thereafter, she followed up with a PhD degree in management from Lakshmi Narain College of Technology. Dr Aswani has 11 years of experience in industry and academia.

Corporate Institute of Management

Being a Faculty of the MBA Department, what are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

My very first responsibility is to give a better academic education and to teach my students. Besides this, it is also my responsibility to groom the students. I want to be an upstanding manager who has the right technical and interpersonal skills. It is my duty to prepare the students for success for the rest of their lives.

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

I tend to establish a healthy relationship with the students by creating a friendly atmosphere. I try to be friends with them besides being a teacher. This will help them open themselves up to us, and they will have good relations with the faculty as well. I learned this from our director, who used to be my teacher when I was in college. They treated me the same way, and I thrived in university because of it. I try to replicate this with my students as well.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make them industry-oriented?

If the students are choosing their specialisation, they must be aware of it. They need to understand what they want to choose, the jobs they would be eligible for, the career graphs, etc. As their future depends on their decisions, I try to bring practical approaches by guiding them and conducting lectures that are industry oriented. This means providing them with the latest information as well as guiding them on the right career path.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain necessary skills?

We are providing them with the best education in our department as well as internships that help them gain various necessary skills. This helps them be competitive in the industry. Apart from this, we are educating the students with the proper standards, which help them adapt themselves.

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

According to the syllabus, we conduct our studies on a set schedule. Apart from this, we conduct PD classes and have lab sessions because everyone must be proficient in computers and properly groomed before going out for job interviews. This will also help put students on a level playing field. Students will not lag behind in terms of language or have their backgrounds hold them back.

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What are your views on the placements and higher education of the students from your department or How does your department prepare students for higher education?

We hold job placements at our college. We have recently placed 25 students in Jyothy Labs. We have also conducted mega placements on campus for the students, in which we have placed 40 students from the first semester. This was meant to give them interview experience.

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

First of all, believe in yourself. If we don't believe in ourselves, we won't be able to tackle any challenges in our lives. We will also end up losing opportunities. So as a teacher, I am helping them to tackle all the challenges as well as making them capable of tackling any hurdles in their lives.

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

We have cultural programmes as well as industrial visits for students. We have recently conducted an industrial visit to Parle-G industries. All these activities help the students learn about which skills to pick up as well as help them remain active throughout the academic year.

When you came to college, what was your vision and how are you trying to achieve the same? 

My vision when I first joined was to enlighten the students as well as increase the quality of education in my department. Apart from this, I also wanted to improve my skills and knowledge in order to be a better educator. I can say that I have managed to achieve this vision to a certain extent, but a lot remains to be done.

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

I want to tell the students to believe in themselves. Try to find out about your interests and passions. Only when you are doing what you love will you not burn out and have long-term sustainable careers. By following those paths, you can do anything in your life.