Whenever it’s time for the Grand Alumni Meet (GAM), one finds unmistakable regalia in the air around the campus. So 13 August 2017 was no different. With each year, the number of attendees has been significantly increasing. From the alumni of the Founding Class to the latest graduates, GAM makes the Sanquelim campus go younger by years.
The 2017 edition was special for many reasons. The annual meet did not only witness familiar faces sharing ideas, memories, and hearty laughter, but also celebrated the last 24 years’ successful operations of the school. The event also witnessed Dr. Ajit Parulekar, Director, Goa Institute of Management reveal the school’s upcoming plan to launch a new course – PGDM in Big Data Analytics.
GAM 2017 started with the Annual General Body Meeting of the alumni. It was the first order of business, which was attended by all alumni members from different parts of the country. The general body meet has been an invaluable resource for sharing updates on various initiatives at GIM and discussing new ideas – with those who have been there, done that – for the coming year.
In the Director’s Address, Dr. Parulekar shared highlights of the progress GIM has been making. Citing recent trends, he said, “I am really happy to announce that we have a substantial 30% jump in applications this year. The percentage acceptance of offers during admissions has also gone up from 70% to 85%.” Speaking about new initiatives, he continued, “To augment our program offering we are launching PGDM in Big Data Analytics under the leadership of Dr. Anand Teltumbde, for which we will start with an intake of 60 students.” Dr. Parulekar also shared a piece of news that got everyone excited. GIM has been chosen by NITI Aayog for setting up the Atal Incubation Centre on its campus. This is particularly heartening for GIM since NITI Aayog has selected less than 20 institutes from among 3048 applications.
Father Romuald’s short but inspiring speech on his vision about the changing role of alumni and how that will contribute towards a brighter future for GIM proved inspiring for everyone.
The eagerly anticipated ‘Distinguished Alumni Award’ was also announced. The award was presented to Mr. Gagan Banga, VC & MD, Indiabulls Housing Finance, from the 1998 batch of GIM. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Banga reminisced about his GIM days and his goals, aspirations, and journey to success where he finds himself today.
An institution’s alumni play a key role in mentorship and this is taken very seriously at GIM. The gathered alumni spread themselves across five classrooms, one each for the four sections of PGDM course and one for the HCM course for ‘Buddy Talk’. This is a particularly useful initiative by GIM, which fosters Student–Alumni interaction and helps current batch students benefit from alumni industry insights.
In parallel, ‘Opportunity Mapping’ – an incubatory/mentoring session by alumni for the benefit of budding entrepreneurs in the current batch – was also conducted. The students presented their ideas in front of a panel which weighed the pros and cons of the business models and helped to polish them into better and more effective plans.
The evening wrapped up with a stand-up comedy by a PGP1 student, Osama Kamran, and musical performances by GIM’s very own musical band, Midnight Jam. As with all good things, even this day had to come to an end. GAM ended on a note of everlasting bond between the alumni and the current students. The alumni headed back having inspired many and the students retired to their routine, waiting for the day when they will return to GIM as alumni and mentor others.
source by www.gim.ac.in
