IIM-C mulls setting up another campus

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), the oldest IIM in the country, is considering setting up another campus.

The institute, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year, has received proposals from various state governments for setting up campus.

Sougata Ray, dean, IIM-C, told Business Standard that the authorities had, however, not decided if the campus would be an extension of the parent institution or a full-fledged campus.

IIM-C had been modelled on Massachussets Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and has academic collaborations with 48 institutes. They are working on getting a few more on board.

However, the institute, like other IIMs, is facing challenges of a faculty crunch. “We enjoy the liberty to appoint teachers but the supply pool is limited. We are in talks with the government and they may allow the older IIMs at Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Lucknow to pay their faculty liberally," said Ray.

The IIMs have been reeling under faculty shortage for quite some time and mentoring of newer IIMs by the older ones has not helped things either. Now, IIMC has a sanctioned faculty strength of 104 of which 86 posts have been filled. Over the past three years the institute has added about 20 faculties.

IIM-C will fully operationalise the OBC quota by 2011-2012 when the student strength in the institute will be 462 per batch. The Supreme Court had ordered that the OBC quota Bill was to be implemented in phases without disturbing the number of general quota students which was 232. Subsequently, there has been an effective increase of 54 per cent of seats.

“After the full implementation of the quota, our sanctioned strength will also go up. We are working on war footing to recruit more faculty members,” said Ray.

M G Parameswaran, IIM-C alumni and MD and CEO of Draftfcb Ulka Advertising said: “IIM-C will have to increase its intake of students, explore new ways of imparting management education and make sure that the research and academic focus is not diluted. The opening up of international schools in India will further increase the demand for faculty and it is critical that IIM-C through its programmes provide a better stream of new management scholars who can evolve into learned professors.”

As part of its Golden jubilee celebrations, IIM Calcutta, over the next two years, plans to hold international conferences and bring out several publications. IIM-Ahmedabad is another institute that has kicked off its 50 years of celebrations this year.