XIMB plans second campus

Frustrated over lack of government initiative to allot it land in and around the city, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), one of the premier B-schools in the country, is exploring the possibility of setting up its proposed second campus in neighbouring states of Orissa.

Confirming the development, PT Joseph, director of XIMB said, “We are in the initial stage of negotiations with senior officials of some neighbouring states of Orissa for our proposed second campus. The institute is open to set up its second campus in any of these neighbouring states if they extend support to us in allotment of land.”

However, Joseph refused to divulge the names of the neighbouring states that are being approached by the management institute for building its second campus.

XIMB had sought 60 acres of land from the Orissa government in Bhubaneswar for developing its second campus but the B-school’s plans was marred by inordinate delay on the part of the state government in allotment of land.

“We have already taken up the issue of allotment of land with the state chief minister, industries secretary and other relevant officials. However, we are yet to receive any communication from the state government on allotment of land”, Joseph clarified.

The institute was open to set up its second campus in alternative locations of the state like Cuttack and Khurda if land was unavailable in the city.

Meanwhile, it had also started scouting for private land in Cuttack and Khurda apart from within the city owing to delay in allotment of land by the state government and the B-school was aiming to take possession of the land by the end of this year.

The institute aimed to make its second campus operational by 2012 to mark the 25th year of formation of XIMB.

In another development, XIMB is set to roll out the part-time doctoral programme in management in its existing campus from the next academic session.

This programme is being designed for those work executives who cannot pursue full-time doctoral course in management.

“The different modalities for the proposed part-time doctoral programme like course content, duration and intake are yet to be decided and they are scheduled to be finalised by the end of this year”, Joseph informed.

At present, XIMB offers Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) with an intake of 15 participants every year.

FPM draws upon national and global experience in doctoral-level education in management as well as other change-oriented disciplines and it is oriented towards developing the requisite competencies relevant to management research, education and service.

XIMB had recently entered into a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the US-based Eastern Michigan University for offering dual degree programmes to its students.

According to the MoU, the students of XIMB will spend two semesters at the Eastern Michigan University and they will be awarded certificates in post graduate programmes like MS degree in Information Systems and MS in Organisational Behaviour apart from the conventional MBA course.

XIMB is awaiting the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for offering the dual degree programmes to its students.

With an annual intake of over 1,000 students, XIMB currently has tie-ups with ten overseas B-schools in Germany, France and Spain.