'Course revision is important for students to diversify'

Q&A: Kuriakose Mamkoottam, Dean of Delhi's Faculty of Management Studies

Professor Kuriakose Mamkoottam recently took over as the dean of Delhi’s Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) from J K Mitra and has many plans for the premier management institute. He shared with Kirtika Suneja his vision for the faculty, students and his expectations from the industry. Edited excerpts:

As the new FMS dean, what are your priorities?
I have very recently taken over as the dean. In fact, it is a unique combination of headship and deanship. My priorities are to strengthen and push the brand FMS as its unique selling point (USP) has been its classrooms and interactions. Student contribution is unparalleled in this process. We also want to strengthen our ties with the corporate world. In fact, we are also in the process of revising our course.

 

What sort of course revision? And by when will the new course be implemented?
We are looking at processes and updating the syllabus. There will be some structural changes in the course and the revision will pertain to the number of electives and updated readings. Contemporary case studies are another important aspect. Hopefully, the course revision will be implemented by the next academic session. We plan to focus on key areas like corporate social responsibility and corporate governance besides incorporating the changes keeping in view the academic and the corporate world.

Do you plan to hire new faculty for the new courses?
Yes. We have 30 permanent faculty members and need around 30 more as we expand to accomodate the other backward classes (OBC) reservation quota. The new faculty members will be drawn from different areas to devise a new structure. The faculty should also teach students the basics of research.

You also mentioned strengthening of ties with the industry...
Yes. By strengthening ties with the corporate world, I mean there should be more involvement with the corporates. For instance, we can have senior corporate leaders having a greater campus interface.

What about tie-ups with foreign universities or institutes?
The formal tie-ups are routed through the university but we do have short programmes of student and faculty exchanges. Students go for short trips. Through all these, we want our teachers to lead and facilitate so that our students can also diversify besides specialising.