Herald Café: You
have a new mandate for GIM to make it one of the top ten institutes in India.
How do you plan to achieve this?
Dr C Joe Arun, SJ:
GIM is a beautiful campus and it stands above the rest in its perspective to
management education, but for it to be among the top ten in the country, a lot
has to be done in terms of academic rigour, discipline, research, placement and
international networking.
Firstly, my approach to education is such that it should
create competent leaders who can make a difference in the lives of people. So
it is important that education should map their competencies, find their
deficiencies and then help to build those competencies instead of mindlessly
acquiring skills.
Academic rigour is my focus. This refers to the way we
teach; the way we organise ourselves and the way the students learn in a
process that is termed as ‘learning-teaching evaluation’. If one wants to
achieve something, absolute dedication to the task at hand is vital. Education
should facilitate this environment with the best faculty and best atmosphere
for learning. To create this atmosphere, I am living on the campus and personally
interacting with the students. I want to be an accompanying leader to enable
them to form themselves.
My personal
project is to make GIM a repository of knowledge for and about Goa. When an investor intends to start a
business in Goa, the first place he should visit is GIM. To this end I have
developed the ‘Make in Goa’ project where each professor must do a research on
different aspects of Goa – marketing, environment, traffic, garbage to name a
few. To achieve this I want support from the CII, other industries and the Goa
government to share resources. GIM’s
‘GiveGoa’ project is already one such unique initiative.
HC: what
about developing a business culture in Goa?
Dr A: We
need to take a cue from the Jesuit ideal ‘magis’. Never, be content with what
you have, always strive to be better. This is not in financial terms, but
having the ambition to develop to one’s full potential. The quality of life
lies in the values we live.
In Goa, people have a
very relaxed and rhythmic way of life. I envy the way people live so
beautifully, content with what they have. But it is important, particularly for
the young, to develop their potential and be the best that they can be.
HC: How
do you plan to draw more Goan students to GIM?
Dr A: Unfortunately
Goan students look at GIM differently. They would rather go elsewhere. I want
Goan students to aspire to come to GIM and I want to invite their parents to
direct them. Similarly, we will be open to the idea of having more Goan
students. Make yourself capable, I say to them. It’s in Goa; take advantage of
it. When I interview students, the most important criteria for me is ‘what do you
want to do in life?’ Marks are only an entry point. I want people who want to
become employers and not employees. That intent is important.
