Vital Statistics

• WHAT IS IT? A business management school. • WHO’S THE BOSS? Father Beni Alphonse Ekka is the director. • HOW CHEAP IS IT? Depending on the course, the fee per semester varies from Rs 31,000 to Rs 33,500 for the general category students and Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,500 for the SC/ST students. • WHAT ABOUT JOBS? The institute has a placement cell. It boasts of 100 per cent placement in some branches like rural development. • WHERE IS IT? Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi, Jharkhand Phone: 0651- 2315482 Website: www.xiss.ac.in

What started 51 years ago as a ?Centre of Social Service? founded by the Society of Jesus, has today grown into a reputed business school ? Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS).

XISS is ranked 20th amongst Indian B-schools. Says Father Beni A. Ekka, director, ?We have been able to carve a niche for ourselves because of our quality of teaching. We have an interactive method of teaching wherein students are encouraged to participate and that is perhaps the reason behind our success.?

The institute believes in the all-round development of students rather than just imparting book knowledge. ?We work hard towards grooming these young minds,? stresses Ekka. ?Our students are prepared to face the corporate world. Hence, we have a communication lab where they participate in mock interviews,? he adds.

Star course

The XISS offers two-year postgraduate diploma courses in personnel management, information management and rural development. The rural development course is one of the star courses at XISS. Till date, 1,621 students have graduated in rural development and in the last six years, 426 students, including 145 girls, were awarded the diploma.

Record placement

The placement record is improving with every passing year. In fact, the placement for the class of 2005 set an all-time record with 45 students getting placements. ?One of them was picked up by Whirlpool at a salary of Rs 8 lakh per annum,? informs Prof. Sajeet, faculty, personnel management.

The XISS rural development alumni are placed in over 500 organisations, both at the national and international levels, says Prof. K.K. Bhagat, faculty, rural management. Organisations like the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, CAPART, CINI and others recruit actively from XISS.

Says Ekka, ?The institute works with its alumni to ensure that its students do not lose out in the job market and a lot of effort is made to promote the student-industry interaction.?

Keeping pace

The institute updates its technical facilities annually to help its students keep pace with the changing market. For instance, from the session commencing in July, each student and each faculty member would have a laptop and the classrooms would be equipped with facilities like over-head projectors and LCDs.

Besides the regular courses, the institute also lays special emphasis on research and field projects in keeping with its ?social service? motto. It also reaches out to the neglected sections of the society like the agricultural workers through various projects meant for enhancing their income and employment potential.

They undertake projects in rural development and rural reconstruction, community forestry, etc. XISS also supports church-related development programmes for initiating social change.

To aid students in their study, it has a rich library with a collection of nearly 23,102 books on the different areas of management. It also boasts of a special collection on tribal studies. The library also has a special paper clipping section. It subscribes to 102 periodicals both from India and abroad and has accumulated around 2,150 volumes of hardbound journals.

Apart from frequent seminars and lectures, the students organise and participate in various extra-curricular activities including the annual fest that lends the campus a festive look. Their well-maintained canteen is the popular hangout joint for students.

Arun Kumar Thakur

OLD MEMORIES

Sunita Mehta, personnel manager, Central Coalfields Limited, recalls her XISS days

What I liked best about XISS was that every month we used to have seminars and lectures by eminent ex-students. It was informative listening to them recount their job experiences. The faculty was also very encouraging and supportive. We could approach any faculty member with our personal problems without any hesitation. I used to look forward to the lectures of Father Louis Francken who taught us social and rural development. I loved the way he could deliver lectures without consulting his notes even once.

We really enjoyed the rural camp when a group of us spent a fortnight in a village near Mandar. The evenings were spent in the village feasting on marwa ki roti. The girls were put up in the outhouse of a local church where we slept on hay spread on the floor. Those were memorable times.

As told to Arun Kumar Thakur