IIT-Delhi to open MBA doors for students of all streams

 The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi is set to open its two-year management programmes for candidates coming from all the streams from 2015.

So far, only graduates in engineering and technology as well as masters in science and commerce/economics were eligible to seek admission to the MBA programmes of the institute’s department of management studies, which was ranked second after IIM-Bangalore in business management category in India by the prestigious Stanford University of US earlier this year.

“We will open our MBA programmes for all students (irrespective of their stream) from next year. This is being done in view of the demand in job market,” IIT-Delhi director R K Shevgaonkar told Deccan Herald.

The MBA programmes, being offered by the IIT-Delhi since 1997, are also undergoing a major change in its curriculum and pedagogy.

The institute’s department of management studies is finalising a new curriculum and pedagogy, based on inputs from industry, students and alumni to better align its mission with changing demands in the corporate world.

It is also studying the curricula of top business schools in India and abroad.

“The curriculum review is an endeavor towards narrowing the gap between academia and industry challenges. We will have more innovative ways of teaching,” head of the department Kanita T Bahl said.

“The new pedagogy will allow the students to identify their own strengths and limitations and to develop a plan for improving them to take on the challenges of the world,” she added.

Change in curriculum

With change in curriculum and pedagogy, the institute is also working to introduce additional criteria for admissions in order to get best students to its management classes.

The department of management studies so far admitted students on the basis of their score in the combined admission test (CAT), conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIMs), as well as performance in group discussion and interview.

From 2015, however, it will assess a student’s candidature for admission to its MBA programmes taking into consideration their entire academic background like performance in Class-X, Class XII as in graduation, besides their score in CAT and performance in group discussion as well as interview.

It will also look into a candidate’s extracurricular activities and professional experience before finalising his or her candidature for admission.

”The index is being worked out,” a professor of the department said.  The institute, which admitted about 60-65 students to its MBA programmes so far, also keen on filling entire 109-115 seats from 2015.

The IIT-Delhi currently offers three management programs – generic two-year full-time MBA, two-year full-time MBA with focus on telecommunication systems management and three-year part-time MBA program with focus on technology management.
 It also offers PhD degrees in management.