KSOM takes its ‘Mentorship Program’ very seriously and its Faculty plays a very critical role in making it a huge success. As a part of this mentorship program, every student is attached to a specific faculty member for a period of 2 years. This contributes significantly to the emotional and academic development of the student. As a result, student develops a special bond with the faculty, constantly exchanging ideas, steering his/her career in the right direction. This mentoring is made even more rigorous and value adding through the detailed mentee records maintained by the faculty. The latter constantly track student's attendance and performance, create monthly mentoring reports, with the overall mentoring success regularly monitored by the management.
All past KSOM students agree that teachers at the institution often go above and beyond than just teaching the syllabus. Instead, they are role models whose achievements in life and conduct on campus has a positive and lasting effect on the students. There are constant references to the energy and enthusiasm that faculty members create inside classrooms enhancing teaching methods and making them interactive and fun for everyone participating.
As explained above, faculty members are also mentors who guide students individually and steer them in the right career path. The interactions at KSOM between the professors and students are open-minded which leads to a comfortable exchange of ideas, enabling students to speak up and be part of the conversations that form the basis of the course.
The Numbers
KSOM consists of a 50 full-time faculty that adds a sense of stability for the students. While visiting faculty is also an integral aspect of higher learning and brings with it a unique set of skills and understandings, the bond between a teacher and student is often short-lived. Having full-time faculty means that students can expect to see their professors around campus for a longer duration making it easier to approach them and also learn from them outside of the classroom. There exists a more personal attachment that caters to the emotional needs of the students and a student-teacher bond that lasts a lifetime.
In an interview with the acting Dean of Yale School of Management, Anjani Jain emphasised that there is an omnipresent relationship between business education and real-life practice. At the centre of this is the faculty who through their contacts in the business world and by consulting are aware of its changing nature. The constant learning that takes place gets reflected in the curriculum and lectures. It is this kind of current teaching that makes KSOM a leader in management studies providing students with great insight and involvement in the business world they are likely to face upon graduating.
Just like diversity in the student body makes for an enriching experience, having a distinct faculty brings forth a vibrancy in the education that the institution has to offer. Over 40% of the faculty at KSOM are from IIMs and other notable intuitions of the country. Arriving from different parts of the country, they bring an abundance of knowledge, packed with both teaching excellence and industry know-how in their respective fields of interests.
KSOM is not just about acquiring the top faculty to teach at its campus from different walks in life. They pride in continuously promoting research and overall enhancement of the faculty members who want to further experiment in their areas of interest. Even though 90% of the faculty has industry experience and greater than 50% have PhDs, teachers are encouraged to attend seminars and conferences. With greater importance given to PhD, faculty members get to further their education while still teaching at the school. This creates an exceptional environment on the campus where the teacher and the students are both striving to achieve educational brilliance.
