Prof. Dr. RC Acharya, the founder president of OPEN is the founder principal at Tilottama Campus and Chairman at Lumbini Engineering, Management and Science College. Prof. Acharya has emphasized the common consensus and mutual understanding between OPEN and Pokhara University. He has openly admired the VC, Registrar and the entire team for taking initiative of conducting online classes and exams. “OPEN is always with the university for the upliftment and improvement of education system of Nepal”, he says. He goes on to say that Pokhara University should be proved as a university with distinct identity in terms of its vision, plan, policy, programs and entire performance.
He shared his view on growing demand of management qualifications across the globe. Excerpts:
What factors inspired you to involve in the academic sector?
Both the intrinsic and extrinsic motives inherited to spend my days along with students who have been in pursuit of fulfilling their academic drives and to provide them necessary guidelines as per their level, interest, readiness inspired me to involve myself in the academic sphere. Moreover, when we turn the pages of history, academic people feel honored to go on exploring their potentialities in the respective field. I assume that this field always provides the opportunity to keep in touch with young hearts and creative minds.
Tilottama Campus has been recognized as one of the top-notch management colleges in Nepal within a short span of time since its establishment. To what extent do you think the objective of establishment of Tilottama Campus has been fulfilled?
The objectives are fulfilled strongly with highly qualified, experienced and dedicated team of academic staff. Moreover, timely evaluation of students’ performance and interaction with guardians about their progress and activities enabled the college to be recognized as the top-notch management college in Nepal. Moreover, all academic entities, such as accountability, collaboration, consistency, and integrity we focus on are a key to the fulfillment of our set objectives.
Where can we see this college in near future?
The college has gained a wide acclamation throughout the nation mainly due to its outstanding results. Similarly, the college provides career counseling and supportive services to students for their personal advancement as per their level and interest. The recognition of the college will be throughout the globe as the top management college soon.
Why do you think students should pursue their BBA qualification at Tilottama?
Tilottama Campus has exemplified excellence in management with quality and value-based education. In addition, students get chance to develop a network of friends that will be an important asset to their life-changing decisions. Furthermore, the opportunities to involve in a range of teaching and learning activities that is carried out as a schedule in the semester inspire the students to join Tilottama. The placement opportunities, achievements and congenial academic environment at Tilottama have been the attractions for their academic pursuit.
After completing the course, how would the graduates ensure their employability?
Completion of their BBA course enables the students to embrace different careers as per their interest. They can be good communicators, counselors, planners, managers, bankers as they are exposed to the afore-mentioned fields during their study at Tilottama Campus. They participate in workshops, seminars and conferences on diverse fields, and carry out the project work in the respective field. In a nutshell, the students feel themselves to be strong entrepreneurs upon completing their course.
How do you set priorities to help students excel in their learning endeavors?
Our students are oriented on the first day of their college and start to regard the teachers as counselors, resources, facilitators, tutors and controllers. The teachers let the students feel free to share their feelings, interests, needs quite openly to build up a rapport with them. We bestow on them opportunities to explore their potentiality by involving them in collaborative project work. In addition, we support them to overcome hurdles they might face in their attempts of ensuring success and make them realize the fact that errors are inevitable, and they are strong tools to fire their enthusiasm for life-changing learning. Academic quality of teachers, student welfare facilities, their satisfaction and motivation are to be prioritized.
What remarkable achievements has your college made so far?
Since its establishment, it has exemplified excellence by providing quality and value-based education. We have stepped in the 26th year of schooling our students on the basis of the incredible blending of excellent physical infrastructure and its proficient team of brilliant, experienced and committed faculty members, which are the principal pulling factors to Tilottama Campus. We ensure our students become competent to surpass multiple needs and ethos of the scientific and corporate world. I have had an immense pleasure during my visit to different organizations and receive the warm greet and welcome from the students who accomplished their BBA course and their placement in different organizations.
After we severely suffered an intimidating pandemic, we revived our physical classes. However, we are amid the fear that the same devastating situation can resurrect. In your view, what should the teaching and learning activities be like in the days to come?
Due to poor attention to the sound development of the infrastructures, some colleges were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Those academic institutions faced problems due to lack of adequate and appropriate sustainable infrastructures to install the online system despite their readiness to afford the expenses of the required devices. They were in shortage of trained and adept manpower. More adversely, the limited internet facility in rural and remote areas remained the great barrier during the pandemic period and the situation is still more or less the same. Therefore, we should draw our due attention to provide necessary services and appropriate strategies for the virtual education system to compensate the repercussions caused by the pandemic. The government & management body of respective institutions should be ready in advance to resist unprecedented disturbances such a devasting pandemic may create. The university should not make any changes in the calendar regarding the examinations and other schedules.
As you are the former president of OPEN, what things should Pokhara University take into consideration for its better academic upshots? And what is the role of OPEN in assisting Pokhara University?
We are constructively moving ahead focusing on research, innovation and technology. OPEN should concentrate on conducting seminars, workshops and conferences that update the faculty members with the emerging approaches, methods and techniques that best fit to the learning endeavors of students.
What suggestions would you like to give the ten-plus-two graduates for enrollment in bachelor`s level?
I appeal to all the plus-two graduates to select the stream and college as per their inner motive, drive and goal. I would suggest they should choose the college that best suits them where the quality and value-based education is provided in a friendly environment adopting the newly emerged teaching and learning mechanisms. I suggest that they select those colleges which are really responsible for the holistic development of students. Further, I advise them to get information about faculty members, available resources, overall environment, intake trends in the past and about the results before embarking on the enrollment process.
