SARC OC Review: Tejas Kolhe

InsIghT presents a review of the work done by the current SARC OC Tejas Kolhe, over the course of his tenure till date. The General Body Meeting, or GBM, for SARC will be conducted on the 7th of November 2013 from 8:45 PM to 10:10 PM.

Following the review, please find a short write-up by Tejas Kolhe.

**A brief summary of the advances in each sub-field has been provided. Please click on particular manifesto points to know more about the work done on each of them.

Initiatives

Significant progress has been made this year for improving student-alumni interactions and establishing contacts with alumni. Special efforts are being made to improve the quality of interactions by having training sessions for SARC volunteers. The SARC magazine is planned to be released in December.

[gsreview title=”Provide support for building a digital library as an addendum to History Saving Mechanism (HSM) of students and alumni profiles facilitating quality interaction” color=”blue”]The digital library will act as a database containing details of the alumni and their life on campus. A pilot portal is expected to be running by the end of December.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose an online platform for campus updates to alumni fraternity” color=”blue”]With work having started during the first week of October, this is planned to be completed in the second half of the tenure. The online platform is expected to be much more user-friendly as compared to a newsletter.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Integrate Lost Soul Search Drive (LSSD) and Life-Membership Drive with Phonathon on a monthly basis facilitating student-alumni interactions” color=”blue”]The LSSD will serve to get contact details of alumni of very old batches. Pilot portal for the 1986 batch is ready, and will enable alumni from this batch to update contact details of their batchmates with user-friendly searching options. Similar algorithms are planned to be replicated for other batches.
Phonathons in December will seek to integrate Life-Membership Drive with phonathons, and subsequent phonathons will target to reach out to alumni who are not yet life members of the IITB Alumni Association (IITBAA).[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose a platform for student-alumni interactions through workshops targeting entrepreneurship, internships and placements” color=”blue”]Core Weekend for non final year students and Buddy Talks for final year students were conducted. Also, interactive sessions during Student Alumni Meet targeted Social and Technical entrepreneurship opportunities. Workshops-cum-interactive sessions concerning internships are planned to be held the next semester.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Connect the graduating batch with the alumni groups in respective chapters facilitating settling, networking and mentoring” color=”blue”]Initiated a process of selecting specific students from the graduating batch as ‘batch leaders’, who are willing to take up responsibility for keeping the entire batch in touch with the 8 alumni chapters in India. In the Mumbai Chapter, ‘Oye Freshie’ was organized this year as a networking event for connecting freshie alumni with senior alumni.
[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose to conduct professional training sessions for SARC volunteers for quality interactions with alumni during phonathons and reunions” color=”blue”]One such training session was held before the phonathon session in June. While no training has been conducted for the ongoing phonathon sessions, professional training is planned to be resumed in December as part of a 6 month contract with Syntel.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose to introduce SARC magazine showcasing alumni achievements and updates for deriving inspiration and role models” color=”blue”]The magazine will feature achievements and stories of alumni, and is planned to be launched in the first week of December.[/gsreview]

Student Alumni Meet (SAM)

Several events were satisfactorily executed during this year’s SAM. Alumni-alumni networking and Buddy Talks were also held.

[gsreview title=”Improvise on existing events during SAM – sports meet, cultural activities, technical exhibition, mock interviews, core-weekend, beyond the horizons, panel discussion and others” color=”blue”]The 2-day Student Alumni Meet (SAM) held on 5 Oct – 6 Oct saw the execution of these events.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Introduce interactive sessions for non-core sectors and alumni-alumni networking in SAM” color=”blue”]Buddy Talks, mostly for the non-core sector and one for the core sector, were held in the August – September period. Alumni-alumni networking took place during SAM.[/gsreview]

Alumni Student Mentorship Program (ASMP)

The ASMP this year has seen the addition of four PG members to the team, for promoting PG participation and increasing awareness. Alumni-student mentorship was held in the summers, with special efforts at connecting interning students with alumni in their respective companies/cities. Plans to incorporate an entrepreneurial and career counselling wing into ASMP are expected to be carried out in January.

[gsreview title=”Add an entrepreneurial and career counseling wing to ASMP in its existing structure” color=”blue”]Working with the Career Cell, this is expected to be launched in January. Will involve allotment of an alumnus to each/a group of student(s), followed by a slot of 0.5 hr for speed mentoring.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Promote participation from PG students by increasing awareness and quality student interaction” color=”blue”]Four PG members are part of the team this year to promote PG participation. An interaction session took place where PGs guided their juniors.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Provide infrastructure and technical support to Alumni-Alumni Mentorship Program (AAMP)” color=”blue”]Led by the IITB Alumni Association (IITBAA), this will involve the same algorithm as is used by SARC for its alumni-student mentoring and interactions.[/gsreview]

Hostel Alumni Team Stewardship (HATS)

Starting off with a major involvement of Hostel 7, HATS this year has seen a lot of progress. Extending similar activities to other hostels, however, depends on alumni’s funding for these hostels. No activity concerning Make Hostel My Home (MHMH) has yet been seen in any of the freshmen hostels.

[gsreview title=”Ensure proper execution of infrastructure projects under HATS and generate an annual fund utilization report for update to alumni” color=”blue”]The process is seeing major advancements in Hostel 7, where the Hostel Alumni Secretary and the Hostel General Secretary coordinate with the SARC team to intimate alumni regarding specific infrastructural projects in their hostel that require funding. As a part of HATS, washing machines have been donated to the hostel this year, and a few other projects are in the pipeline.
The annual fund utilization report will be made in association with the Dean ACR Office, and shall include details of scholarships and heritage funds in addition to those regarding the funds generated under HATS.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Introduce Make Hostel My Home (MHMH) in freshmen hostels with the help of Hostel Affairs council, thereby publicizing in other hostels” color=”blue”]An inter-wing cleanliness competition has been started in Hostel 7 as a part of MHMH, and there are plans to expand it into an inter-hostel competition. However, there has been no activity yet concerning MHMH in any of the freshmen hostels.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose extension of successful pilot HATS projects to all hostels” color=”blue”]Although HATS projects are seeing success in Hostel 7, the extension of such projects to other hostels depends on alumni funds for the respective hostels, which is expected to happen after showcasing the success of ongoing projects to alumni from other hostels.[/gsreview]

Departments

Several lectures and Buddy Talks have been conducted in association with the Department Councils this year. Department-specific news is constantly made available to the alumni through newsletters and archived entries on the site. Sourcing of Industrial Defined Problems, however, has just begun, and only two projects have been sourced so far. Industrial Visits are planned for the next semester.

[gsreview title=”Provide support to the Department Council to conduct lectures/interactive sessions by alumni on Industrial Perspective of department courses” color=”blue”]10 lectures were held in association with the Department Councils, most of which talked about the industrial perspective. These lectures focussed chiefly on core sector problems, and more such industry oriented core sessions are expected to be covered in the next semester.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Provide support to the Department Placement Coordinators to conduct Core Buddy Talks for placements and internships in core companies/universities” color=”blue”]Buddy Talks regarding core and non-core placements were held this semester, in association with the Institute Placement Team. Talks related to internships are planned to be held next semester.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Propose to introduce Industrial Defined Problems (IDPs) and Industrial Visits for every department” color=”blue”]Two industry-defined projects have been sourced so far, in association with EnPoWER (Engineering oriented Promotion of Work Experience and Research). The plan is to source 10-15 projects by the end of the tenure, after receiving feedback for the first two projects.
Although there have been no Industrial Visits until now, efforts are planned to organize such visits for every department.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Update alumni about ongoing department research and activities via department newsletter/magazine” color=”blue”]The newsletter contains latest research, upcoming labs and other department news for keeping the alumni updated about department issues. Archived entries of the same can be seen on the site.[/gsreview]

IITBAA, IITBHF

Efforts are being made to extend support to IITBHF in its fundraising campaigns, and at ensuring that alumni visits to hostels and departments are carried out smoothly. ncreasing awareness about the same amongst students. There are plans to try and increase awareness amongst students regarding scholarships and heritage funds, and the same is expected to start in February.

[gsreview title=”Provide support to IITBAA in conducting Institute Alumni Day, Silver Jubilee Reunion and other reunions” color=”blue”]These events are scheduled to happen in December.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Increase campus awareness about alumni funded and other scholarships” color=”blue”]As this year’s scholarships are yet to be announced, no progress has been made so far. However, scholarships and alumni-funded activities are planned to be publicized among students, starting from February.
Regarding alumni endowments, transparent process-cum-awareness has been attempted through the online portal.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Arrange alumni visits to Hostels and Departments during alumni reunions with coordination of hostel and department council” color=”blue”]Alumni visits and campus tours are facilitated by hostel councils with help from the SARC Team.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Extend support to IITBHF in its AFCs (Annual Fundraising Campaigns) and increase awareness about IITB Heritage Fund activities among students” color=”blue”]GO IITB Funding is a structure wherein an enthusiastic alumnus can pledge a minimum of 1% of his/her annual salary for a specified year after graduating. The year is decided by the alumni themselves.
Heritage Fund activities are planned to be publicized among students starting from February.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Follow up on providing lifelong @iitbombay.org logins to all students” color=”blue”]It has been planned that students, starting from their third year, shall be provided with @iitbombay.org logins. Although this has already been proposed and partially accepted, it is currently under consideration by the Dean ACR, and the work is expected to begin in December.[/gsreview]

General

While there are plans to revamp the SARC website and make it more alumnus-friendly, improvements have already been made in the Phonathon interface. Although archive videos of IITB have been helpful during fundraising and for motivating alumni reconnection, only two such videos have been made so far.

[gsreview title=”Try to keep the track of alumni, formally visiting the campus and ensuring good hospitality for them” color=”blue”]If and when SARC is pre-informed about the alumnus’s visit, it is ensured that a SARC team member accompanies the alumnus on a campus visit.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Revamp the SARC website, ASMP and phonathon interface with improved design, content and features of exploring alumni profiles” color=”blue”]Work is planned to be started in December, and will chiefly focus on improving the alumni-interface of the site, as the site is currently more student-friendly and less alumnus-friendly.
Portal for Phonathon calling, however, has already seen improvements this year.[/gsreview]
[gsreview title=”Making archive videos of IITB for brand building and motivating alumni for reconnection” color=”blue”]Two videos have been made so far in association with CDEEP and IITBBC, and have been particularly helpful for fundraising.[/gsreview]

The SARC OC, Tejas Kolhe speaks:

Disclaimer: These are the views of the SARC OC and have not been modified or influenced by InsIghT in any way.

Everyone at some point of time feels the need for advice and mentoring. In IITB, taking help from seniors is not a new concept. We do it in every possible way; either to get motivated by them or to learn and analyze their mistakes so as to avoid making them ourselves. In fact the valuable experience of life outside campus is rarely transferred to students. This is exactly where the alumni can pitch in.

In the last few years, our institute has realized the potential in strengthening alumni relations which resulted in the formation of Student Alumni Relations Cell. Recently, SARC has taken up several steps, both on the frontend and the backend to connect students to alumni and vice versa. We wish to undertake several steps which will spark the feeling of contributing back to IITB in whatever way possible.

In SARC, we work very closely with many well wishers of the institute. Their willingness to contribute motivates us at every step to work for the benefit of the students. With an increased horizon of the scope of work, the team size has been increased from 11 to 22 members. The objective behind increasing the team size was to open up more opportunities for current students, enabling personalized connections with alumni as well as setting up better communication channels.

For the service of current students, SARC has a plethora of events like telephonic conversations with alumni in Phonathons, one-to-one mentorship in ASMP, Student Alumni Meet, interactive sessions, buddy talks and similar activities.

From the alumni perspective SARC acts as a bridge connecting alumni to the IIT-B family. Reunions and the Institute Alumni Day are held in association with IITBAA to welcome alumni so that they can have a memorable time & re-connect with their old time buddies.

So remember, if you ever feel nostalgic of your stay at IITB or feel the need to guide juniors at IIT-B who will enter the big bad world soon, feel free to “pain” us at SARC! We are here 24*7 to help you as we serve the institute in reducing the gap between alumni and students.

SARC is the body which IIT-B deserves and the one it needs right now. SARC is the silent guardian. A watchful protector. 🙂