University Institute of Management (UIM) of Kerala University at Varkala is an extension centre of Institute of Management in Kerala (IMK). UIM offers a four-semester full-time MBA course. Admission is through a separate entrance examination, Kerala University Common Admission Test (KUCAT), and students who graduate with a minimum of 50 per cent marks can apply.
The Varkala centre is the sixth wing of IMK. It started functioning on August 5, 2008. “Students here possess high academic standards and all of them score more than 70 per cent in semester examinations. We also assure expert hands. Retired teachers act as visiting faculty. Besides, the students are getting management education at an affordable fee,” says MM Safarullah Khan, co-ordinator. One semester costs `25,000. One batch accommodates 50 students.
Activities
UIM, Varkala, conducts various events. Since 2009, it has been organising ‘Lattitude’, a national seminar on management. In 2010, Magnitude and Fortitude were launched. Magnitude is a platform for management students to interact with professionals from the industry.
The dictum of a sound mind in a sound body is reinforced at Fortitude. This event is organised to hone the sports talents of students. The new entrant is Sortitude, which aims to shape the much needed corporate social responsibility (CSR) skills of managers. In 2012, UIM kicked off with ‘Ecomate’ for the elimination of plastic waste near Varkala. “I joined the institute as former students gave me a good opinion. Here I learn MBA beyond academics,” says Shameer SN, a final-year MBA student.
Placements
The students of the first three batches had much to cheer about when they all got placed soon after completing the course. The institute’s alumni are working in almost 40 companies that are functioning at Technopark, IT hub of Thiruvananthapuram. The students have formed an alumni association, Association of IMK Varkala Alumni (AIVA), which acts as a networking platform. Students are alerted to job vacancies. Some of the alumni are also working at UIM. “It is nice that I get a good work environment in my college itself,” says lecturer Divya Saseendran.
— meera.manu@newindianexpress.com
