Jagdish Bapat has been working as the Director of "School of Management Studies and Research (SMSR), KLE Tech University, Hubli, Karnataka. He is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and has been in the corporate world for the last 36 years. He has handled various levels of responsibilities across Human Resource Management, L&D and Business. In the past, he has been associated with organizations like Pfizer, Tata Motors, Hindustan Levers (HUL), Alfa Laval, LG Soft, Mascon Global and Virtusa playing global & regional roles as HR Head, HR Director and Business Leader. He has taught in various Management and Engineering colleges across India in the past few decades. He has also conducted 600+ days of workshops across India in various corporations and training programs in countries like the USA, Ireland, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia etc. He has helped conceptualize, build and run Mid-Day Meal kitchens which have till date catered to 40 crore children. He is a notable speaker on public forums and has given hundreds of training sessions and lectures in various schools, colleges, corporates and social circles for several years. He has been instrumental in building and running NGO’s and also worked as Head of People Function with Azim Premji Foundation, which works passionately in the arena of primary education.

KLE Tech University

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

"The opportunities, challenges and growth scope this sector possess have helped me to stay connected with it"

I strongly believe that education is the only sector which has the potential to change the condition of our country. As India is competing globally in all aspects, be it technology, innovation or employment, education is going to be the crux of the entire thing. This sector is filled with so many opportunities and has the power to revolutionize our future. All these factors together have kept me associated with the education sector for so long.

Being the Director of "School of Management Studies and Research (SMSR), KLE Tech University, what is your philosophy of leadership? 

"Leadership is all about working together by sharing good relations and knowledge with your team"

I am an eternal learner irrespective of my designation. And I strongly believe that to lead others in a better and right way, you should keep updating yourself. From the time I am associated with the institute, I have been given a set of faculties who are absolutely mature and are keen to contribute to the well-being and development of students and I feel blessed to work with them. We interact on a regular basis with each other to devise strategies for the academic progress of students. Lastly, we continuously focus on evolving and making ourselves better so as to provide the best outcome to our students.

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How does the curriculum of KLE Tech University ensure the best practices of the industry?

"My past experiences and knowledge have helped us lot to inculcate industry demands in curriculum"

As far as industry requirements are concerned, I have spent around 38 years in the corporate world and have taken over 10,000+ interviews in my career so far. And due to my past experiences, I have a very clear idea of what the industry looks for in our students. For instance, in our current batch of MBA, we have achieved a stellar record of 100% placement and many students have grabbed 2,3 or even 4 jobs. So in my opinion, these statistics themselves speak on how well versed we are with the best practices of the industry. To make our students interview ready, we conduct a series of mock interviews and group discussions for final year students. 

How is your university more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

"We promote equality in our campus and admission is offered to students on global level"

We don't discriminate against any student due to their caste, creed, religion or gender and accept applications from all over the globe to grant admission to students in different courses of our institute. Our only requirement is that students should qualify our basic entry tests, because our main aim is to produce finest professionals and leaders. 

What are your roles and responsibilities for the Institute and the students?

"To guide and support my team and provide best placement opportunities to students"

Being the Director of this institute, my role is to keep my team motivated so that they can deliver best to students. In addition to this, I need to ensure that when students pass out from our college, they should have at least one job in their hands and they should feel that their personality has been transformed and they have become a good, focused and socially aware human being. I think if I am able to achieve these 2 things, my responsibilities will get completed.

What do you think should be the Institute’s top priority over the next 10 years?

"We aspire to become one of top 10 institute in country"

We are in the list of top 25 Universities in the country, and were established 6-7 years years ago only. So our main aim for the upcoming years should be to reduce that count from top 25 to top 10. And our honorable Vice Chancellor being a motivating force for the entire university has ensured that every single faculty gets equal opportunities to participate in the development process. And then comes our students who are also our main pillar because our existence is due to them only, so it's our responsibility to offer the best education and amenities to them.

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Any suggestions which you would like to give to the current youth and aspiring students?

"Keep upgrading your technical and networking skills and enjoy your every day"

I would like to suggest to our dear students and youths of our society that enjoy your early life to the fullest as this is one of the most important phases of your life where you will create memories with a lot of people and this networking skill will help you a lot in the corporate world. We all know that life is full of highs and lows and only your true connections will be with you in your bad time. So build lovely relationships, and also keep learning new things side by side, because to survive in this competitive world, you need both the things, company of good people and skills to make a good life.