KOZHIKODE:
The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, the country’s top B-School, held its 23rd Convocation virtually here this evening. A. Vellayan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Kozhikode and Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, the Director graced the occasion, as other members of the Board, faculty, staff, alumni, graduating students and their families joined the event virtually. The ceremony was broadcast on http://livevc.in/iimkozhikode/live.php
The ceremony began with an invocation following which Vellayan declared open the first virtual convocation setting the stage for a memorable graduation ceremony. Vellayan thereafter conferred Ph.D. titles, MBA, MBA (EPGP), and MBA (BL) degrees. This was followed by the convocation address by the Chairman. A total of 817 graduating students were conferred titles, degrees and included students from IIM Kozhikode’s Doctoral Programme in Management (PhD), the flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), the one-year full time Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership (PGP-BL), and the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (Kozhikode & Kochi Campus). The toppers from each programme were also awarded gold medals in recognition of their accomplishments. Women students bagged top honours for the PGP as well PGP-BL Programme.
In his convocation address, Vellayan congratulated the candidates and said “Always play to win. Winning is not about making the other person lose. It is about stretching yourself to your own limits. Once so stretched, you will realize the true extent of your potential. Do not be afraid to admit your ignorance. While it is important to project what we are good at, we must be equally candid about areas we do not know enough about. Pursue excellence in whatever you do. Excellence cannot be forced through a process nor guaranteed by a certificate. It comes from an all-consuming passion to do one’s best.”
In his concluding address, Prof. Chatterjee thanked the Ministry of Education (GoI) & the Government of Kerala for their support and commended the perseverance and hard work of the students and faculty in the face of the pandemic. He also listed out the achievements and the laurels gained by the Institute faculty and students which further enhanced IIMK’s growing reputation of that of a leading thought school. Further addressing students on the learnings from the book of life, Prof. Chatterjee said “The Greatest learning is to take nothing for granted. Make every moment of your life count, without wasting them on purposeless pursuits. Your mental models will have to be shaped by lockdowns, climate change and economic downturns and yet your spirit should continue to say that you are greater than your circumstances.”
Despite facing numerous challenges due to the onset of the pandemic IIM Kozhikode students across programmes and across the length and breadth of the country gave their best in academic and extra-curricular activities, many of which had to completely switch to online mode. The efforts paid rich dividends as the Institute this year again recorded 100% placements for its flagship PGP programme as well the inaugural batch of the PGP-BL programme.
IIMK’s Management Development Programmes continued to record a high growth despite the Covid-19 impact. During the year, the Institute successfully conducted conducted 66 programmes impacting 3631 particpants. The Central Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship awarded the Institutea contract for implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Phase-II Programme under the World Bank’s SANKALP Scheme. The knowledge generated by IIMK faculty has appeared in leading academic journals with high citation index and impact factor including articles in FT 50 publications. The Institute also broke into global rankings conducted by QS World Ranking at 101+ for its PGP and EPGP programme. It was also awarded Band A Rank in the ATAL Innovation Rankings conducted by the Government of India.
Convocation at God’s Own Campus is traditionally held in the sprawling and picturesque campus in the hills at Kozhikode. The convocation march is led by the Chairperson and Director of IIMK along with other Board members, faculty and the students. This year, to comply with the government regulations on Covid-19, IIM Kozhikode switched to the completely virtual mode to hold its 23rd convocation in its Silver Jubilee year. The online function, a first in the history of IIM Kozhikode Convocation, was received enthusiastically from the students, family members, faculty and alumni of the Institute as safety was given top most priority in the conduct of the historic event.
The virtual ceremony ended with the Chairman IIMK BoGs declaring the 23rd Annual Convocation closed.
