Placement Committees Must Include Students As Well: Dr. Ramana Rao S V

A scholar in derivatives of stock and trading, Dr. Ramana Rao S V, Director of Siva Sivani Institute of Management, Secunderabad, expresses his views on higher education with Education Post’s Tanay Kumar.

Please tell us about the motivation behind opting for finance and doing a PhD in the same.

Right from the graduation, I am really interested in finance and I completed my post graduation in finance and management as well. Finance is the key for survival of any organization which motivated me to pursue a proper research in it.

Please shed some light on your research, which was based on Financial Derivatives, and what were the bullet outcomes of your research?

On June 12, 2000, the Indian market introduced derivatives with index futures. Meanwhile, I was also reviewing research literatures for my subjects. I decided to pursue research in the derivatives, its purpose, its affects on the Indian market, etc. Conclusion in a nutshell of my research was that derivatives were not fuelling the ‘volatility’ of the stock markets.

SSIM has set up a Finance Lab in collaboration with the National Stock Exchange Academy. Please tell us about the achievements of this practical-learning based laboratory and how it has helped the students?

In 2020, we collaborated with the National Stock Exchange academy. We wanted to provide skill-based training and learning for market and trading related aspects. We sent our proposal and requested NSE to set up their academy at SSIM. SSIM has30 trading terminals and I am really proud that the lab is really helping the students to learn all the skills of trading and the stock market.

Students learn to design the strategies to invest and how the derivatives are designed, moderated, and used in the market. So commenting on achievement, those students at SSIM who want to learn expertise in the market during their study, attains its knowledge.

Last year, SSIM introduced a laboratory in finance education – MarkStrat StratX simulation. Please tell us that why the institute thought of this laboratory and what lessons students have gained from this simulation lab?

It is a European-based trading technology but its working pattern implies in a normal stock market as well. Those students who are willing to make finance their major study and want to steer their career in trading only, this lab is really helpful for them.

Furthermore, we have taken service of the Capston Project as well, which is developed by Equity Livers. Students are tested by the topics they studied by videos over this platform and their scores are public. So, the top students scoring at this platform are automatically visible to the corporation and their credibility gets really high.

I am so proud to inform that many students of SSIIM have scored on par with the students IIM and other top management institutes.

The institute has categorically mentioned – Outcome Based Education (OBE), which is also one of the emphases of the New Education Policy. How does the OBE infuse in the finance and marketing education?

First, I would emphasize that we have specified OBE in all of our courses, of course along with the management and finance as well. One must know the “outcome” of attending any session or class of one hour and the current generation is somehow moving towards this approach.

Here at our institute, along with the students, faculties are also clear that what ‘outcome’ she/he is going to teach in any class or any session, and this is really necessary. Further, we also measure the magnitude of the outcome from sessions to the entire semester because that’s how you would know that ‘how much’ of the purpose the students have understood in any session or the entire semester. It also shows the bar for measuring and improvement of the session and/or matter of the session.

Please tell us about your views on placement culture and what strategies the institute adopts for it.

I really believe that if the learning is well, then the outcome of the learning – placement to say in this case, is definitely going to be excellent. In our institute, we have a separate department – Placement Executive Committee and students are also part of this committee and we introduce students in this committee after a selection process. Inclusion of students in the executive committee makes the institute inclusive in real terms because you can’t assess the situations and mindsets of students if they are really not on the chair with you.

The committee is strongly connected with the people in the industry. Plus, the institute has a Management Competency Module in the curriculum which really helps the students with the required skills. Plus, executives and HRs, both of them, are called to take student’s assessment during their several tests, viva-voice and presentations. Further, we have also collaborated with the people in several companies who train the students for specific trainings, if required.

At SSIM, we have been securing 96 to 98 % of placement record since past five years consecutively. In fact, if anyone goes to our website and click on the placement link, she/he will find the placement record of past five years with students, their roll number and the organization they were eligible and selected for the job. So, this transparency is also expected from the institutions.

Your institute has also a program of international students exchange with Herzing University, based in Atlanta, USA. Please tell us about the achievements of the institute in global collaborations.

We have this memorandum of understanding with the Herzing University. As part of our students exchange program, students can enrol directly in the university without taking IELTS, TOEFL or GMAT. Plus, there are traded-waivers for those students who have completed their study at SSIM and if they want to further study at Herzing University, they won’t have to take those courses we teach at SSIM. In the past seven years, around 65 students have completed their study from Herzing University and they are doing well in their career as well. Around 30 of them have got settled there.

Any message and recommendations for the youth?

I would say – “Have patience and stay focused” in the current era of information overload. Try to follow standard and authentic sources of information rather than just frivolous channels over the internet. And, the current generation of youth is a bit stressed and doesn’t have that level of patience which sometimes seems in necessary things. So, I would recommend to have patience in life.