Xavier University Bhubaneswar (XUB) celebrated its third Convocation on 22nd March 2017. The ceremony was marked by the presence of our esteemed guests, and parents of the graduating students. A total of 649 students were awarded degrees for successful completion of their academic courses in:

1. MBA - Business Management 2. MBA - Human Resource Management 3. MBA - Rural Management 4. MBA - Sustainability Management 5. Global MBA 6. MA in Mass Communication 7. 1 Year MBA - Executive (Full-time) 8. 1 Year PG Diploma in Film & Television 9. Doctoral Program

The occasion was graced by Shri. Vinod Kumar, MD & Group CEO, Tata Communications Limited. He presided over the event as the Chief Guest for the evening. Amongst the distinguished personalities present, were Shri. Rajive Kaul, Chairman, Fr. Paul Fernandes, Vice-Chancellor of Board of Governors, Registrar, Deans & directors of Xavier University Bhubaneswar. Students were felicitated with several awards as a token of appreciation for their hard work. We congratulate all the students for their successes, and wish them well for their future endeavours.

XIMB, XAHR, XSRM, XCOMM, XSoS, XSC, XUMG, XSE, XCOMP

“Graduates ability to synthesize their thoughts leads to differentiation, innovation and thus constructive disruption”

- Shri Vinod Kumar -

Xavier University, Bhubaneswar (XUB) celebrated the 3rd Convocation of XUB on 22nd March 2017. The Convocation ceremony commenced with a welcome note by Fr. E.A. Augustine, S.J., Registrar, XUB, followed by the Vice Chancellor’s report by Dr. Prof. Fr. Paul Fernandes S.J., and Chairman’s address by Shri.RajiveKaul. The meritorious students were presented with their medals and degrees by the chairman and the vice chancellor. The Vice Chancellor in his address to the audience elaborated the achievements of XUB in the sphere of research, academia, sports, and cultural activities. He congratulated the batch of 2017, and urged the students to be the light to the world, have faith, and never be afraid of hard work and excellence. In his speech, Fr. E.A. Augustine stressed, “Focus on future, always stay true to yourself, and enable other people to lead extraordinary lives”. The chief guest, Shri. Vinod Kumar, also addressed the students on Career Planning; and emphasized on how team work and team spirit is essential for corporate success. “To be value based first, and performance oriented thereafter”, were his wise words. The students accepted their scrolls with humility and grace, and filled the campus with loud cheers; throwing convocation caps into the air with delight. The Convocation evening marked the end of rigorous and fulfilling year(s) for 649 students in one of the best B schools of the country. The Xavier family congratulates the graduates on the successful completion of their programs, and wishes

heartiest congratulations to their families, and to the faculty who provided the support and shaped their

intellect, as the students explored to achieve this academic distinction.

The Third Convocation of Xavier University Bhubaneswar

XUB Magis heartily welcomes the new batch of students to Xavier University. The commencement of the new academic calendar for the first-year students, joining various programs, including School Specific Orientation Programme inaugurated by Fr. Paul Fernandes, Vice-Chancellor. The program was organized to benefit the students who are entering a new phase in their life. Xavier University organized different events for the 2019 Batch to get acquainted with the highly diverse culture of XUB, to meet classmates, faculties, attend workshops, and start learning about the critical career development tools they will need during the MBA program, and in-life in general.

Xavier University is pleased to welcome the new faculty members who joined in the academic year 2017-18. The Xavier fraternity hopes that their time here will be rewarding, and would aid mutual learning among the students and faculties.

Prof. Rahul Kumar Prof. Andrew Dutta Prof. Antony Joseph Raj, S.J.

Prof. SubhraPattnaik Prof. NadiraKhatun Prof. V. Vijay Kumar

Prof. ArpitaSaha Prof. Goutam Mali Prof. Ashutosh Mishra

Prof. BibhutiRanjan Mishra Prof. Suresh Kumar Patra

Some of the newly joined members share their views upon joining the XUB family:

Prof. Antony Joesph Raj, S.J.: As one trained in sociology, I would like to be of help to thestudent community of XUB by exploring with them trans-disciplinary concerns. As onetrained in counselling, I offer my services to those who seek help.

Prof. Arpita Saha: It is an honour to be a part of XUB, which pursues excellence in allspheres; which believes not only in the best, but aspires to 'better the best'. I expect to liveup to its academic standards; to develop these brilliant, young souls, and deliver them tosociety as leaders.

Prof. Vijay Kumar Vijayan: In the process of sharing my insights with the students, I get tolearn a lot myself.

Prof. Subhra Pattnaik: Well, I, being an alumnus of XIMB (2009-2011 batch) was alwaysa part of the family. And I'm extremely delighted to be back with my Alma Mater. At thesame time, I am proud to see my institute grow into a full-fledged university offeringdiverse and intersting courses in multiple disciplnes now. What's more intersting for mein that I am a part of the system now, and I'm getting an opportunity to contribute tothe growth. It is always a wonderful feeling to do something for your Alma Mater, whichhas played a lead role in shaping the person you are today.

A Cordial Welcome to the New Faculty Members

A Cordial Welcome to the Incoming Batch

B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering (Xavier School of Computer Science & Engineering) It is a four-year, full-time program, and includes coding, develop and analyse algorithms, understand systems, and implement software in various programming languages and platforms. B.Sc. in Economics (Hons.) (Xavier School of Economics) It is a three-year, full time program, and includes evaluation of public policies and taking decisions in the market economies. Masters of Business Finance (Xavier School of Commerce) It is a two-year course, and includes Corporate Finance, Merchant Banking, Venture Capital, Investment Advisory

Services, Portfolio Management, and Forex Advisory Services.

Prof. Girish Bal Subramaniam was nominated as one of the young researchers, representing India inthe Comparative Labour Law Seminar, organized by the Japan Institute of Labour Training and Policy

Prof. DK Bhattacharya got his book, ‘HR Analytics: Understanding Theories and Applications’ published(by Sage International).

Prof. Mousumi Padhi published an article on Regulation and Governance of Employment Relations inPre-employment Phase in Economic and Political Weekly

Prof. Suchitra Pal was the Key Note Speaker at the ‘Conclave on Skill Development Initiatives in theHydrocarbon Sector’ on Foundation Day of Skill Development Institute, Bhubaneswar.

Prof. Sanjay Mohapatra co-authored a book titled: “Change Management for Organisations – Lessonsfrom Political Upheaval in India” (published by Emerald Publishing).

Rankings

New Programs of Xavier University

Faculty Awards

XSEED, The Entrepreneurship Cell, organised the first business conclave for the academic year - Kickstart'17, on 30th July 2017. The conclave featured eminent entrepreneurs who talked about their journey and experiences, which was followed by an open house discussion. Kickstart'17 is aimed at inspiring the future entrepreneurs to shape their ideas into successful start-ups, and to make the students aware of the opportunities as well as the challenges faced in Entrepreneurship. The event was held at both the Xavier City and XIMB campuses and speakers included - Nitin Jain, Co-Founder and Head Sales, OfBusiness, PranjalParashar, Founder, Repup and ArvindPani, Co-founder and CEO, Reverie Language Technologies.

RMAX, the Rural Managers' Association of Xavier School of Rural Management, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, organized “Vaktavya”- A National Level Debate Competition in association with Bakul Foundation on 30th July 2017. Every year the participating teams discuss and debate on topics pertaining to rural scenario, business and policy matters. The panel for this year had Shri. Sujit Mahapatra, Founder of Bakul Foundation, Mr. Biswajit Bhuyan, an alumnus of Xavier School of Rural Management and Management Trainee at Annapurna Microfinance Pvt. Ltd., Prof. T. Kumar, Assistant Professor, Xavier School of Rural Management, XUB, and Prof. P.K Mishra, Assistant Professor, Xavier School of Rural

Management, XUB. Twenty college teams from the likes of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune, School of Agri-Business Management, PJTSAU and Xavier University, Bhubaneshwar, participated in “Vaktavya” 2017.The winning title was clinched by the “Team Blink” comprising of Sourav Acharya & Siddhant Sahoo from XIMB-XUB. The runners up were “Team Gaonwaley” comprising of Sambit Bastia &Souvik Gupta from XSRM-XUB.

On 23rd July 2017, Social Responsibility Cell, XUB conducted an interesting event called as Udaan - A Flight of Dreams, for the children of SNEH Foundation. A bunch of enthusiastic volunteers joined for this, and from the sunshine-y smiles and gleeful expressions, as evident from the pictures, Udaan went on wonderfully.

From fun events in Drawing and Dance to

hilarious Balloon Bursting contests, and Guess

the Pic, the torrential rains (which meant a

Udaan – A flight of dreams

“Vaktavya”- A national level debate

competition

Kickstart ’17 – Business conclave

pause on outdoor activities) did nothing to

dampen the spirit of the children and the

volunteers and everyone ended up having a

blast.

The second HR Symposium of Xavier School of Human Resource Management, washeld on 15thJuly 2017. The first phase of the symposium on “Contemporary HR Practices” witnessed eminent panellists from various domains of HR. Ms. Arpita Sahu (Senior Manager – Talent &Development, Bharti Airtel), Shri. Ankush Arora (Head of OD & Business HR, Havells India),and Shri. Gaurav Khandelwal (HR Leader, Honeywell Process Solutions) were the key speakers of this Panel Discussion. The second phase of the symposium was on “Pushing the Boundaries of HR”. The panel consisted of Prof. Jose Maria Aulotte (Director of Studies, Magellan Institute’s International MBA HR Program & Visiting Faculty, XAHR), Shri. Abhishek Mohanty (Management Consulting professions, PwC India’s People Organisation Advisory), and Shri. A B Chandrasekhar (AVP, EXL Services, Kochi Area).

In loving memory of Late Arijit Ghosh,

(Alumnus and Coordinator of RMAX during his

time) RMAX has been successfully conducting

the "Arijit Ghosh Memorial Quiz" since 2011.

This year the event happened on 1st July 2017,

and had great participation from various

campuses. The event started off with a video

where Nikhil Akhouri shared his memories of

Arijit Ghosh. The quiz covered all genres.

RohanSood and Nitish Duttaroy were placed

first, while Abhisek Maheswari and Nirvan V.

Rao were runners-up at the event.

On 18th March 2017, a beautiful art exhibition was organised by Spicmacay as Kala Sanchika - An Art Exhibition. The artists behind the mesmerizing and expertly done up paintings and sketches were none other than twenty students of the institute. The event witnessed many visitors, in the form of students and professors, and ended on a great note with a lot of art pieces sold to art enthusiasts.

X-Fin - Finance Association of XIMB, conducted a Budget Conclave in collaboration with LotusMint Wealth on 18th February 2017.

Budget Conclave

Kala Sanchika – An Art Exhibition

Arijit Ghosh Memorial Quiz

HR Symposium

The second National Annual HR Conference by Xavier School of Human Resource Management (XAHR), was organised by XIMAHR: The HR association of XUB, and was based on the theme - "Rethinking People Management". The conference was spread over two days: 3rd February & 4th February 2017. The event focused on three major themes – ‘Harnessing Human Capabilities for the Modern Workplace’, ‘Redefining Work: HR in VUCA and SMAC World’, and ‘Employment Relations: Moving Forward towards Greater Effectiveness’. The Conference also had papers presented on a multitude of topics covering many aspects in the world of HR by academicians and research scholars. Day 1 and Day 2 of the conference saw eminent panellists from various domains of HR, engaging in various discussions. The programme concluded with the customary valedictory session.

On 26th January 2017, the Social Responsibility Cell, XUB organized “Para Athlos” – a Sports meet for specially-abled children, commemorating the 68th Republic Day of India.

.

Xavion'17 was organised by X-SEED, the Entrepreneurship Cell of XUB, and was a three-day event, from 20th to 22nd January, and was focused on the central theme "Entrepreneurship and Social Norms".

The event saw many big names like Mr Vivek

Sharma, Program Director of Gandhi

Fellowship Alumni Program, Shri. Vaibhav

Pandey, Program Manager, Piramal

Foundation for Education Leadership, and

Shri. Abhyudai Dhawan, Communication

Specialist, UNDP. Xavion'17 was concluded

by Bhubaneswar Komedians and Kalkutta

Komedians

Xavion’17 – The Entrepreneurship Summit

Para Athlos

National Annual HR Conference

Prof. Dr. Snigdha Pattnaik, Dean, Xavier School of Human Resource Management

You have been here for a very long time. Would you like to take us through your journey? There are two parts of the journey: one is the journey that the institution has taken, and the second is my personal one. XIMB, and now XUB, has been a great place to be in, for me personally. I joined in 1988 as a full-time faculty, and due to my personal commitments, XIMB gave me the option to move to a visiting faculty position. Then in 1995, XIMB welcomed me back with open arms as a full-time faculty. And I continued to teach in XIMB all the time. In the middle, I wanted to explore other avenues, and the institute gave me an opportunity to stay, and be an adjunct faculty. Later, when the School of HRM started, I was asked to come back as the Dean, and I agreed to take up the challenge.

It has given various kind of opportunities, different kinds of relationships, and it has been very flexible and accommodating. It’s been very good for me, as a person. It has also given me the opportunity to teach various types of courses. I could experiment with different ways of teaching, which continues even today. If I look at XIMB as an institution, it has really grown. When I came in ’88, it was very new. That part of the city was not inhabited, and the institute was on the outskirts. From that, I have seen how it has grown: new buildings got added, new programs got added, faculty got added. Then the University happened. The Management has worked very hard for the XUB to come up, so that we have greater flexibility in offering new programs and venturing into new areas.

It's been good and exciting.

Ma’am, you mentioned that you have taken the dual role of a faculty member, and the Dean of XAHR. How challenging is it to juggle all your responsibilities, with a busy schedule like yours?

It is quite challenging. And, my passion is to teach. With a lot of Admin work there is less time for teaching and that had taken a back seat. So, this year with the batch of 2017-19 I decided to again offer a core course (Organisational Behavior II). And Organizational Behavior is a course that I love; I really enjoy it.

There is an increase in convergence between Human Resource Management and Technology these days. How do you see that changing the landscape of Human Resource Management in the next 5 years?

It’s going to impact all parts of HR, from human resource planning to recruitment to training to compensation to everything. It also means that the HR Managers must be really technology-savvy to survive. HR Managers also need to have a lot more business sense than what was required earlier. Not everything can be resolved by technology, there is also the need for face to face contact: so, how you balance both will be a challenge that organizations will face. Engagement, for example, Commitment of the Employee towards the organization, for example, might not happen if you do not have a good face-to-face involvement.

A lot of the administrative functions are getting IT enabled; a lot of it is going online. Things are getting automated. The nature of jobs would become different: that is a shift that will happen. If you look at organizations where HR does well, you’ll find that HR’s nature of job is more strategic in these organizations. And that is where HR really makes a difference.

Ma’am, Diversity and Inclusion is becoming a focus in most organizations these days. Could you elaborate on how the curriculum over here is helping us make an impact?

One is the elective that we offer, which is on managing diversity and inclusion. This elective gives an edge to all our students, and I also like to offer this right at the end in the final term, because by then you would have keenly understood the domain of HR, and have a better understanding of what organizations are. So, you can get a grasp of what the concept of diversity and inclusion really is.

Dean’s Speak

Diversity may be mandated in terms of numbers, but it is inclusion that is the challenge. How do you make people really feel that they belong? How do organizations, like Google, for example, who hire people of different abilities, and are able to make them feel as included as everyone else. If you look at organizations like Godrej, Accenture, Deloitte, these organizations are working hard to make inclusion happen. Even if you look at organizations in the West, not all of them are inclusive. So, it is a journey, and it is going to be a journey for some time. At least, now there is an awareness that things need to change.

If you look at India, there are a lot of diversity categories which we do not even acknowledge. So, it needs an entire change of mindset, attitude, your biases and prejudices: for both minority and majority groups. A lot of diversity focus is on increasing women participation, but there are other categories as well.

If you only increase figures in terms of diversity, it doesn’t work. Meritocracy becomes a problem. What hampers diversity is more of the prejudices and biases that people carry. You may say we want more women at the workplace, but what may happen is that when managers are allocating projects, they just assume that the woman might have personal commitments and won’t go out of town, and that option is not even made available to her. And because that option is not made available, and the woman is ambitious, capable, and competent, she won’t enjoy her job because after some time it will become monotonous, and she will move to another organization. And of course, there must be competence. You can’t fill a position to fill a number, because then you are doing that person, and the organization a disservice.

What are your future-plans for Xavier School of Human Resource Management?

One of the things which we plan to start is a two-years, full time Master’s program in Counselling. There’s a need for competent, qualified counsellors, who have gone through a rigorous program. We want to set up a Centre for Counselling, in XAHR, which would eventually offer counselling services to all categories of people. This is one big plan we have, and we are hoping it will shape up.

Also, we continually work on the MBA-HRM program to make it more robust, to give students better learning experiences. We keep working on the program every year. We have a Strategic Academic Advisory Board, which has academia and top-notch industry experts, and they give us feedback on what we should do. We take feedback from recruiters, industry practitioners, and alumni. All this gets reflected in the curriculum and the student experience. We are also trying to see whether we can start offering online courses, like those on Coursera. Make our presence felt in the digital learning space. So, these are some of the plans that we have.

Prof. Dr. P. K. Mohanty, Dean, Xavier School of Commerce

You are close to completing 10 years in XIMB. How has the journey been so far? My journey in Xavier University has been quite exciting and satisfying. When I joined in 2008 it was XIMB, and then in 2013, Xavier University was set up with five schools. During this time, we started many new programs, had fun collaborations and tie ups, many students joined us. So, it is good to see the university grow and that’s why it has been very exciting journey for me. It is satisfying because with the university we, the faculty, are also growing and contributing to the academic process, and at an individual level I think I have contributed to this growth process in the best possible manner.

You are both a professor and a Dean. Which role do you find more challenging and how do you manage the two? I would say both the roles are quite challenging. I am a teacher first, Dean later. So as a teacher I must keep myself updated with the current affairs. I have a lot of responsibilities towards students, our one of the most important stakeholders. I love teaching and I teach across programmes and schools which is quite challenging. As a Dean, I have set up this school from the scratch where I faced many challenges. I would say, every day is a new challenge and I love to face them, and I must maintain a balance between the two roles. Xavier School of Commerce has launched Master of Business Finance this year. What are your future plans for this program? Xavier School of Commerce was set up 2014, and this is its 4th year of operation. We offer two UG programs: B. Com and BBM. After successfully running this program, we thought of introducing a Post-Graduate Program. We have a small team, and as a team we thought we should do something innovative, and the program should not be something which already exists in the market; it shouldn’t be the usual income kind of program. We thought of designing a program which will cater to the current market requirement. So, after a lot of deliberations, and lots of debates we decided to design the Master of Business Finance. This is something which is very close to my heart. We have very thoughtfully designed the course and people are accepting and appreciating it. As far my plans go, I have nothing to claim as of now, as it is too early. We have started this program with a small bright batch of students. For the initial few years, my focus would be nurturing this batch. When they go out into the industry, they will be our ambassadors. To be successful in this program, we must be very careful about one thing, i.e. the curriculum; because there is a disconnect between what we teach and what the industry requires. We are trying to address this through this curriculum. We are in constant touch with the industry and we should be able to meet the market requirements. The graduating students should be able to fill the gap in the industry. So, our prime focus now is to strengthen the program. We may plan to do some short duration programs, but those are on the planning stage right now. Do you think the students in the Masters in Business finance program will have an added advantage over the MBA majors in Finance students? I wouldn’t agree to that. I was getting this kind of questions when we were launching this program. Is it an MBA program? This is not an MBA program, this is a Master’s Program. The main focus is finance. We are not comparing the students with the MBA Finance specialization programs. I would rather have these students compete with themselves, so that this School will carve out a niche for itself in the finance domain. As a Dean of the school and as a faculty as well, I would like to see this program doing wonders across all frontiers. That would be possible only when we nurture this program in the best possible manner. Any final message for the faculty and the students? To faculty, we are all colleagues. We are working together. To Students and the non-teaching staff- I see them as important stakeholders of this university. Students of this generation are exceptionally bright and very well equipped as far as technology is concerned. And that is an added advantage for the students who are enrolled, as well as prospective students in future. My message to them would be that they should be clear in their thought process. They should know what they want to achieve in life. Once that is clear, they should put in their best of efforts to achieve that. I find most of the young generation very clear in their thoughts. Once they upgrade their skill sets, I believe there is nothing that can stop them.

Student Achievements

Shri. Binayak Acharya (Batch of 2013) Founder, ThinkZone- Among Top 10 Emerging Education Startups by Unitus Seed Fund.

Dr. Sanjay Mohapatra (Batch of 1993)

Published 'Change Management for Organizations: Lessons from Political Upheaval in India', and his book on "Information and Communications Technology ((ICT) in Primary School Education"

Shri. SumanJagdev (Batch of 2002) Appointed as Senior Director of Corporate Solutions practice at Alvarez & Marsal, India.

Shri. RituPatodiaBagla (Batch of 1993) Learning and Development Lead at Trent Ltd. - recognised as one of the 'Most Talented Training and Development Leaders in India'.

Shri. Sunil Prabhune (Batch of 1998) CHRO, L&T Financial Services – recognised as of the "Youngest HR Leaders in India' respectively, at The World HRD Congress Meet 2017.

Shri. Zafrullah Khan (Batch of 1992) President-Human Resources at Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd. - recognised as one of the 'Most Influential HR Leaders in India' at The World HRD Congress Meet 2017.

Shri. Abhik Gupta (Batch of 1990) MD at The Nielsen Company, East and West Africa Cluster - the Chairman's Award also known as 'Arthur C Nielsen Award' for restructuring the Africa business.

Shri. Ravi Kumar S (Batch of 1996) Appointed as the Deputy COO of Infosys.

Ms. Ankita Poddar (Batch of 2012) Featured in 5th edition of the ‘Are You in The List Awards 2016’ by People Matters.

Shri. SushantDwivedy(Batch of 1991) Appointed as the Senior VP of enterprise client solutions at Aspiring Minds.

Shri. Pratyush Panda (Batch of 1998) Head CSR, ACC - Appointed CSR Leader and Member at N/Core Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) council.

Shri. InirPinheiro (Batch of 2004) Founder, GrassRoots - Awarded Silver- Best Innovation by a Tour Operator (Responsible Tourism)- Outlook Traveller.

Shri. Chinmaya Kumar Acharya (Batch of 1999) Chief of Programmes, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation - Nominated for the Alternative Energy Activist of the Year Category, Workhardt Foundation.

Shri. Anirban Gupta (Batch of 2004) CEO, Dhriti – Felicitated with SEED Recognition Award.

Ms. Archana Patnaik (Batch of 2017) Host organiser representing CTRAN Consulting Ltd in conducting a paper competition in the areas of The Future of Energy, Business Opportunities in Agriculture, and Digitization to make Agri-value chain climate resilient

Shri. Bharat Bhagri (Batch of 2017) Ventured into new opportunities - supplier to Odisha Tourism and PWD to civil contractor with PWD Department

Alumni Achievements

Editorial Team: Aman Sandilya, Ankit Aditya Bhatta, Anudrutta Fouzdar, Nikunj Ved, Pratiksha Roy, Prayash Abinash, Rashmi Ranjan Jena, Sambhabi Chakraborty, Saumya Nautiyal, Shruti Nair, Souvik Banerjee, Srinivasan Gururajan, Stuti Kedia

XUB-Magis