Professor Vijay Ranjan Basak is the Assistant Professor at Vivekanand Institute of Management. He graduated from IHM Gwalior with B.Sc. in Hospitality and Hotel Administration and earned a post-graduation degree from Welcom group Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal, in M.Sc. in Hospitality and Tourism Management. Professor Basak worked as a G.S.A. Bartender at Welcomhotel, Jodhpur, before joining the Vivekanand Institute of Management.

Vivekanand Institute of Management

Being a Faculty of the Food and Beverages services Department, what are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

Our main focus is to give students theoretical and practical knowledge on the subject. Our courses are divided in a ratio of 50:50 where 50% is practical input and the other 50% is theory input. Ensuring our student's professional development is also a major duty for us. Every faculty member at our college is experienced in the hotel industry and is fully qualified as per AICTE and GTU norms, and they are able to share their own experience to make class learning interesting. It is also our responsibility to conduct events such as running restaurants and hosting functions (formal and informal) for the students.

How do you try to bring in practical approach towards subjects and make it industry oriented?

Any hotel management college has practical labs or a practice restaurant. Our practice restaurant has been designed as a full-fledged 5-star hotel restaurant. We give roles to students such as order taking, guest welcoming, food service, and menu reading. We do this to give the students a practical approach. Also, we have regular training sessions with our partner hotels like Taj, Hyatt, The Leela, Crowne Plaza, Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel, and ITC Narmada Hotel in Ahmedabad. It helps to judge the growth of our students and impart proper industrial growth. In four years, we have two industrial training sessions along with regular industrial visits and training sessions.

What are your views upon the placements and higher education about the students from your department or how does your department prepare students for Higher education?

We provide national and international placements for the Food and Beverage Department and higher education degrees as well. Students can get placed as faculty or professors in hotel management colleges with a bachelor’s degree, while a master's degree gives them access to job offers abroad. One can work as a barman or waiter in a restaurant, in event management, or in banqueting. We have five-star companies that visit our campus for placements, such as ITC, Taj, and Hyatt. These are our placement partners and every year our students get placed with a good package according to industry standards.

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Do you have any extracurricular activities/ programs to enhance the skills of the students or expose them to the real-world challenges?

We host events like food festivals and regional and cultural events such as Punjabi food festivals, Christmas carnivals, and Diwali celebrations as well. In these events, our student takes on the whole responsibility, from hosting the event to catering for the guests and serving. Students are also sent for outdoor catering at five-star hotel properties to upgrade their professional skills. In a semester, there are around five to six events. From hosting to guest escorting, all responsibilities are taken care of by the food and beverage department.

What are the interventions and approaches you bring in apart from curriculum to train/teach the students?

Guest lecturers, delegates, or professionals from industries and demo sessions from working professionals in hotels are invited to our college to share their insights. We also conduct departmental tours for the students to hotel organizations. Partners like Taj, Hyatt, ITC, and Leela, where students regularly go for industry exposure. Our course curriculum provides two internships. During the third and eighth semesters, students are given the opportunity to select national and international brands for their training. Plus, monthly or vocational training is also provided during the semester.