The creative activity of reorganizing, redefining and repositioning existing ideas in new and unexpected ways allows us see through "fresh eyes" and make new connections. A good example of this is the recent restructuring of the Student Engagement & Applied Learning (SEAL) initiative, which aimed to freshen SEAL's outlook and realize its vision to be a student’s partner for a fulfilling career.

“We hope this consolidation will be a positive step in creating a seamless experience for students outside of core academics,” said Shiv Kumar, Head of the Department, SEAL.

SEAL is essentially the umbrella department for all outside-the-classroom activities for students. It facilitates all aspects of student life on campus and provides support and guidance to the student body.

At its core, the rejig involves changes that guarantee a more result-oriented approach to various activities that fall within SEAL's scope. L&D, in its new avatar, will now be a part of SEAL. The key objectives of the reconstruction of SEAL are to enable students with professional competencies to meet short- and long-term professional goals through career planning and goal setting and to work with students to help them articulate their career aspirations to prospective employers.

The Experiential Learning Programme (ELP) will now be supervised by an ELP committee constituted of faculty members, and assigned faculty mentors will evaluate/ grade the project team on a continuous basis. This will not only add credibility to the program, but will also ensure that the key learning objectives are met satisfactorily.

Advaita, a vehicle for strengthening inter-campus collaboration among students, has been restructured and refined by streamlining and improving the quality of events. It is designed to be a truly cross-campus event organized at both the campuses, on the same lines as the ISB Leadership Summit (ILS).

An exciting addition to the catalogue of SEAL operations is the Tri-Student Exchange Programme (TriSEP), this year. Catering to the theme of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the three-week long program is the brainchild of Dean Rajendra Srivastava.

Describing the programme, Kumar said, “This immersion programme aims at boosting students’ interest and ability in innovation and entrepreneurship by travelling through three important economies in Asia and experiencing the culture of startups and modern markets.”

Another big change is that all L&D modules will be delivered by ISB alumni and industry experts. One-to-one career goal setting sessions will see several alumni from across functions and industries on campus to give personalized guidance on what students can do to achieve their professional aspirations post-ISB.
“This year onward, our effort is to make L&D focussed on getting the maximum number of our students placement ready. That means we will put our best efforts to help them understand the roles and functions on offer at campus during placements. We want to help the students prepare for these roles by enunciating the skills required for each probable profile clearly, so that they have a definite roadmap of how to get what they want out of the programme,” explained Kumar.

Vineet Bhatt, the author of this article, is Content Lead, Marketing and Communications at Indian School of Business