GUWAHATI, AUGUST 30: The orientation program for the new batch of post graduate students at the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on the outskirts of the city that had commenced on August 24 last came to an end on Thursday when about 100 newly admitted students in the management, economics, disaster management, geography, environment sciences, education, psychology, library science, mathematics and rural development streams attended the final day’s deliberations by senior University officials and interacted with academicians and scholars drawn from leading institutions of the region.
Dr RK Sharma, Pro VC USTM presented a brief history of the University for the benefit of new students and their guardians who were present in large numbers. He also dwelt upon the rich infrastructure of USTM, its dynamic faculty and the excellent track record of ERD Foundation that runs the University.
Dr Dinesh Baishya, Dean of Media Sciences and Cultural Studies, USTM informed the audience that it was wrong to nurture any doubts about the credentials and capacity of private universities only because one or two private universities failing to meet the expectations of the people. He clarified, “Some of the best universities of the world such as Cambridge and Oxford are private Universities.
Similarly, in India too, some of the leading universities today are private universities.” He stated that UGC guidelines are very clear as far as establishment of private universities is concerned – Parliament and State Legislatures are authorized to pass a bill and the process starts accordingly.
The Dean, School of Business Sciences USTM, Dr Alaka Desai Sarma, told the students that marks secured in the examination do not count in the long run, what matters is “your head and heart.” She added, “Our University is new. When you pass out and fan out in the open, each one of you would be the University’s brand ambassador to the outside world. Apart from success in examination, you have to be good human beings and leaders in your society.”
Dr CR Sarkar, Registrar USTM informed the gathering that USTM is the first university in the North East to commission a full-fledged post graduate course in Public Relations and second in introducing a similar course in Disaster Management, the first in this respect being the Tripura University, Agartala.
A motivational sessions was conducted for the freshers of the PG courses by resource persons like Sandipan Nair, Development Manager, Dalmia Cements, Dr S Sarkar, Department of Business Administration, Guwahati University, Dr SK Saikia, Director-in-Charge, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship and Prof. Bimal Kar, Department of Geography, Guwahati University at USTM.(SP News)
