In keeping with its reputation for management education in Pune, Symbiosis has set up the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), the only institute of its kind in the SAARC region. The institute's essential objective is to expose students to the major aspects of telecom technology, management and computer science, befitting the role of a telecom manager in the industry.

SITM offers a two-year, full-time autonomous post-graduate diploma in telecom management. The course is designed with special emphasis on the practical orientation of the student in association with industries and their experts. ``The course had a tremendous response from the industry as is evident from our placement figures,'' says T M Kanvinde, honorary director,SITM.

SITM is a pioneering effort in the field of telecom management and was started in July 1996. The institute aims to develop business enablers equipped with the necessary technical and managerial skills who can work with the industry in bridging the gap between reality and vision in telecom and IT.

The course, which has 80 seats, commences on June 14, 1999. Eligibility for the course is limited to graduates in Science (Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Electronics, Statistics), Commerce or Engineering with minimum 50 per cent marks in the qualifying examination. Students appearing for the qualifying examination may also apply.

The entrance examination for the course will be held on February 28, 1999, in test centres at Bangalore, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. The interviews of short listed candidates will be held in Pune on March 9-10, 1999.

The prospectus and application forms for the course are available from SITM's Pune office on payment of Rs 500 (plus postage of Rs 50)by cash or a DD drawn in favour of the Honorary Director, SITM. The last date for submitting the application form, along with the entrance examination fee of Rs 400, is February 13, 1999. The address of SITM is: Atur Centre, 1068, Model Colony, Gokhale Cross Road, Pune-411 016.

SITM has excellent lab facilities as well as a well-equipped Computer Lab with LAN comprising of 20 Pentium II nodes running on WIN-NT Server 4.0. and Novell Netware. The software set-up consists of Windows 95 as front-end on all nodes and an ORACLE 7.3 working group server with Developer 2000 as a front-end tool. Visual Basic, MS Office 97, Windows NT workstation 4.0 and Internet surfing are some of the other facilities available.

For the Systems specialisation, a separate lab comprising of six Pentium II nodes running LINUX ver4.0 and WIN-NT Server 4.0 is available. The institute has a well-equipped library, too. It is stocked with a number of text-books on various general management and technical subjects. The library subscribesto various Indian and foreign magazines, journals, reports and periodicals on an exhaustive list of subjects. The institute provides study materials, cases and handouts on various topics.

The senior students support the freshers in finding out suitable accommodation. The institute provides a data-bank of flats and hostels in the vicinity. The campus also has a canteen. The Symbiosis Centre for Health Care has a team of doctors to provide consultation and treatment to students at a subsidised fee. A compulsory annual check-up and workshops on various health-related topics are arranged at the centre.

The placement support activity is managed by a placement committee, comprising faculty members and student representatives. The institute provides assistance for summer and final placements in terms of publishing brochures, long distance calls and facsimile services. Facilities for campus interviews and the other necessary infrastructure are also provided.The curriculum consists of four semesters spread overtwo years. They offer three specialisations starting from the second year onward. Specialisation in Marketing includes subjects such as Brand Management, Industrial Marketing, Consumer Behaviour and Product Management Projects in Marketing. To specialise in Systems, a student has to study Data Structures and Algorithms using C and C++, OOPS using C++, UNIX Windows NT, EDP Management Software Project Management and JAVA. Students specialising in Finance have to clear papers that include Corporate Finance, Strategic Financial Management, Project Finance and Project Appraisal.

The first batch of PGDTM, which came out in May 1998, were absorbed by corporates to a man. Corporates who hired from the campus include Bharti Cellular, BPL US West, CMC Ltd, Escotel Mobile Communications, IBM Global Services, ICICI Bank, Iridium India Telecom Ltd, Onward, Novell Ltd, Satyam Enterprise Solutions and Siemens Nixdorf India Ltd.

Says Kanvinde, ``This batch reflects an affluence of qualities creativity, flexibility,teamwork, initiative and leadership--vital in today's corporate world and in keeping with the tradition of Symbiosis.''