While launching the alumni association and MEP Digest, which will foster placement services for the graduates, Deakin Australia's director, Mr Robert Thomason, said, "The ultimate goal for any student is a good career with an organisation of his choice. Our endeavour is to provide an opportunity for our graduates to network amongst like-minded groups of professionals as well as assist them in finding appropriate positions for themselves."

To this end, said Mr Thomason, the university has entered into an alliance with leading executive search firms, both in India and in Australia.

The MEP Digest contains a listing of all the university's graduates and will be circulated amongst the university's current corporate clientele.

According to Mr Thomason, this will also help those who return to India from Australia in looking for jobs.

The digest is in book form and will soon be available on the net too, he added.

First launched in India in 1996, the APESMA/Deakin University management education programmes have carved a significant niche for themselves in the competitive management education scenario in India.

Available at four levels, MBA (Technology Management), Graduate Diploma of Management, Graduate Certificate of Management and Certificate, the programmes are designed to provide working professionals, particularly those in a technology environment, with the opportunity to undertake formal management studies, without giving up their current employment status.

The APESMA/Deakin University management programmes are fully portable-they are administratively supported by the university anywhere in the world, self-paced, flexible and delivered through proven distance education techniques. Participants receive extensive learning materials, which include study guides, reference readings, assignments and sample examinations. They are not required to attend formal lectures or tutorials. Some of the units are also provided with audio-visual aids to complement the print material.

In addition, in order to suit the demands of Indian industry, the APESMA/Deakin University management programmes have been redeveloped and customised by leading academics from IIM Ahmedabad and Calcutta, FMS and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. This makes them the only international management programmes to be modified to suit the unique conditions of Indian industry, thus offering the right blend of global management practices and concepts relevant to the Indian market.

So far, the programmes have received widespread recognition amongst both corporate executives and individual entrepreneurs. Currently, they have over 2,500 unit enrollments from more than 300 leading multinationals and Indian companies. The student base is very diverse-professionals with specialisation in software, telecom, engineering, banking, etc. It is by far the largest and most successful international MBA currently available in the country.

Some of the companies who have their employees participating in the MBA programme in India are Cox & Kings, Air France, Air-India, American Express, DHL Worldwide, Hewlett-Packard, Hyatt Regency and General Motors.