With a Ph.D. in Sociology, Dr Gayatri Patnaik is currently working as Course Coordinator at Institute of Media Studies, Bhubaneswar. She started her career as a researcher and has been involved in many academic and social works. Along with rich experience in education and teaching, she has also been invited by leading educational institutions in the state and national repute management institute as a visiting professor. Moreover, she has published 3 articles in national level journals as well. 

Institute of Media Studies

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“Encouraging and empowering them with academic values”

We always encourage students to be original and creative when it comes to academics and profession. We ensure they learn things by studying and analysing the materials by themselves. We inculcate a habit of reading, and documenting into them that ultimately open up their creative and innovative ideas and ways to implement them. We encourage the students; enrol them with different sessions that help them to be sincere and honest with their work. 

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards the subjects?

“Practice oriented set ups and approaches”

We want to make our subjects more practical and relatable to the society by making sure that whatever our students are studying has something to contribute to the society. We give them exposure to different corporate and government set ups, like in hospitals, schools, etc. or rural and urban areas. We give them an opportunity to practice and apply the theoretical concept, so that they can use their knowledge and convert it into practical work. This will help them to learn things in a better way and figure out where they lack.

How do you strategize the curriculum and make it befitting for the students? 

“Current trends and requirements of market place”

We update the curriculum according to the needs of the market that helps students not only in earning a livelihood, but also benefit the society with their services. Whether it is in the government sector, private sector, or entrepreneurship, we are focusing on the demands of the society and the curriculum is developed by keeping those aspects in mind. We make our students utilize their presence of mind and skills in real life while managing different types of projects and events.

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How do you tend to expose students to deal with the real world challenges? 

“Better exploration and understanding with different sessions of training”

Besides having a befitting course curriculum, we conduct other activities like symposiums, workshops, and seminars as well. The students actively participate; do the reporting and documentation, that proves to be beneficial for future references. We give them exposure to society in different organisational setups, rural/urban areas, industries and hospitals for 45 days Internship period which helps them to learn how it is like to work in different sectors. We also educate them on how to face the challenges of the society and create awareness regarding the negative elements of the society via skill enhancement and motivation sessions. 

What do you see as the college’s greatest strengths? 

“We help students acknowledge betterment towards life”

The most important assets are my colleagues and students who draw the reputation of the Institution on their shoulder. We focus on the overall development of the students. We meticulously observe their activities and give them the scope to overcome their weakness, so that it can become their strength. We focus on self-introspection, so that they can analyse their own problems and improve accordingly. Every 15 days, we arrange some events outside our institution where the students get to interact with different NGO functionaries, industrial officials to strengthen their skills.

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What valuable advice would you like to give to the students?

“Enhance your knowledge and become responsible citizens”

Students need to focus on the knowledge, then on the career. For that the students need to be sincere and study hard so that they can strengthen their knowledge and skills to be employable. They should not be worried only about earning money; they should become good citizens and human beings so that they can live a successful and peaceful life.