Institutional Best Practices

1. IRMA has re-designed the admission process through a ‘profile-based’ shortlisting process. Through the profile-based short-listing, candidate with certain specific educational background and work-experience would be given first preference compared to other. This is done keeping in mind that mission of IRMA to contribute towards rural upliftment. It is expected that such profile-based approach would be helpful in attracting students those are more inclined towards the mission of IRMA.

2. IRMA has encouraged students to document rural lifestyle during their internship in villages of India. The rural setting can be documented through vignettes, videos and picture stories. IRMA would include the selected contributions from students in the Grameen Gyan Kosh – a knowledge repository for rural India.

1. The institute organized a faculty retreat to design and discuss the policy on promotion and incentive for faculty members. The policy document is termed as Faculty Evaluation and Promotion Policy.
2. IRMA has produced a handbook on alumni who has pursued the entrepreneurial journey. It is first of its kind work for the institute and would be helpful in building an entreprenrual culture among IRMA graduates.

1. The curriculum and facilities for the PhD program is being reviewed and accordingly changes are proposed. Focus is given on research output by scholars.
2. Students are staying in villages for approximately 8 weeks as a part of the academic program. It is emphasized that IRMA faculty must visit the villages during the stay of the students so as to ensure appropriate learning and integration of the same in the coursework.

1. Submission of grades on time
   
   There are concerns raised about the delay in submission of grades by Faculty members which result into delay in participants getting information about their status in the programme. As a result the following practices were adopted to ensure timely submission of grades -
   
   a. To send reminder email from PRM Coordinator to concerned faculty with Cc mail to all Faculty members.
   b. To penalize the Faculty members for not submitting the grades on time.
2. A new laboratory was set up for students in the academic block with 20 workstations and network with appropriate UPS backed power supply
   
   Network and internet facilities were extended to E and F type staff quarters. Network and WiFi facilities were extended to the M and N students’ hostel blocks. Network services with the ring facility were restored to the G block of the students’ hostel as well as the library and server room. Wi-Fi network in the campus was upgraded by providing services to students’ hostel blocks, faculty block, new classrooms and ETDC.

1. Revision of promotion policy for faculty members
   
   The promotion policy for faculty member is being reviewed and revised with a focus on publication in quality journal. The policy incorporated incentive system for all the faculty members for attaining milestones in research and other institutional activities.
2. Policy revision on running Management Development Programme
   
   The cancellation policy for Management Development Programme is being modified keeping in mind the review loss due to cancellation. It is decided that MDPs would be conducted with less than 10 participants in order to avoid the reputation of being unprofessional and also to avoid loss of revenue.

1. Streamlining of the process of Working Paper Publication
   
   Objective: To standardize the process of publication of working papers by IRMA faculty
   
   Practice adopted:
   i. All IRMA working paper shall be printed in A4 size
   ii. A new cover like the American Psychology Association (APA) shall be adopted
   iii. A style guide is being prepared by the Convenor of Research Committee
   iv. The working papers shall be uploaded on the IRMA website
   v. The Working Papers be necessarily sent to CORPAS Convenor. Sending to the Editor alone will not suffice
   i. It needs to be ensured that basic CORPAS guidelines are maintained
2. Tuition fee Waiver
   
   Objective: To offer financial supports to the needy students of IRMA.
   
   Practice Adopted:
   The introduction of statutory reservation policy of Government of India has resulted in increased diversity in student intake. In its wake, it has been observed that a proportion of students admitted to the Programme have severe financial limitations in meeting the cost of their education. While the bank loan guarantees their ability to pay the fees, they are faced with the constraint of resources to meet additional costs typically incidental during their education. In view of this, the Institute has formalized the Tuition Fee Waiver facility for the most needy students. In the class of PRM35, nine such students have been offered this facility.