Post my Graduation, I was muddled as to what domain to pursue my Masters in Business Administration. I decided to take counselling for which field to pursue as a career choice. I explored more than 10 to 12 Institutes offering entrance coaching for various competitive exams. I desired to pursue a domain which would be out of the ordinary, but in my knowledge there were none. I received counselling for Marketing, Finance, etc. After a continuous search, I came across the Urban Management program of Xavier Center for Urban Management and Governance (XUMG), XUB. I found the student activities and the curriculum quite fascinating and thus decided to take up the course.

Xavier centre for Urban Management and Governance focuses on developing, transferring and disseminating knowledge about building sustainable, smart and liveable cities. This full-time two-year MBA program is the first of its kind in India. In this program, students develop a full understanding of urbanisation plus the full range of functional management and organisational skills. Graduates are therefore capable of understanding places, systems, and smart urban technologies to arrange strategic and operational tasks for building and managing cities.

We have a trimester system for examination and this system makes sure that the students remain zealous for the entire program. Apart from ordinary subjects like Human Resource Management and Managerial Economics we also have subjects like Settlements Structure and Systems (Studio) in which we research about a city from the scratch and as a student, we plan out developmental strategies according to our analysis. Other enthralling subjects like Social Research Methods also keeps a student engrossed. The research is focused on the institutional development, governance, planning and management of human settlements in rapidly Urbanising areas. The program gives us an opportunity to apply the knowledge that we have acquired through these course in the practical arena; Urban Learning Experience (ULE), a research conducted in three-tier cities for 7 weeks. During summers, we are sent for SIP (summer internship program), the learning outcomes from the mentioned experiences are distinct from what an ordinary management course would offer.

The Xavier centre for Urban Management and Governance also conducts various Annual business conclave, business colloquiums, Annual research on cities summit (ARCS), also events like Urbrainic, Unnovation which helps us to develop knowledge of the current industries and urbanising geographies. These events are conducted where industry leaders from various parts of the country come together to share their expertise and inculcate our knowledge in the urban domain and many other aspects.

It’s only been two months since I am pursuing this course and I have started to feel that I have learnt a lot especially in managing the day to day activities. The extracurricular keep a student occupied throughout the day.

To conclude, the course helps us gain the theory, that is the subjective aspect as well as the practical knowledge which is related to the Urban Management and Governance. Overall, the course is a complete package. I would personally refer the program to the MBA aspirants.

Diva Pandey

Right Place, Right Program - XUMG