"My Industry Experience Helps Me Establish And Deliver The Connection Between Theory And Practice."

If there is one word that defines Dr. PratibhaWasan, it has to be 'Excellence'. Dr. Wasan's tryst with excellence began much before she moved the academia. Way back in 2003

If there is one word that defines Dr. PratibhaWasan, it has to be 'Excellence'. Dr. Wasan's tryst with excellence began much before she moved the academia. Way back in 2003, as a greenhorn business consultant at HCL Infosystems, young Pratibha - straight out of a top B-school - was awarded the 'Excellence in Performance' award with barely two years of service under her belt. It is this spirit of delivering quality that Dr. PratibhaWasan has been bringing everyday to her classrooms over the last nine years.

"Jaipuria Institute of Management attracts good quality students. However, even good students can loose interest if they find the learning to be boring, difficult, complex and theoretical. My industry experience helps me establish and deliver the connection between theory and practice. It has given me an insight into corporate functioning, its behaviour, value systems, culture, challenges and realities, which I now pass on to my students."

For Dr. PratibhaWasan,the academic experience is "ongoing, delightful and self-rewarding". As an Assistant Professor - Finance, she takes quite a few subjects, but finds teaching Financial Accounting to first year students the most rewarding.

"In first year, atleast 50% of the students are from a non-commerce background, and carry a lot of apprehension about accounting and finance. In contrast, the commerce students look overconfident in the course and show dismay at what more needs to be learnt in accounting. I enjoy levelling the playing field for both groups of students through my teaching style, pedagogy and management orientation in the course. In fact one of the students,Gaurav, of the PGDM 2010-12 batch actually said to me, 'I thought I am a commerce graduate with sound accounting knowledge... what new things could I learn? But day one in the Jaipuria class, and I feel I know nothing so far'. This is because accounting is quite different from having a managerial perspective."

Dr. PratibhaWasan keeps herself updated on the latest teaching techniques by attending workshops on mentoring, financial data analysis, financial statement analysis and business research methods. Infact, in one of the workshops on Financial Statement Analysis that was conducted by the PhD Chamber of Commerce in 2011, she had gone as a participant.But at the end of the two-day workshop, she was acknowledged as a great asset for the workshop resource person, since Dr. Wasan could assist her in clearing the doubts of many other participants, many of whom were entrepreneurs who wanted to learn financial statement preparations and reading. Post the event, she was even inquired after for consulting.

"I am delighted when my students achieve new heights. In fact, just yesterday,Shweta from the PGDM 2010-12 batch came to visit me and shared that when she joined Edelweiss, she was happy to find that all the derivative trading strategies she was asked to deal with had been thoroughly discussed and demonstrated in class. It put her in a commanding position from the first day of her corporate career. It is not the gratitude, but the achievements of my students, that makes my day."

Dr. Wasan describes her teaching experience with Jaipuria Institute of Management as"enriching and great!" She finds her students aware and anxious to learn,coming from good academic backgrounds and excellent set of minds to groom as managers. Dr. PratibhaWasan feels that faculty development programmes conducted by Jaipuria Institute of Management have enabled her to use interactive, practical, interesting and relevant course content and pedagogical tools.