Choosing the right institute to pursue an MBA can be a daunting task, especially, when you know your career rides on your decision. Hence, it is extremely important to make an informed and educated decision on what course will befit you and how it is going to help boost your career, what kind of accreditations the course offers, the pedigree of the faculty, and more. All these factors will be responsible for giving you a wholesome education and prepare you for the future you wish to have. 


What is an Accreditation? 

An accreditation means that an institution meets or exceeds a high standard of quality, competency, authority, or credibility acceptable by the accrediting body. This is an incredibly important facet of your degree as this will help while getting placed and advancing your career. At times a college or university may be accredited, but the programs offered by certain departments are not. So, it is imperative to do your research and ensure that the program chosen by you is accredited by a globally respected authority. It is also important that you have a clear understanding of the accrediting body and its integrity, credibility & demand in the industry. 
 

Globally accredited degrees in Built Environment 

We, at RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University, strive to offer degrees that will make a significant contribution to a student’s future. We are India’s first & only institution that offers RICS & PMI-GAC accredited courses. We are backed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which was founded 151 years ago in UK and today it is a globally recognised professional body that delivers confidence through respected global standards that are adopted and enforced by almost 135,000 qualified and trained professionals across the built and natural environment.  An accreditation that is recognised and accepted worldwide and preferred by employers across the globe is always a good advantage to have while choosing a degree for post-graduation.

The RICS School of Built Environment (RICS SBE), Amity University is an industry led academic institution which delivers specialized undergraduate and postgraduate programs to students aspiring to work in the real estate, construction and infrastructure sector. It also serves as a hub for research and development of technical expertise in the built environment.Established in 2013, RICS SBE is supported by leading real estate, construction & infrastructure firms as well as the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. It is a Department of Amity University’s Noida and Mumbai campuses. Set up in response to a strong call from the industry to address the challenge of the shortage of skilled professionals, the School aims to bridge the skills gap by delivering industry ready professionals.
 

Industry-led Curriculum 

The curriculum has been developed to meet the demands of employers who are looking for multi-dimensional, talented individuals who are ready to act as plug-and-play resources.The world class faculty is just the right mix of academia and experienced professionals from the industry thus ensuring that the students get practical as well as theoretical knowledge of this sector. There is an active engagement in the institute by industry veterans who visit the campus regularly and interact with the students giving them insights into industry practices. When the students graduate from the RICS SBE, they are industry ready and can step into their job roles without much hand holding. 
 

Internships and International exposure 

Summer internships are mandatory for all students. This gives them a fair understanding of job roles and what to expect in their careers. This also gives them hands-on practical knowledge of how various sectors within the construction & real estate industry works. The School goes to great lengths to organise these internships to give budding professionals real time exposure to the industry. Besides this, we have international student exchange programmes and domestic & international site visits to give them first-hand exposure of the sector. In addition, the students are given an opportunity to gain experience of the international built environment industry via tie-ups with reputed universities and travelling studios.  


A Future-ready Education

The built environment industry is fast moving towards automation. In fact, internationally, organisations have already adopted digital tools for enhanced delivery and profitability of a project. In India, automation in the construction industry is still at a nascent stage, but this sector is on the brink of a digital revolution. One of the key factors that sets this institution apart from the others is that they believe in delivering a futuristic education that looks beyond the requirement of the day. The highlights of our enhanced curriculum includes Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Digital Technologies, Cloud Computing, Virtual Reality and Big Data Analytics. 

The students here are trained in all industry related software like MS Project, CostX, Candy, Primavera etc. Building Information Modelling (BIM), Lean and Green Construction is the future of built spaces. RICS SBE Amity University is one of the very few institutes in India that has devoted a complete six-month module to teaching their students BIM. Lean construction and sustainable built spaces are also a part of the curriculum. For their dissertation, the students have to work on a Capstone project. They take up a prevailing issue in the industry that they work on throughout the year and suggest a solution or provide a framework for a solution, which adds value to their C.V. 

Placements 

We have a gamut of soft skills and grooming workshops before students actually sit for placement interviews. Mock interviews are held by guests from the industry so that students are confident and self-assured at the time of the actual interview. In addition to all this, they have a database of questions that have been asked by various organisations during a span of 5 years so that they can better prepare the students for the interview process. Year-after-year, we have managed to achieve excellence in placements by placing up to 100% of our batches. Over 500 organisations from the industry support us in recruitment by readily absorbing students. Owing to our accreditations, several students have been placed internationally and at competitive packages. Many Indian employers are increasingly preferring to recruit graduates with an RICS accredited qualification. On follow up with the alumni, one finds that they are adding value to organisations and to the industry at large. The future ready curriculum has led to some of the students being acclaimed as the “Graduate of the Year” in their organisations. 

Advantages of joining RICS 

When students join this institute, they have to enrol online and become Student members of RICS free of cost. On graduating, they enrol with RICS and become Trainee Members. After working on their chosen specialisation and having honed their skills for a minimum of two years, they are eligible to go through the process of becoming an MRICS. They have access to leadership forums and can network with almost 135,000 professionals from the industry. Members have free access to all events organised by RICS along with the advantage of participating in many exclusive member events.
There is a lot of status and recognition attached to an RICS qualification especially in the international market. In India even the Ministry of Human Resource Development recognises MRICS and many clients specifically demand an MRICS professional for their work. The MacDonald Survey 2019 shows that MRICS professionals earn 12.5% more than the others at the APAC level. A degree from RICS SBE Amity University is clearly a degree with a difference that sets one many paces ahead of the competition. 

By Ashwani Awasthi
MD – RICS Schools of Built Environment,
Amity University