Decent International Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata, Principal: Ms. Soma Dutta Interview

Ms. Soma Dutta has been working as the Principal of Decent International Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata, West Bengal. She has an amazing 12 years of academic and 5 years of industrial experience. As part of her academics, she has done PG Diploma in Accommodation Operation from IHM Taratala and PG Diploma in Business administration from IMM.

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

"Happiness, satisfaction and learning opportunities I receive while educating students are the best factors"

I am fortunate to be associated with the educational sector as I truly believe that this is the sector which shapes up the structure of any city as it nourishes and develops the minds of the young aspiring students and I like contributing towards it.

What is your philosophy of leadership?

"A true leader knows how to convert a vision into reality by using team skills"

I firmly believe that true leadership is all about inculcating a belief system that guides your decision-making and it mainly consists of one's core principles, perspectives and values. Also, a leader is calm, positive, knows how to achieve desired goals with available resources and people and always open to suggestions coming from others. And I also follow the same principle while dealing and working with people of different mindset. 

How do you strategize the key programs for the marketing and administration of your College?

"We use our social media accounts and website of our college to stay connected with people"

For the purpose of enhancing our presence among the outside world and potential future students, we stay connected with them through our social media handles, website and we basically use user-generated posts, videos, blogs to tell the outside world about our achievements, establishment, education methodologies and courses. Apart from this, our main aim is to do student focused and data based marketing, and die the same we regularly invest in consistent and meaningful social media Ads.

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How does the curriculum of your college ensure the best practices of industry?

"We use latest technologies in our education practices and develop curriculum in accordance with industry needs"

The curriculum of our college is designed very carefully and executed in a planned and structured way as this kind of approach plays a significant role in the success of an institution, its students and teachers. Also, we have adopted best teaching practices and have involved the latest Information and Communication Technologies by using web based teaching and smart boards. Lastly, events and activities like seminars, quizzes, group discussions, educational tours and visits are organized by us on a regular basis and students' knowledge is assessed by assigning them a wide variety of tests and assignments. And students are trained and made industry ready with the support of well-prepared and qualified educators.

What are your roles and responsibilities for the institute and students?

"I am responsible for ensuring best facilities and industrial exposure for students"

Being the Principal of Decent International Institute of Hotel Management, the scope of my responsibilities is very vast, challening an dynamic in nature. And I am basically responsible for ensuring students receive the best quality education, amenities, research facilities and industrial exposure in our college. In addition to this, I need to ensure that classes are conducted on time and students attend them daily and the infrastructure of our college is updated as and when required. Also, I am accountable to work for improving our college reputation, guide my students whenever they get stuck somewhere, fix their academic and non-academic issues and queries on time with the support of our highly qualified and experienced faculty members. Last but not least, maintaining good relationships with other academic institutions, universities and industries and helping faculties members to upskill themselves in accordance with changing technologies, trends and developments of industrial and educational sectors also comes under the scope of my responsibilities.

What do you think should be the college’s top priority over the next 10 years?

"We should work to bring back the focus of students and remove the online mode of learning"

Few crucial years have been lost in this pandemic and our educational system was brought to a standstill. Also, I don't believe in online classes and our students as well as teachers have started taking advantage of it and the result is negatively impacting the entire educational system of our college. In addition to this, our students have lost interest in studies and feel unmotivated all the time, so our focus in upcoming years should be to revive our education system and bring back its lost glory to offer a bright and secure future to students and college. 

What do you see as your College’s greatest strengths?

"Our college modern infrastructure, environment we offer to students and faculty makes us strong"

The main pillars of our college strength are the original and creative learning and growth environment we have created for our students, and detail and employment oriented education we offer to them. Apart from this, our students who are curious, perseverant, socially aware and ethically and emotionally strong, are the main source of our strength as we exist due to them and their brilliant academic results only adds to the reputation of our college. Overall, everyone who works for us or works with us makes us strong and resilient over time. 

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Any suggestions which you would like to give to the current youth and aspiring students?

"World has become more unpredictable nowadays, hence take good care of your and your close ones"

While the entire world is trying to win this battle against Covid, somehow I feel that it is a great time to start something because we all have hit a low which none of us have seen in our lives. We could never imagine that life will change so much and the economy will be hit so much. Hence, I would like to advise my students and youths of our society to develop their skills and build a career through which they can work for the society and help people improve their lifestyle. Limitless opportunities are present in the outside world, you just need to look for the one which suits your skills, interest areas and passion, make best use of time and resources available to you and take good care of yourself, your family members and friends.