Alumni Meet 2009

‘Alumni Meet 2009’ Date: 22 August 2009 Venue: Convention Centre, Naoroji Campus, TISS ‘Traveling down the memory lane is not all black 'n white. Travelling down the memory lane is not all lacking light Travelling down the memory lane is not eyes filled with tears. Travelling down the memory lane is a test of time and mind Travelling down the memory lane is a ‘joy’ of its kind’ It is to rekindle this joy in the hearts of our alumni that the ‘Alumni Meet 2009’ was organised by the students of School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Being the first of its kind in many ways, the event was wellpublicised since the last two months through invitations sent by post, e-mail and personal visits. An interesting by product of this process was the re-organisation of the alumni database. To say that we had an overwhelming response would be an understatement. With the number of registrations exceeding 90 and spanning various batches of MHA and DHA students, the event was a grand success by the sheer number of distinguished alumni who have attended it. The escorted campus tours began at 4pm and as more and more people arrived, the TISS campus was suddenly bustling with activity and spates of laughter as the senior batches reminisced the good old days, some standing near the reception/help desk which was manned by two sweet ladies of the current batch. At the reception, every alumnus was greeted with a rose and a schedule for the evening’s program was provided. As administrators and healthcare managers left their offices from various parts of Mumbai, preparations for the formal session began at the TISS Convention Centre. Following a round of refreshments, the guests were escorted to the convention centre along with Dr Parsuraman, Director, TISS and Dr CAK Yesudian, Dean, School of Health Systems Studies. The esteemed faculty members were also present at the event. The formal function began at 6 pm with the welcome address and a round of floral greetings presented to the dignitaries on the dais – Dr Parasuraman, Dr Yesudian and Dr More Patil – President of the Alumni Association. This was followed by an opening addresss by Dr Yesudian where he highlighted contemporary issues in the School of Health Systems and its transition in recent years. He also stressed the importance of the election for Alumni Association Office bearers which has been due for the last two years. Another concern raised was with regard to the funding of the documentation cell. He ended the talk by thanking Dr Parasuraman for playing an instrumental role in the reorganisation of various schools and courses. Following this, Dr Parasuraman addressed the audience and received a lot of cheer as he mentioned the construction of new hostels for students at TISS which would increase the

present accomodation capacity by about 140. Dr More Patil, who has been the president of the alumni association for many years set the tone for subsequent discussions by highlighting the major concerns of the SHSS alumni association and reasons for it to have reached the present ‘state of neglect’. Dr Patil’s talk was followed by the ‘launch of the TISS School of Health Systems Studies website’. A click by Dr Parasuraman and the students of SHSS ‘batch of 2008’ and ‘batch of 2009’ entered the virtual world. The website ‘www.shss.tiss.edu’ would act as a window to the profiles of the current batches and events like ‘Clairvoyance’. The inspirational speeches were followed by a group discussion of 20 minutes on the theme ‘Strengthening the alumni network.’ For the sake of convenience, all the alumni were divided into pre-conceived groups within which they discussed on how knowledge and experience could be shared on a common platform by the various batches and disseminated to the TISS Alumni Community. This form of experience sharing could be a source of personal and professional growth for all TISSians and also provide a social network for like-minded people having common interests. Outside the convention centre too, there were important activities happening. The registration of the alumni as they arrived and the display of souvenirs in the form of TISS SHSS Keychains and T-Shirts. Express Healthcare has offered a free 1 year subscription to all alumni present at the event. Following the discussion, a representative was nominated by each of the ten groups to summarise the salient features of their discussion on stage. The most important themes that emerged include: 1. Formation of regional alumni chapters and strengthening them by having quarterly meetings to discuss pertinent issues & have workshops on topics like management development. The association would include alumni from MHA, DHA and MPH Batches. 2. Setting up of a corpus to fund activities such as the alumni meet. The corpus would be created through the fees collected from alumni who apply for life membership of the alumni association and voluntary contributions in cash and kind. Views have also been expressed on making the life membership compulsory. 3. Launching an official alumni association website which would be restricted to members. The site would act as a platform to display alumni information (with self-registration tab), job opportunities in healthcare and share live experiences through a blog. 4. Nomination of a faculty member from TISS School of Health Systems Studies to co-ordinate alumni activities and formation of a core group in subsequent final year MHA and MPH batches to organise such events in the future. 5. Launch of an alumni e-newsletter to disseminate information on current healthcare issues, TISS events and also serve as a medium to honour deserving persons with awards like lifetime achievement and budding talents.

6. Strengthening of the current alumni database with compulsory updation of information by alumni of all batches that have passed from the institute since the initiation of Centre for Health Studies. Creation of a group within each batch which would be responsible for the same. 7. Apart from immediate professional advantages, a recognition of the long term gains of having a strong alumni network which include collaboration and associations for research. Various speakers stressed on the significance of the TISS brand and discussed the importance of recognition of TISSians in their own organisations. They also hinted the current batch students to maximally leverage the opportunities provided by the institute during their short stay. The group discussion was followed by the unveiling of Clairvoyance 2009 by the Clairvoyance Representative and a brief introduction was provided to the alumni about this year’s logo, theme, sub-themes and prospective audience and sponsors. The theme for this year’s Clairvoyance is ‘Capacity building in healthcare’.As the presentation ended, various constructive suggestions poured in from the audience as to how the event could be made more successful through a systematic approach using the principles of Management by Objectives (MBO). The views of previous Clairvoyance representatives were particulary important in this regard. Some of the suggestions were as follows: 1. Narrowing down the present list of sub-themes to 4-5 which would help in improving focus and attracting specific prospective sponsors 2. Use of newer methods of funding such as distribution of ‘SHSS course outline booklets’ that would be specifically targeted towards aspirants. 3. Increasing presence of students on stage rather than in back stage activities. 4. Attempting to make the event relevant to different groups of audience and stakeholders. Engrossed in diligent discussions and ideas, the gathering lost track of time and dinner was finally announced at 8:30 pm. An array of Indian delicacies awaited the alumni as they were escorted to the buffet tables at the green room and the convention centre lounge. While threads of memory joined together some groups, there were others who tried to build new relations with colleagues in the industry. The place was abuzz with activity and the TISS Department of Health Studies appeared like one large family. As dinner ended, the alumni were escorted back to the Convention Centre for the final session on ‘experience sharing’. It was conducted by the lively Dr Kanchan, to whom we are extremely thankful. The idea was to bring out expert advice and suggestions from our alumni on the opportunities available in the healthcare industry based on their rich experience. Questions were fielded by student s on various issues ranging from ‘Public Health and the scope of the MPH course’ to ‘newer opportunities for health administrators in fields like clinical research’. It was a truly stimulating experience for the students and they walked out much more enlightened than they had entered the hall.

‘All good things come to an end.’ Reluctantly, the experience sharing session was ended at about 10:30 pm and it was time for us to say goodbye. The illuminated faces of the students and alumni spoke volumes about the ‘feel good’ factor that the event had created. Kudos to the Alumni Coordination Committee for all the hardwork that went behind the success of this event. A similar appreciation goes to all the students of SHSS who worked in different ways to make the ‘alumni meet 2009’ a memorable experience for all of us. Compiled by: Dr. Altaf Faiyaz, MHA(2008-10)

Alumni Co-ordination Committee

(from left: Vaibhav, Sandeep, Nikita, Anamika, Sujay & Mohit)