Report of first year PG social work induction Programme 2017 Organised by Department of Social Work

The Department of Social Work organized four day Induction Programme for MSW (Clinical and Community Practice) and MSW (Human Resource Development and Management) students from 7^th June to 10^th June, 2017. 

Departmental Induction programme started with welcoming the newly joined students 7^th June, 2017 which was carried out by lighting the lamp to inaugurate the course by Dr Victor Paul, the Head of the Department, Dr Hemalatha K, Course coordinator, MSW HRDM, Dr Sheeja Karalam, Course coordinator, MSW CCP, and students from I MSW HRDM and CCP.

Dr Victor Paul introduced the Departmental Vision and Mission, relevance of research and gave information about the University and Department in General. He emphasised on the need to foster the students of the department to the global perspectives existing in this Liberalised, Privatised and Globalised world.

A Panel Discussion was organised for CCP students by experts who took the stage to introduce the students the practice area of Social work field. The stage was graced by Mrs Eliza Pereira (HOD, Medico Social Work Department, St. Johns Medical College Hospital), Dr Ashok M V (HOD, Psychiatric Social Work Department, St. Johns Medical College Hospital), Mr. Naveen Thomas from Headstreams and Fr. Edward Thomas from Dream India Network. This session gave students a broad picture of the development concerns of the country and the need for social work interventions.

The session related to interaction with Industry experts involved three experts from industry.  Mr Ashok Thammiah (Head HR, Schneider Ltd) spoke extensively about the needs of the industry and also explaned to the students about the student chapter of National Institute of Personnel Management ( NIPM).  He encouraged the students to form a student chapter.  Mr Madhukar Bhat (Head HR, TE limited) brought out the attributes that HR students should have to enter industry successfully.   He integrated social work theory with attributes of HR officers.  Ms Anuradha Valluri  spoke about the emerging field of CSR and her experiences in Time India Foundation

Later in the afternoon an orientation visit was organised for all the students. Students were taken to the Children’s home run by Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), Government of Karnataka. Students were divided into 2 groups and they visited and interacted with inmates and staff members of Government Boys Home, Government Girls Home and Shishu Mandir.  The orientation visit was focused more on understanding the field of Child Welfare with special reference to Children in difficult circumstances.  Ms Supriya, Project Director gave an orientation to students after the visit to the centres.

The I semester MSW HRDM students along with two faculty members (Prof Bharathi and Dr Princy Thomas) visited BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), on 8^th June, which is located in Thippasandra, near HAL, Bangalore. BEML is a Public Sector Undertaking which operates under three major Business verticals - viz. Mining & Construction, Defence and Rail & Metro. Students visited the Rail & Metro division. The students reached the place at 1.00 pm and they were divided into three groups. Few staff from HR department took the students for plant visit. Later, they got an opportunity to interact with the personnel from Human Recourse department. The manger was able to give a lot of information and answer the queries.  Overall it was a very interesting and informative visit for the students.

The second day (8^th June) started with introduction to CSA by Mrs Phinu Jose, Director of CSA. Students were informed about the projects of CSA, child sponsorship, possibilities for internships and other collaborations with Centre for Social Action. The change that is being carried out by CSA at the environmental, social and societal level brings out the consciousness of the University in extending back to the society. This opened the vast area of work that the Social Work students can contribute to this initiative taken up by Christ University. 

The next session was an interaction session with the Alumni’s of Christ University of the MSW Clinical and Psychiatry department. Ms Anila J, Ms Geetanjali S, Ms Vasandra S Nair and Mr Anwar Sadath were present on the panel for the same. According to them, MSW is just a beginning of their journey to build a successful career and there ought to be much more to this learning. Further they talked about their experience at Christ University. They emphasized on how there exists a two-fold components, namely a theoretical base and planning that one needs to uphold in the course for the next two years at Department of Social Work, Christ University. They concluded their talk by saying that good knowledge and experience should go hand in hand, only then one would be able to be successful in life and pave the way for self-satisfaction. 

The I semester MSW HRDM students got an opportunity to interact with their alumnus Mr Kevin Martis - Sr. Executive at Apotex Research Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore and Mr Sarvesh - Executive at CGI, Bangalore on 8^th June. Both the alumni shared their experiences they had at Christ University especially their learnings in the Social Work department. They also shared lot of information about their present job, job opportunities available for freshers, how to groom and many more tips on employment. The students were able to have good rapport with their seniors and clarified a lot of doubts.

Next session in the induction programme was on Service Learning facilitated by Dr Victor Paul, HoD, Department of Social work. Dr Victor Paul gave detailed information about the objectives, methodology and the evaluation of service learning undertaken by the students.

Later the students had their orientation visit to Parivarthana (waste management) Project and Water Harvesting Unit of CSA and interaction with the Staff. This session gave students an understanding about various socially relevant programmes initiated by Christ University under the banner of social responsibility as a core value of the Institution.

The day ended with an ice breaking activity that was organised for students to be familiar with each other. Mr Jaikumar, Social Work Alumnus of Christ University facilitated that session. All the students participated enthusiastically in all the activities.

The third day’s induction programme started with Dr Victor Paul talking about the department’s expectation from the students in terms of Academic, Extracurricular and co-curricular activities. General discipline and department’s policies were explained to the students during this session.

In the next session, students had a wonderful opportunity to get familiarized with the centres functioning at Christ University. Resource Persons from Security services, Centre for Counselling and Health Services, Centre for Academic and Professional Support, Centre for Advance Research and Training, Student Welfare Office, Centre for Concept Design and Placement addressed students.  They explained about the services they offer for the students and faculty of Christ University.

An orientation visit to St Johns Medical College Hospital was conducted to familiarize the students with the Medico Social Work Department and Psychiatry Department. This was a ground reality check for the students on witnessing the role of a social worker in the medical field of the various speciality centres of St John’s Medical College Hospital. The visit was guided by Dr Mary Tariang and Mr Amaresha C.

Last day of the Induction Programme started with orienting students about the electives offered in the first semester and discussing about the syllabus of each elective. Dr Mary Tariang presented briefly on ‘Introduction to Teaching Learning Methodology: Project Based Learning through self-study, Skill and competency Building and Journal Club’.

The Induction Programme ended with the orientation visit of students to LR Nagar Project area of Centre for Social Action where the students had Transect Walk in the community, interaction with community members, activity centre and transit school children and project staff. Dr Amaresha C and Mr Cyril John coordinated the visit.

This induction programme gave an opportunity to students to get familiarized with their course structure. It was also a support for students to prepare effectively to meet the demands of their course and eventual career path. The sessions provided all sorts of information on respective roles of students and teaching faculty at the University.