IBA Town Hall: The First Initiative of its kind.

Reading Time : 2 minutes

The Institute of Business Administration hosted a Town Hall on the 23^rd of October, 2020 from 3 – 5 PM. This interactive session between the pupils and the executive director was conducted to show that IBA is “listening for continuous improvement”. Alongside the ED, the students also interacted with members of the Student Liaison Committee, Anti-Harassment Committee, Disciplinary Committee, and Registrar. This conversation took place to bridge the gap which was only magnified over the last six months.

In the next few minutes, I will present my opinion of the Town Hall and how it could be done better the next time around.

To begin with, how was the Town Hall beneficial?

Firstly, it was symbolic of the effort that the administration is making to reach out to the student body. It was also similar to another event conducted at IBA wherein The CM was invited for a talk with the students. Their main focus was that students should be actively involved in the decision making that concerns them. Secondly, this initiative is the first of its kind and the students feel that our voices may finally be heard. Thirdly, the nature of the conversation which took place in the session was largely candid; Students discussed very sensitive and personal issues and were promised that things would change for the better.

The administration seemed interested in learning about the concerns that the students had and solving these concerns as well. We were also informed of certain improvements that will take place such as building a new girls hostel and improving the on-campus eateries.

Next, how was the Town Hall counterproductive?

Firstly, despite the administration’s interest in resolving problems, their solutions were vague and not what the students were looking for. More often than not, the remedies to our problems were aimed at “what” and not “how”. To clarify, the questions being asked were focused on, ‘what can we do to fix this?’ rather than, ‘how can we ensure this doesn’t happen again?’. Secondly, another Town Hall, tentatively on the 30^th of November, was agreed upon which shows the administration’s willingness to take accountability for their actions. Thirdly, due to the pandemic, a lot of students attended the Town Hall over Zoom and this resulted in issues that ranged from being muted at crucial points in the discussion to not having their questions acknowledged.

Finally, what can be done better next time?

Firstly, the administration can start by updating us on how the changes, those discussed, will be implemented. Secondly, the number of students who turned up was poor so this can be rectified. As students, we have a variety of issues with IBA and this is a great opportunity to have them resolved.