The world is a global market, with continuous transactions, not only financially but physically and emotionally as well. With the principle of giving and taking getting stronger, it won’t be an overstatement to say that every aspect of life involves business, be it relationships or market deals.
Where business factors have surrounded lives, it has become a necessity to learn and understand. Business studies not only help in better management but also in the development of one’s personality and character, along with creating a strong sense of understanding and establishing oneself as an entrepreneur. The cherry on top is the gift to society, as a developed individual leads to the development of society and the nation as a whole.
This business development of an individual comes with hard work and proper guidance as the only way to success is not the road straight ahead but the area surrounding it as well. It involves an individual being responsible for every factor of his surroundings, including the ecosystem, society and, of course, personal development, its venture. These requirements are not person specific but the need of industries, as there is a constant chase of finding better managing personalities with a passion for work and people.
Contributing to the world, catering to the industry needs and supporting the new innovative talent is the Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Situated in Belihuloya, Shri Lanka, the institution is accredited as an “A” Graded Faculty, with its all seven-degree programs, by the Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Currently, under the guidance of its Dean, Prof. Athula Gnanapala, the university has achieved remarkable success.
Let’s get an insight into the institution and know more about this amazing university.
The Management Saga
The Faculty of Management Studies—previously known as the Faculty of Business Studies—was established in 1996, offering a three-year degree in Accountancy and Finance and Business Management. Later in 2003, the degree program was extended to four years along with the change of name to what it is today.
2006 introduced the new Department of Tourism Management to the institution, followed by the Department of Marketing Management in 2008. This catered to the emergency industry needs of the time and provided major milestones in the institution’s journey.
Today the faculty has expanded its academic service by introducing postgraduate degree programs, MBA (General, Finance, Marketing, and Tourism) and M.Sc. in Ayurvedic Hospital Management, in collaboration with the Faculty of Graduate Studies to afford the educational qualifications to the industry practitioner.
Achieving remarkable success, the institution has conducted the ‘Interdisciplinary Conference of Management Researchers (ICMR)’ from 2016 for the 6th consecutive year in 2021. Along with this, the university also collaborated with Emerald Publishing as one of the major research conferences in the management stream.
Contributing and opening the door for young researchers, Management Undergraduates’ Research Session (MURS) was started in 2019 by FMS in collaboration with the Young Scientists Forum.
Plotting the Story: Mission, Vision, Values
The university makes an effort and works in accordance with its vision and values, ensuring the development of the students and faculty. The institution envisions to be the most innovative and eco-efficient centre of excellence in higher education and research in management studies in the South Asian region. The core values of the institution uphold this vision.
FMS’s core values are Integrity, Collaboration and Synergy, Quality Consciousness, Respect, Inclusivity, Accountability and Sustainability, Community, Creativity, and Innovation. Abiding by these values, the university has established itself in a prominent position, supporting its mission to become the leading innovative and sustainable centre of excellence in higher education and research in the region.
An Inspiring Leader
The institution was led under the leadership of Mr M.Y.M. Siddique, the first dean of the institution, who, today, is succeeded by Prof. Athula Gnanapala from 2017 up to date.
Prof. Gnanapala has played a significant role in uplifting the quality of the faculty as a visionary leader. The FMS has obtained great achievement, specially awarded ‘A’ grades for all degree programs as a major milestone in its historical evolution under his leadership.
Further, all four heads of the departments heading the seven-degree program, namely Prof. Dunusinghe G. Dharmarathna, Mr Achintha Ekanayake, Dr Sarath Munasinghe, and Mr D. Jasinghe, are playing significant roles in the success of the FMS in many ways.
Education Policies
FMS looks forward to the implementation of educational quality-oriented policies to bridge the gap and uplift the overall productivity of the faculty. It further tends to focus on outcome-based education and student-centred learning.
The institution’s Teaching and Learning Policy focuses on adapting to provide a world-class learning experience to the undergraduate by adopting novel techniques and methods, focusing on global employability requirements.
The FMS has banned the usage of single-use plastic as a policy considering its devastating effect on the natural environment. Quality Policy focuses on uplifting the faculty’s overall quality, aligning with the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001:2018 international standards and the UGC Quality Assurance Framework (QAF).
The Diversity Management Policy focuses on providing inclusive management of diversities associated with ethnicity, race, gender, and their intersections.
Further, FMS focus on conducive environmental Policy to provide a learning environment setting that allows for a free flow of ideas, thoughts, and concepts between the teachers and learners without disturbances.
Gender Equity and Equality (GEE) Policy aims to provide equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender and to avoid sexual and gender-based violence.
The Differently-abled Policy aims to promote and protect the rights of differently-abled students and staff of FMS.
The FMS is committed to being sustainable by managing the environmental impact associated with towards reduction and prevention, adopting best practices, and sustainably conducting our operation processes, thoughtful, sustainable focus on strategical planning and top management decisions making thorough the Policy on sustainability.
Programs Out of the Box
FMS is the only institution offering BSc. Honours in EcoBusiness Management in South Asian Region, and the course is focused on producing environmentally conscious managers for the industry setting. This innovative degree program provides an insight into the sustainable aspects of related areas such as environmental management, energy and industrial resource management, natural resource management and environmental law, environmental footprint, resource efficient cleaner production, eco-design and life cycle assessment, eco-labelling, and green procurement based on the solid foundation on principles of management.
BSc. Honours in Tourism Management, BSc. Honours in Hospitality Management and BSc. Honours in Banking & Insurance degree programs provided by the institution are unique to the country.
Investment in Personalities
FMS knows the importance of education in and outside the classrooms; hence, it actively tries to provide opportunities to its students for participation in various activities, including different campaigns like tree plantations and beach cleaning events. The institution also organises musical events and art festivals, sportsmanship development events, community and school development and corporate social responsibility projects, and language camps.
While conducting the events, the undergraduate students are given the responsibility of planning, organising, and executing under faculty supervision. This helps to sharpen the leadership and managerial skills of students.
The institution also provides internships and subject-oriented company visits for better exposure to the students.
Internships are a compulsory component in the academic curriculum of degree programs. The company visits are organised to get industry exposure to modules. The knowledge infused during these visits is examined in the continuous assessment and in the semester-based examinations.
Personalisation of Education
The FMS provides a unique learning experience for students through its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Moreover, as a personalised learning program, FMS provides undergraduate research under expert supervision. The major challenge is the time-consuming process for the academic staff and research supervisors.
Supervised internships also provide academic mentoring to grab more practical knowledge and help students in a better way.
Fertilising the Soil
FMS initiates the sharpening of industry knowledge and skills to increase employability and uplift the mental preparedness of the undergraduates. To achieve this, the university has adopted various approaches that include Organizing Carrier Fairs, Industry Collaborative Projects, Personality Development Workshops, Undergraduate Research Sessions, Counselling and Mentoring programs, and MOU with professional bodies.
Envisioning the future
The FMS envisions excelling in terms of quality, sustainability, health, and safety with ISO certifications and being a model faculty to all other higher education institutes.
