upGrad makes online convocation mainstream; enables leading universities from India and the US to join the bandwagon
Mumbai: After hosting the largest online convocation in 21 years with IIIT Bangalore, followed by two more large-scale ceremonies last year, upGrad, South Asia’s largest online higher edtech, takes the bar one notch higher. Most recently, the international edtech leader conducts two back-to-back online graduation ceremonies with the leading offline universities like NMIMS Global (India) and Duke CE (US) for over 800 learners, collectively. This also marks the first ‘live convocation’ for both the universities.
Kicking off the last weekend with NMIMS Global on Saturday, the first lot felicitated learners for competing in their online MBA (Executive) Program with a specialisation in Business Analytics. Gracing the event, the ceremony welcomed Mr. Rajiv Shah – Director and CEO, NMIMS Global and Mr. Deep Thomas – Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Aditya Birla Group, along with the Co-founder & MD of upGrad – Mayank Kumar.
Commenting on the successful convocation, Rajiv Shah, Director, and CEO, NMIMS Global, commented, “The road to success is littered with grit and failure and I must acknowledge that each learner has done a fantastic job of balancing their career, overcoming roadblocks, and successfully undergoing the intense academic program which is powered by upGrad at NMIMS Global.”
This was followed by the second online convocation, in partnership with Duke CE on Sunday, thus felicitating learners for completing the Product Management Certification Program. The event was another blockbuster with guests like Mr. John A Davis – Regional MD, Duke CE, Mr. Manik Gupta – Ex-Chief Product Officer, Uber – Ex-Google Maps, and Mr. Chinmayi Bettadapur, Senior Director, Product Management at Salesforce, along with Mr. Ankit Nakra, alumni of PM Duke CE and upGrad, on the panel.
Talking about Product Management as a chosen career option, Chief guest Manik Gupta, Investor, Advisor, Founder, Ex-Chief Product Officer, Uber, Ex-Google Maps said, “The role of a PM is rather ambiguous and that’s OK. You lead with the overall vision and strategy. You are the voice of the customer and responsible for both doing the right things and doing them right. Prioritization is your superpower. You champion the customer journeys, collect feedback, drive launch schedules, and product roadmaps. You sweat both the big picture and details.”
“Product Management is the voice of the market inside the company. It is you who are the truth-tellers to executive management, development, sales, and other parts of the company by synthesizing meaningful market data into actionable information,” added John A Davis, Regional MD, North America, Duke CE.
Moreover, the graduation ceremony in partnership with the Duke CE had special entertaining elements for the learners which included a live performance by Maati Baani, followed by a surprise video tribute by upGrad to its learners where students shared their journeys and their achievements with a montage of their tributes and photos.
Talking about the two successful online convocations of 2021, Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD added, “We not only want to help our learners as their LifeLongLearning partner to become industry-ready, but also encourage them to move closer to their dreams armed with knowledge, confidence, motivation, inspiration, and above all, skills that set them apart. Therefore, it thrills me to be a part of two of such grand events that celebrates our learners’ achievements and hard work they have put in to build a meaningful career. We’d like to thank both our partners, both, NMIMS Global and Duke CE for supporting us to make these a huge success.”
“Moreover, such online graduation ceremonies at large, also act as a motivation for many such aspirants who look forward to pursuing higher education but park it for a later date,” he concluded.