Arun Aravind

As the retiring Chief Operating Officer of BITSAA International, I have had the privilege of working with the cream of BITSians who are not just passionate & dedicated, but also selfless and highly capable. To start off one must realize, nobody in this organization gets paid, all are volunteers and are internally called BITSAA Leaders. The level of enthusiasm and dedication shown by the BITSAA Leaders will be at the same level as in any of the best organisations in the world, because each of the BITSAA Leaders are either already leading dynamic organisations or of the caliber to do so in future.

In 2010 the total number of BITSAA Leaders crossed 100, a fair share of this number come under the “Operations Preview” (others go into Technology, Communications, Investments, Human Resources, Campus Relations, Finance, Fundraising Teams). BITSAA operations include all initiatives undertaken by BITSAA International like BITS2Bschools, BITS@MsPhd, BITS2Marathon, Scholarships, Lets Promote Bits Pilani (LPBP), BITS.aid, BITSAA CEL (Center for Entrepreneurship Learning), Out of the Blue Initiatives.This number of initiatives is ever growing with time, as alumni show interest in giving back to the community using ever more creative initiative ideas.

Each initiative listed here is worthy of many blog posts themselves, starting with the story of the people who initially had the idea, to how BITSAA got into the picture and made the wonderful ideas a long term sustainable initiative, that lives way past the initial enthusiasm of the initiatives founders. What we have accomplished in BITSAA International over the years is a system where the various initiatives use the support teams like Technology, Communications etc to be accountable, simplify the processes & to add incremental value, to what the initiative targeted to do.

BITSAA International’s operations are controlled by a weekly Sunday conference call presided over by either the CEO, COO or the VP of Operations. All BITSAA Leaders are welcome to attend these calls, and listen into and participate in the discussions, it is over these calls that each team presents their plans for the year, budget are made, key decisions are debated over and announced. Other than these weekly Sunday calls, each team usually has an internally scheduled call to discuss the internal functions and to delegate work amongst themselves.

The new COO

I will use this opportunity to say, that I consider myself extremely privileged to have worked amongst such a talented and selfless group, my passion for BITS pilani really has grown many fold since I joined BITSAA International, this passion & enthusiasm is truly infectious. And my congratulations to Rohit Koul who is taking over as the Chief Operating Officer.

Regards

Arun Aravind                                                                     BITS Batch: 1997-01                                                           Richmond, VA