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Gedu College of Business Studies
Gedu College of Business Studies (GCBS) is a constituent college of the Royal University of Bhutan located at Gedu in Chukha dzongkhag at an altitude of around 2,500 metres. It was established in 2008 in former buildings of the Tala Hydropower Project township and is the principal undergraduate business school in the country.
Gedu College of Business Studies (GCBS), formally the Gaeddu College of Business Studies, is a constituent college of the Royal University of Bhutan. It is located at Gedu in Chukha dzongkhag at an altitude of approximately 2,500 metres on the highway between Phuentsholing and Thimphu. The college was established in 2008 and is the principal dedicated business school in Bhutan.[1]
The campus occupies around 184 acres of buildings originally constructed by the Tala Hydropower Project Authority as the headquarters complex of the 1,020 MW Tala plant. After completion of the Tala plant in 2007, the site was transferred to the Royal Government of Bhutan and converted into an educational institution following a recommendation of the National Assembly's 85th session. The transformation was carried out under the direction of project director Lhato Jamba.[2]
GCBS received an "A" accreditation from the Bhutan Accreditation Council in 2017 and became a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in 2019.
Origins
The establishment of a dedicated business college was first proposed by the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in the early 2000s, with the aim of consolidating the commerce and business management programmes that had previously been offered as part of Sherubtse College in Kanglung. The Department of Commerce of Sherubtse was transferred to the new college at Gedu when GCBS opened its doors in 2008.
The choice of Gedu was driven by the availability of the Tala Hydropower township buildings, which provided ready-made hostels, staff quarters, offices and recreational facilities at a campus already wired for power and connected by sealed road. The main administrative building, originally the headquarters of the Gedu Wood Manufacturing Company before being remodelled by the Tala authority, has been retained as the central office complex.
Programmes and academic structure
GCBS offers undergraduate programmes including the Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Business Management, Bachelor of Marketing (Digital and Communication), Bachelor of Human Capital Management, Bachelor of Accounting, Bachelor of Finance and Economics, and Bachelor of Business Intelligence.[3] Postgraduate offerings include a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in Development Economics.
The college's academic structure is built around departments covering business management, accounting and finance, economics, marketing, human resource management and information management. Teaching is conducted in English, with most undergraduate programmes running for four years.
Campus and student life
The Gedu campus is one of the largest in Bhutan by land area, with classroom blocks, laboratories, hostels, a library, a cafeteria and an indoor sports complex distributed across the former hydropower township. Because of its high elevation, the campus experiences cool summers and cold, occasionally snowy winters.
Total enrolment in recent years has ranged between 1,500 and 2,000 students drawn from across the country, with active student bodies organising events including the annual GCBS Business Festival and inter-college competitions in marketing, accounting and entrepreneurship. The college maintains exchange and collaboration agreements with universities in India, Thailand, Bangladesh and elsewhere in the region.
Place in Bhutanese higher education
GCBS is one of the principal sources of graduate-level human resources for Bhutan's financial sector, civil service and emerging private enterprises. Alumni feature prominently in the staff of the country's commercial banks, the Royal Monetary Authority, the Royal Securities Exchange, and large state-owned enterprises including Druk Holding and Investments.[4]
Practical information
- Location: Gedu, Chukha dzongkhag, Bhutan (approx. 2,500 m elevation, on the Phuentsholing–Thimphu highway)
- Affiliation: Constituent college of the Royal University of Bhutan
- Established: 2008
- Website: www.gcbs.edu.bt
References
View online: https://bhutanwiki.org/articles/gedu-college-of-business-studies · Content licensed CC BY-SA 4.0