JC: We were not able to interview any of the Presidential candidates.
Director: They are now very clearly aware of what we expect from them. Very simple, honest, transparent with the students and with the administration. That’s the way forward. Honesty, I’ve made it very clear that they should not have any corruption or scam. I said that for at least one year, if they set up the thing properly, then other people will start following them. They can change things completely. Because they are not here just to conduct the fest. There are other activities as well. There is no academic-related thing (in their manifestos).
We told them that every month we will have a meeting with them to understand the students’ issues. That’s why we said that it should be very transparent, and another thing: accountability for everything.
You people, whatever you want, do you share with them?
JC: Accountability is a big question mark.
There are three main things I said. Transparency. Honesty. And accountability.
JC: We share a lot of things. Their answer is always something like “admin BT happened”, at least that was the case last year.
Director: Now, we said very clearly, if you are transparent with us, we are transparent with you. Whatever support you need, we are there.
As of now, we have a different kind of administrative structure. We have a senior general manager for estate management.
JC: Oh yeah, we got an email from infrastructure and planning.
Director: We are trying to fix it. Another thing is that we will take some more time. We are trying to fix it, but in a very proper way. You say the process and everything should be streamlined and all these things. It is a big system which is. And another thing is that you say I am not doing anything for this many days, suddenly you are asking me to do this. It will lead to all these things. So we are trying to fix this slowly. We will take some more time.
JC: Also one more thing like this is something a lot of the student body has mentioned because the same vendor makes the food in ANC in the evening where we have to pay and they’re questioning the disparity. That is an issue of mass production.
Director: For information, the next person (vendor) wants 190 rupees per day.
JC: So if they can ensure quality, I think most people here would be willing to pay.
Director: So now maybe we may spend almost 1 crore rupees for the students’ side, so that you have to give 150 rupees. This will subsidize the cost for the students. But if that fellow is going to do well, maybe they will take up running messes on all campuses.
JC: Sir, why do we elect anyone for that matter? We don’t have a choice.
Director: A few weeks back, they changed the menu in these 6 months. They didn’t change the menu; only the days were changed.
JC: Yes, sir. That is how the mess menu changes have worked since my first year.
Director: No, no. Before COVID, every month there would be changes to the menu. I used to eat all my food at the mess. You just have to educate your SMC.
Dean: So the new SMC will be in place, right?
JC: Yes, sir. They have been elected. But it is always the same cycle. They say that they will change something. They put all of that in the manifestos and then later, when they get elected.
JC: Yeah, we got a power backup in Vishwakarma. Apart from that, I think recently Vivek sir had sent an email that AC in the common room hours are also there from 10.30 to 4 pm. So the conditions are getting better. VK and VM finally have backup.
Dean: We got a better system in place to address the maintenance issues.
JC: This we did not mention last time. So the RO is there in the LTC lobby. Is it fixed now? One of them is working, I think, while the other isn’t. So there is never water coming out of it. Also, the water itself tastes vaguely rusty, so I don’t think anyone gets their water from there. This is from a month back.
Dean: What we are consciously doing is we are asking all the offices to avoid bottled water. They will have to get the water from the existing water coolers. Which also means they will also kind of fix it. We have started with our offices as an example, so that it will start penetrating every other office for sustainability. Avoiding all single-use plastic is also something that we are consciously encouraging every office to do. Once we start using all these things automatically, they will find a way to fix it.
JC: Because a lot of the time, the flushes do not work. Let’s say even if there is a cosmetic issue, that is fine, but sometimes even the flush does not work for a few stalls or something. So, I think there is a big fundamental problem somewhere in the system.
A checklist is there. We will go by ownership and accountability of people; we will have to document these issues.
And another thing we promised last time. (Referring to Impartus)
Yeah. We had actually made a committee of the HODs of the largest departments consciously, because while in principle, when we talked, they had the same view as us. After the discussion with the faculty members, with more importance on the Computer Science, Economics, Finance departments, etc., whose committee members were there, we had a larger interaction with many faculty members. Unfortunately, more than 80% of the faculty members were not very positive about continuing Impartus.
While we tried our best to do it, beyond a point, we were not able to convince our own colleagues. So, that is why while we have a different view, at some point we need to take the people along, and we don’t push things, so the consensus building is taking time.
JC: If you do not mind my interrupting, what was the reason why 80% say no to Impartus, because these are the same professors who have been here for like the past 4-5 years, at least I can assume.
They have been used to Impartus being part of the system. So, their lectures were being uploaded, and mostly we were studying from their lectures as well. So, what was this sudden change?
We still have a struggle in the consensus building of getting people along to get convinced to say that this is something we open up to students.
So, somewhere we would want to have this kind of dialogue from the students, to have more professors on this topic, where they understand the student perspective of this site (Impartus) as well. So, that is the primary aspect we are trying to take along, which today, is something that we are finding very, very difficult.
JC: It will be very difficult for us to convince.
Yeah, it is not specifically you or something like this; time and time again, you will find out on multiple occasions where we would possibly do this. So, if you ask me as a teacher, I would want to give all the resources to the student, and it is for the student to decide in today’s time, how they want to use it ultimately for the purpose for which they are here. In this digital world, we find it very restrictive in terms of access to content.
That is where it tends to become. Primarily, the faculty was time and time again linking it to the students’ physical presence in the classroom.
JC: Sir, like there is this one thing about BITS also, where like most of us are occupied in a lot of other curricular activities.
I could have had access to those lectures and instead of going after friends, looking up things online, it would have taken me like a day to catch up and get back on track, but right now those kinds of resources are also not available, but it was there. Our only point is that it was part of the system earlier.
So, we just wanted to be part of the system in the future as well, although there was a brief phase when it was not there. So, that is the only argument we have. We do not mind going to class.
I will come to your side and continue to do a lot of arguments. As I told you, I was the one who put in the proposal to start it.
From there it went to other campuses as well. So, I was the one presenting it to the faculty members and trying to convince many people to initiate and sustain it for a long time in spite of a reasonable amount of resistance, from a group of faculty members as well because traditionally we have always been brought up in some sense. You have to go to the class, the teacher will tell you something and you go on.
So, many of them did also have the resistance of accepting this point. Students are not coming because the video lectures are there. That is the easier way of seeing it.
What different am I doing in the class other than what is there in the content? What are all the different pedagogies? As a teacher I am trained to make sure that they feel like they are missing out something if they are not in the classroom. As a teacher, I will have to think harder like that.
Very well, So the immediate thing that comes to my mind is to implement a feedback mechanism for all the relevant divisions. Because you will have to write to them. It will be anonymous from your side but the faculty will get to know what is written.
JC: There was a way of informal feedback right now. I think a feedback page would do very well if it is anonymous.
Once we consciously collect the data. It becomes easy for us also to understand what is actually happening and it should be on one page for multiple divisions. That is because there are many offices which are there where students interact.
But 20% for the attendance, which course was it? The details if you can give. That is a violation of academic regulation. Whatever is linked to attendance is limited to 10% is today’s regulation.
JC: Just want to ask that like we had done a thorough assessment of the academic guidelines. We have mentioned this to you also. Is there a clause regarding 10%?
The book you have is old. Okay. We decided this, this year only.
JC: So the new book will have the clause?
August is when, August of 2025 is when this clause was finalised. So if they are updated, it will come in the new academic regulation.
JC: Will it be shared with us soon?
It should be. Otherwise, I would think the faculty knows. So faculty is communicated to.
It is the job of AUGSD to make sure everybody is following this. Whenever it is flagged, they will have to change even if it is not.
JC: So I just want to clarify it. If it is linked to attendance, 10% is the max.
Max.
JC: And is there any upper cap you have kept on the amount of attendance?
No. That is left to the IC. Here the suggested number is 50%.
JC: There is a first-year course. I think it is Social Conduct. And for them to get 100% of their exit test marks, they, I think, have to have 90% attendance in that course. Considering it is something that happens once or twice a week, I have had some of my juniors complain that they haven’t been able to attend a few classes because they were sick or there was a family issue. But like now they lose a good 10% of the marks. So missing two classes, for example, can change the situation. So instead of suggestive, can it be made maybe absolute or something like 50%? That is up to you of course.
We will review it in the summer. Can you send the handout to me? So they say 100% attendance is. If it is there, share it.
JC: Yes, sir. I mean they have slabs for it. If it is 90 to 100, you get all of your marks. If it is 80 to 90, like you get some of them cut.
People will always take it for granted. Yeah. We will intervene as quickly as possible.
JC: I will be very open with you. The thing with attendance becomes that even though we do not want to go for a class, we will just go, we will put our biometric and come back. So essentially, the part of academic learning is gone.
You put these points in. You shouldn’t come for the sake of coming. Why are we forcing such a culture here? It is not a part of BITS.
JC: Sir, one thing we had asked last time, like directors open house. So will it be happening? You did say you are reaching out to a lot of people. Can there be an open house? Maybe if we publish an article some people will read it about what you are saying. But if you do it in the auditorium a lot of people will get to know your initiative at the same time.
Is it too late? Do you think that it is possible that people will come? For the whole population, can we divide something and then meet, so that it will be more interactive. Else it will have a huge crowd.
JC: Maybe you can divide them. Yeah, some might be repetitive by its nature. But essentially, let’s say you have it next semester, because I don’t think right now we have the time to do that.
That’s what we were thinking because right now we went around to all the departments. We were actually discussing with them to understand how things are being operated.
We just completed a comprehensive review of all the departments, to even understand and have a plan, a clear roadmap of what these departments are also suggesting. And we are also going to have a detailed discussion in a few weeks.
So, for us to understand where they are right now and which are all the low-hanging areas where we can immediately spend time and fix those things. And then go on a strategic thinking on priorities, what are all the things that we need to fix and all that. So, that is also going to be the next step that we will be doing.
And in summer as well, we will jot down all those things and start organising things. Review it for the next semester. In the meantime,other things are also coming up where we are trying to make it more process-driven and SOPs and all those things. So, it is more system-driven and more sustained.
JC: I mean the thing about people with high CGPA, they do not face a lot of issues which the normal population faces. Can something be done to standardize that and even standardise grading department wise? Even for DELs when I had the list of DELs, I asked my seniors which DEL should I take and I told him I am interested in this one. He said like no, do not take that one, take this one, you will easily get an A.
This is very, very subjective. It is a relative grading and it is very subjective.
JC: No, but sir for I understand for CDCs, but for DELs the thing is it is a very small batch size. So, there are DELs which have only 8 people and there are DELs which have only 30 people.
No, I agree. It is more from the instructor’s point of view. Grading is not like a formula, but it is about an instructor who has a certain expectation from the group of students. So, they will accordingly go based on that particular thing and it is going to be very, very relative. There are some guidelines for grading which are already printed on your paper. From your perspective, you have said from the instructor’s perspective, not many students are very serious in DELs. Those who aren’t very serious, they are doing it for the sake of doing it. The instructor is not convinced that the student has really learned the course. So, they would definitely be very conservative in terms of the number of A or A-. That is how it kind of goes. So, there is a mechanism where they present it in front of the faculty members and department.
Are they seeing this histogram in the right spirit or is there a bias in this? They take the view of their peers as well and that is when they sum it up. So, that will continue to remain there, but we have some other checks which we do in the back-end to see whether there is too much deviation or not. Based on what kind of students are doing the course, is there a bigger deviation in terms of what is actually happening in terms of learning to the enrolled students. They are doing that with some metrics.
JC: Yes, sir, even I agree with the point that professors have different expectations, but then it still varies across departments. So, then why should some student from a particular department have to suffer because that batch of professors have a different expectation than someone from another department.
Yes, expectation will be very similar only. So, if there is a specific department which is very very strict in grading, that is where we will have to interfere. If it is a general phenomena to a particular department, that is where this dialogue will happen.
JC: The Math department traditionally is quite conservative in their grading. Last semester, I had a math course. They gave out B minuses till Av+18 in a 200 mark course. That was very harsh because I got a C at Av+10 or something. You said that the department scrutinizes grading within the courses it takes, but if the entire department sort of does conservative grading, maybe something can be done.
When we go, I will have a dialogue with the department. We will be sharing with them. So, we have another examination subcommittee. Whatever he mentioned, we will check it. The department writes on it. So, in the next level of check, the director or chairman of the examinations subcommittee reviews it.
We have five initiative points.
- Listening to the people like faculty, students, staff, and all those things, and then trying to address as many as possible.
- Teaching. So, for teaching-related things, we are planning to bring more project-based components, and that being an experiential-based kind of thing in the teaching and research, mostly for the faculty-oriented thing.
- Faculty who do a lot of research. For them to promote them to go for more research output.
- Administrative Structure. That is what I am telling you about the process. As you said, there are many issues. So, usually in the management strategy, how things get fixed is you have something called a Rocky Matrix. So, you have to tell somebody what their primary role is, what their responsibilities are, and what they are accountable for. And you need to communicate and make it clear that these things work well. They are doing a good job. If these things are not happening well, we will zero in and tell them that these people have to change. The accountability will come on the individual. So, we are trying to bring in process development as per ISO standards. So, that is something that we are going to initiate at the institute level. Once we do it for many offices, a lot of things will get a lot more streamlined. Like in the timetable division, the lady you talked to is accountable for that. So, these issues will come up.
- Sustainability aspect and net-zero carbon campus.How much more meaningfully we can co-exist in the sense of trying to also do a responsible process.
Every course is a little boring when you have only assignments and all that. Students enjoy it if they do something hands-on, design-based, or project-based. It will also enhance their skills and memory. Faculty will also have to think harder. Like a prototype course was one of them. Many more courses are getting redesigned like this. You will start seeing relatively better changes, possibly in the next semester.
JC: Is there a way that projects can be made longer or more meaningful? Right now, the process of working for a single semester doesn’t yield the maximum work, and a lot of potential is wasted.
It is approved in the Senate. So, from the next semester if you want. For 3 semesters, you can continue to work with the same faculty member. Same topic. And you will be incentivized also.
3 credits. 3 times so 9. But there are a lot of additional teams that are keen on research. They will be able to do that particular thing. So, you can have a stipend at the end to complete it with a meaningful grade for the time of motivation. It will be budgeted. So, we said for 3 semesters, 50,000. Not each semester.
The idea is to support research. So, maybe at the end of 3 semesters, we want a publication, a prototype, or a patent, and some kind of content. And if you complete 3 semesters, we are also looking into adding that entire project work into the certificate you receive during convocation.
JC: Sir, we had that in my first year, where the classrooms were kept open in the summer semester in April and May for studies. If it is possible from now till the comprehensive exams, maybe. It was done in my first year. So, in 2024.
So, a selected few rooms. But is there enough interest from students?
JC: Yes, sir. There will be enough students. There are students sitting in empty classrooms. Maybe you can open 5 or 10 rooms initially. You can gauge interest.
If it is being used, we are happy to open it.
JC: Right now, I think the conclusion that we expect is that one thing is the constitution. We expect certain changes, like having review meetings after fests, because we have approached the EC multiple times. That we want to change.
Even after every GBM, we tell them that we want to do it. It is supposed to be updated every 3 years. It is mandated.
It was launched in 2021. They have not done it in 2024 or 2025. Because they say, “We did an internal study, and it was not feasible “
And I checked with a friend of mine who has been in EC. He said nothing had happened. It was just to put it out to the GB that changes have happened.
The constitution is for the students only. If they do not do it, we will do it. That is the process. And new members will come now, right?
JC: We expect that maybe a certain push is there from the admin body, so that you can communicate with them these issues raised by students.
Yes, these kinds of interactions and dialogue will help us. See, we are conscious enough to do things in the right spirit. Whatever checks and balances are not happening for the reason why it is created, it defeats the purpose. We will have to find another way. We will see. They will think how they have to. Then we will have to keep on playing this game. Ethics and integrity is something that we expect, which I do not see much so, get better. But we will keep doing whatever we can.
JC: We appreciate it. You always take time for us, and we were really happy to hear from you and have you call us for another meeting. Thank you so much for that.
We appreciate what you guys do. This is also what we like to hear directly from the students. You guys are also patiently noting down everything, coming back. If we can improve in some sense, whatever is happening here, I think we have done our work.
JC: We appreciate it. You always take time for us, and we were really happy to hear from you and have you call us for another meeting. Thank you so much for that.
We appreciate what you guys do. This is also what we like to hear directly from the students. You guys are also patiently noting down everything, coming back. If we can improve in some sense, whatever is happening here, I think we have done our work.
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