GSAA End Term Review

The Institute General Body Meets (GBMs) are conducted twice every year with the intent to provide all students a convenient mechanism to provide feedback and addressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dress concern to the student representatives responsible for various amenities on campus.
The GBM for GS Academic Affairs is scheduled from 3:10 PM on 3rd April in the P. C. Saxena Auditorium.
The content on this website is strictly the property of Insight and the Students’ Gymkhana IIT Bombay. If you wish to reproduce any content herein, please contact us:
Chief Editors: Mihir Kulkarni, Niranjan Thakurdesai
Mail to: insight [at] iitb.ac.in

Events in red are those that haven’t been started or there has been no satisfactory development in this regard.
Events in orange are those that have been initiated but not completed, or there have been some developments in this regard.
Events in green are those that have been completed as described in the manifesto, or have seen satisfactory developments.

KEY INITIATIVES
• Propose review of 1st year curriculum ensuring equal academic load in the first 2 semesters
• Propose an Inter IIT Semester Exchange programme with easy credit transfers
• Propose an official week long break in the academic schedule during Diwali week
• Facilitate overhaul of TA selection procedure with interviews as a selection criterion & assistance from acad. council to faculty. Make provisions for TA feedback within first few weeks of tutorial
• Initiate FacAd student lunches as ice breaking sessions; Propose a FacAd feedback from students in coordination with the department councils
• Propose to allow clearance of FR and DX grades in winters and summers through instructor approved CDEEP resources and regular examinations

The Academic Council has been able to push through some major reforms including review of 1st year curriculum as well as the Inter IIT Sem Exchange programme. The FacAd student lunches have been conducted in certain departments like Electrical and Civil Engineering. Counselling slots have also been proposed.

ACADEMIC AWARENESS

• Organise an orientation at start of 2nd year for various academic programmes (Semester exchange, URA, UROP) available for students. Prepare a Sophie booklet for the same
• Launch Academic Awareness Drive in collaboration with IIT-BBC to spread the message
• Publicize and expand CourseRank to include minor review and overview of the course curriculum
• Prepare an exhaustive list of equivalent courses across departments in coordination with the department councils and also a 1 stop online guide for registration rules & FAQs
• Initiate GSAA Hotline, especially at time of registration to resolve queries and grievances
• Ensure regular academic council report on matters discussed in Senate & initiatives of the council

Mails have been sent to DAMP COs by the GSAA to update information on different courses on CourseRank. Slow but increasing progress in few departments like Chemical have updated a lot of courses. Minor reviews on hand, will be published soon. One video is being currently made to launch the academic awareness drive.

ACADEMIC POLICY REFORMS

• Will have an option for a concise course feedback form in addition to the current version
• Propose a 30 minute break after 5 PM before the next slot to allow students to have snacks
• Will ensure Lab slots and divisions are communicated at time of registration to prevent confusion over minors. Also avoid slot clashes by having meetings with the DGSecs beforehand
• Formalise process to opt for minors in 5th year & mention instructors during pre-registration; Push for flexibility of courses in popular minors
• Propose for a uniform honour code and URA policy in the institute

The 30 minute break post 5 PM has been incorporated from this semester onwards. At the start of the year, a uniform honor code was implemented in the institute. However, the Undergraduate Research Award(URA) Policy is still not in place. Next sem onwards, timetable will be released to the GSAA and academic office 3-4 weeks before sem starts to prevent ASC issues. It will also be communicated upto the level of CRs and feedback will be taken. This time it did not happen due to pending follow ups with DGSecs.

WEB
• Propose an ‘Online Course Drop’ system with online FacAd approvals to reduce paperwork
• Enable viewing of slot wise running courses and grading statistics on Running Courses interface;
• Propose setting up of a portal for External Registration through ASC
• Propose online clearance for graduating students and e-payment of library fine & transcript fees
• Ensure name of instructor in charge & necessary info are available at time of pre-registration

The proposal for an external registration portal through ASC has been rejected by the Dean because the probability of students coming in late for the semester is very high and that would affect class progress and performance.

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
• Continue conducting help sessions for 1st year students especially in Hindi on a regular basis
• Ensure provisions for regular feedback on classes & improve upon scheduling and topics covered
• Assign TAs for each course in Tutorial Service Centre (TSC); Ensure continuation of virtual classrooms on Piazza (an online forum) for discussion & doubt solving.
• Upload relevant online course material from other universities
• Collaborate with DAMP team to arrange help sessions for sophomore courses
• Will conduct personality development classes, basic computer classes, counselling and stress relief workshops on a regular basis

The integrated website Tutorial Service Centre and Student Support Services will contain the online material so mentioned; the site should be live before the beginning of the next semester.
DAMP teams from a few departments have conducted help sessions for sophomores, and all departments have been encouraged to cooperate, and the same will continue in the next GSAA-UG tenure.

PROMOTION OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
• Extend ITSP to take up research in their project. Provide support through mentors and present completed reports in R&D Expo along with the projects
• Collaborate with ISPA Expo for an ITSP exhibition and SAM as was the case this year
• Attempt to include ongoing projects under ISPA; Ensure room retention and certificates, along with student recognition through the program
• Reinitiate Enthuse: A series of informal talks and sessions to expose students to research in their first year and stress their relevance
• Build on previous council’s work in creating a database of research facilities & running projects
• Collaborate with PT Cell in bringing Industrial Learning Projects (ILP)

The link for the currently existing online database has been publicized via student notices, but no additions to the existing material has been done.
The possibilities for ILPs have been explored but have been proven to be infeasible after recommendations from STAB.

CAREER CELL

• Conduct series of interactive talks on importance of academics ahead and its relevance in future for 1st year students
• Conduct more sessions on apping, both formal and informal and push for department wise sessions.
• Expand the membership of the apping Facebook group and disseminate information through it
• Create an extensive online repository on various placement options, their selection procedures etc.
• Ensure collaboration between the 3 clubs: Consult, Analytics and Finance and float projects for the same, both from professors and enthusiastic alumni
• Organize Non-Technical Summer School that would include short courses on web development, finance, marketing, analytics, consultancy and foreign languages

The repository already contains interviews of about 40 students who have been placed in the recent years. It will be made public in a presentable form by the beginning of the next semester.
The Finance Club has been floating projects by several faculty members which are in progress at the moment. The Consult Club and the Analytics Club haven’t made progress on the same.

INFRASTRUCTURE
• Act as a mediator between Department councils and Central Library to expand e-book collection
• Ensure timely notice to concerned authorities on infrastructural issues and biometric problems
• Push for setting up of air-conditioned study rooms in all hostels
• Initiate software updates in department computer labs and lab equipment across departments

The GSHA was successful in getting an approval for an AC study room in Hostel 15, and the funds have been cleared for Hostels 2 and 3.
Reports have been made and submitted for two departments, while the others are in progress. The task has been handed over to the next GSAA-UG’s council.

TECHNICAL
• Collaborate with STAB in setting up a single information centre on all technical activities
• Promote technical entrepreneurship in coordination with STAB, SARC, e-cell and the SINE
• Ensure a relaxation in policies of NOC for teams participating in technical competitions abroad
• Push for easy availability of IDC facilities for fabrication and design for all students

The GSAA-UG was of the opinion that making an exhaustive list of all technical teams would be an uphill task since not a single team could be left out from the compilation.
The IDC facilities are available on request and with a letter from the concerned professor. The HoD of IDC is reluctant on opening the IDC labs for the general student populace.

2nd YEAR MSc
• Introduce research awards for MSc students on lines of URA
• Push for a separate MSc representative in the academic council
• Conduct internship readiness sessions for first year MSc students in collaboration with PT Cell
• Propose a review of curriculum for MSc programs; Allow flexibility by providing options for more electives

The compulsion of ES/HS courses was removed from the MSc curriculum. Further reforms have been discussed in the UGPC, sent to the HoDs for a review and will be forwarded to the senate. A final decision is expected in April.

SOCIAL OUTREACH
• Push for formation of Cabinet for Social Activities (CSA) comprising representatives from social bodies in the institute and ensuring its smooth functioning

OTHERS

Besides those mentioned in the manifesto, the GSAA-UG Shubham Goyal recognized and made progress in a few more initiatives over the course of his tenure, a few of which are:

• Inter-Departmental Dual Degree: A program to this effect was proposed to the Dean (AP) entailing the same, especially in mutually intersecting departments (e.g. Mechanical and IE-OR, etc.), which was appreciated and approved in principle. The proposal will be taken to the senate.
• Revamp of Department Websites: A team of programmers under Prof. Sunthar has been working on bringing all department websites on the same web template over the last few months, in order to ensure uniformity and better access to the sites. It was identified that one of the reasons for IIT Bombay losing out on spots in international university rankings was the lack of a properly structured website.
• Listing Scholarship Opportunities: A list of all named scholarships and other financial aid options has been compiled and will be made public soon.
• Eatery near Library: A space for the same has been cleared, and the tendering process is to begin soon, in order for the eatery to start with the beginning of the next semester.