To mend ties,DU V-C to meet undergrad students next week

The V-C has requested every college principal to delegate 30 students each,along with the teacher in-charge of every department,for the meetings. “We have decided to send every class representative,as the V-C has specified that he wants every year and department represented at the meeting,” said Acharya Narendra Dev College Principal Savithri Singh.

Indications are that the implementation of the semester system at the undergraduate level will be an important point in the agenda. Even if the V-C does not bring it up,teachers and some students are expected to question him on the semester system. DU is expected to convert its humanities and commerce courses to the semester mode starting next academic year.

Students — more than 1,500 are expected at the meet from the 60-odd constituent colleges of the university — can also look forward to a few announcements. The V-C is yet to announce his plans for the meeting’s venue itself — the rugby stadium has been lying unused since it hosted Commonwealth Games events. While Deepak Pental had envisioned a cricket stadium,Singh has hinted that he favours a multi-purpose sporting facility. A scholarship programme for sportspersons,which Singh has talked of in the past,may be unveiled.

Another programme likely to be announced is the setting up of a fund to support innovative projects by students in collaboration with teachers. Singh has said he would set up a task force for the project.

Another idea that the V-C wants to implement is the establishment of a video link between colleges and his office. Once the university achieves maximum bandwidth,he would like to talk directly to students,teachers and other staff,he has said.

Semesters issue in mind

In an interview with Newsline on December 27,Singh had said the notification asking various departments to start the process of converting their annual courses to the semester mode would be out in a week. The notification is still awaited. Senior university professors say the VC’s team is not going slow,but are merely doing their homework better than their preceding team,which too included Dinesh Singh in his capacity as the Director of the South Campus.

“I have already met with the heads of various postgraduate departments,” said the V-C on Tuesday. Now that the groundwork has been done,the process of conversion may be smoother compared to last year. Though the postgraduate departments coordinate syllabus revisions,college teachers have an important say in the drafting of undergraduate syllabi. One of the main points of criticism against Singh’s predecessor Deepak Pental’s administration was that he had failed to take college teachers into confidence.

There is also the possibility that the V-C may announce his willingness to revise the science syllabi. Singh had acknowledged complaints about the contents of the 13 already-semesterised undergraduate science courses. College teachers,especially those who handle Zoology and Botany,have complained that the syllabi prepared for the semester system was inferior in quality.