[Reader-list] B - Grade Engineering College Culture

[Nalin Mathur]

Sarai / Independent Fellow 2007/ Nalin N. Mathur/ Third Posting

Initially I had planned that my third posting will include what I mean and
understand by the terms B – Grade, Engineering and College, which form the
focal points of this study. But it was important to understand what an A –
Grade thing is, for me to define B – Grade. I began by discussing about
these fundamentals with people at work. They were engineers like me, pass
outs of non-descript colleges scattered all around the country. Their ideas
were much like mine, with none really sure as what do they mean by A –
grade. A lot of insight was acquired by these informal discussions with
people at work, be it over lunch, travel, in the loo etc., however, I was
unable to gather what I was looking for. And once again it was my Man Friday
who came to the rescue.

I have known Gaurav Sharma for over a decade now, we were together in
school. He is also among my closest friends. I have been dependent on his
support for almost everything, be it in the class for some mathematics
tutorial, dance lessons or simply on ideas to woo girls. Gaurav made it to
the IIT and will pass out in a month's time. The text below is written by
him. Here he largely discusses about the branding in education and the
"stuff" that makes a college A – Grade.

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Branding in Education


The issue of branding very much prevails in education. The institutes which
have been good over the years create a brand value for themselves. These
then attract the best students (best in terms of their interest level, their
intelligence level and how much hard work they are willing to put in order
to excel in their lives) and the best faculty. When this happens over the
years these students further enhance the reputation of the institute
(alumni, placement records, number of PhDs and the quality of research etc)
and its thus usually an upward spiral from there on (take for example MIT,
Stanford etc; the very best minds and the most hardworking people from all
over the world go there and the reputation of the institute is lived up to).


That the best institutes attract the best minds is a bitter truth for
someone who wants that more names should be added to the best institutes
list. But nonetheless we should take heart from the fact that every good
institute started out as little known one. How some of them managed to
create a brand name for themselves should then be the focus of our
discussion. This is usually a slow process, but nonetheless it does happen
(eg IIMs, ISB are fairly new additions to the best B-schools list in Asia).

Listed below are few characteristics of the degree programs of the renowned
institutes and suggestions for improvement of the not so renowned ones.


Rigor of Curriculum:
A good system is one which is able to filter out the better students from
those students who study only at the eleventh hour, those who don't have
clear fundamentals and a good understanding of the subject. This should be
done so that those who fail or show poor performance put in more effort and
come up to the mark. For this curriculum should be reasonably rigorous.

e.g. the pattern in IIT is a 4 month semester with evaluation at three
instants – 2 minors and a major exam. The pace of the semester is quick;
there is not even a single day of preparation leave (6 final semester full
course exams in 6 days). Unless a student has been regular throughout the
semester he will (usually) not be able to do well in the exams and unless he
has good fundamentals he will not be able to solve the questions in the exam
no matter how hard he has been working. The fact that there is relative
grading and you compete against others who have qualified JEE makes it all
the more rigorous.
The rigor is much more in IIMs where there are three semesters in one year
and one summer internship. Bare survival is a lot of hard work. Students are
thus kept on their toes, those who do well develop good work habits and time
management skills, and good technical knowledge.
This should not mean that the institutes end up producing technicians with
deficient personalities and narrow outlooks. The rigor of the curriculum
should accommodate time for extra-curricular activities yet ensuring that
non-hard workers don't find a way through the system.

Suggestions for improvement:


Standardization:
Of semester schedules, course syllabus, books followed, examination papers
and checking:
Semester schedules of every institute should be the same as that followed in
the well known institutes of the world. (Usually two four month semesters in
a year with continuous evaluations)
Books followed and course syllabus should be the same and of the same level
as that in MIT or Stanford. Often it is the case that a faculty member
writes his own book and then makes the students follow it for the course
(often for the sale of the book). This would be eliminated if the best books
are followed for each course.
Examination papers for the universities should be common and should be set
by a panel of elite professors.
Checking of answer scripts should not be by the professors of the same
universities so that they do not mark in a biased manner and marking for
improving the result of the university is eliminated.

Increase in salaries of the faculty members and their qualifications.
The qualification to become a faculty member should be increased to PhD. and
the salary should also be increased. This should be done to eliminate those
people who become a faculty member only because they were unable to get a
decent salary job elsewhere. The salary should be high so that only well
qualified people take up faculty positions.

Provision to put Research Proposals and get grants (for the professors)
The faculty member should be allowed to put research proposals and get
grants for them. The amount of grant should be decided by the past record of
the faculty member and the novelty of the proposal. This would encourage
research output of the universities.

Formation of Proper Clubs for Extra-Curricular Activities:
Students should be encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities
and this should be done in organized manner. Proper clubs should exist
within the college for different activities ( e.g. Quizzing Club, Debating
Club, Music Club, different clubs for different sports). Regular competitive
events should be held within each club at intra college and inter college
level. Hierarchical structure of the clubs (representatives from the second
year, secretaries from the third year etc.) and duties of the various
student post holders (organizing events festivals etc.) should be clearly
defined. Elections for organizational posts in clubs at intra hostel and
inter hostel level should be held. All this structure helps provide the
right kind of social interaction for the students and is helpful in health
development of the personality.

Abolition of Student Unions in academic matters.
Student politics and unions should not come up to the faculty level and
students should not have a say in the academic matters.

Discipline.
Academic integrity should not be compromised and strict discipline should be
followed in the institute. The punishment for cheating in exams, fraud in
assignments, projects, results and reports should be reasonably strict. 18
to 22 are the formative years for any young man or woman. Habits formed
during these years are usually kept for life.
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