INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KANPUR DEAN OF STUDENTS AFFAIRS OFFICE

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KANPUR DEAN OF STUDENTS AFFAIRS OFFICE REPORT OF THE STUDENTS GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE October 17, 1996 The Committee was constituted as per decision of the academic Senate vide the notification no. DIR/17/93 dated April 7, 1993 and was reconstituted vide the notification no. DIR/47/94 dated Sept. 16, 1994. The terms of reference of the Committee include: Critical examination of the existing guidelines (written/conventions, e.g. various Senate directives on Students Governance, the Constitution of Students Gymkhana, etc.) regarding students governance in its totality with a view to suggest whether the system requires complete overhauling or only some fine tuning. The Committee was also asked to suggest issues involved in fine tuning, if its finding is for the latter. The members of the present Students Governance Committee are: Chairman : Dr. Kripa Shanker, DOSA Members : Dr. Prawal Sinha, (Maths.) Dr. Sanjeev Bhargava, (MME) Mr. Neelkanth Mishra, President, Students Gymkhana Mr. Abhishek K. Mishra, Convener, Students Senate Dr. Ravindra Arora, Head Counselling Service, was invited to attend the meetings and participate in the discussions as a special invitee. The Committee had 4 meetings and used the minutes of the previous committee; Ordinances, Rules, and Regulations (May 1996); gymkhana Constitution; Hall Management Committee manuals, Constitution of the Hall of Residence No. 5 and several other available academic Senate directives on the students governance as reference. The Committee deliberated on the broad scope of the students governance and noted that the founders of the Institute had given very deep and visionary thoughts in conceptualizing the students governance model within the main focus of the guiding spirit of IIT Kanpur which encourages and nourishes sense of total involvement and active participation in achieving the main goals and objectives of the Institute. 1

The primary objective of a student at the Institute is his/her studies. However, for an overall development of a well rounded personality of its students, the Institute has by design provided various opportunities for a student to learn and train him/herself to inculcate constructive leadership, to develop team spirit, to develop interpersonal relationship, to learn to sell ideas amongst themselves and outside, to learn about their culture, to develop citizenship with a sense of pride, and so on. The Committee observed that the students mainly participate in the following two categories of bodies: (1) Student Bodies: Students Gymkhana, Hall Executive Committee, Counselling Service and Departmental Societies. (2) Representation in Institute Committee as Nominated Members: Senate Committees, Administrative Committees and Advisory Committees. It is generally felt that the basic structure of the existing model of students participation in these bodies has worked reasonably well over more than 3 decades and it is well suited to our students. However, the Committee feels that the following aspects need fine tuning: (1) eligibility for accepting elected/nominated posts, (2) planning of students activities, (3) financial discipline, (4) functioning of SSAC, and (5) hall management. The recommendations of the Committee on these aspects are given below. 1. ELIGIBILITY FOR ACCEPTING ELECTED/NOMINATED POSTS Every student is expected and encouraged to participate in co and extra curricular activities. Every student is expected to cooperate and participate in furthering the objectives of the student bodies and Institute Committees. However, it should be understood that the primary goal of students in the Institute is his/her studies and pursuit of academic achievements. Participation in student bodies and in the Institute Committees should be viewed as complementary to the academics and not as its substitute. It is believed that in general the quality of participation would be better if a student is comfortable with his/her academic performance. It is feared that participation by academically deficient students may bring deviations from the long cherished traditions and distinct characteristics of the Students Gymkhana of this Institute. Article 3.09 of the Students Gymkhana Constitution stipulates the conditions of eligibility for the candidates contesting the Gymkhana Elections in terms of the guarantee of stay for the period of stay and academic performance. Keeping the spirit of the Constitution of the Students Gymkhana and observations made by the Senate in its meeting held on 01.01.1996, the Committee recommends that the students registered in the semester and residing on the campus and who satisfy the guarantee of stay requirements, are eligible for election and nomination, except. 2

(1) the students who are academically deficient (listed under the categories Warning, AP, AP * ) in the semester when the elections are to take place or the nominations are to be made. (2) The students who are debarred from participation in students activities by election and/or nomination on disciplinary grounds. (3) The students whose CPI is less than 6.00 (in case of UG) or less than 7.00 (in case of PG). (4) The students who from the date of their initial registration have already completed the normal duration of the programme or shall be completing the normal duration during the tenure of the post. The normal duration of various programmes are (Ord. 6); B. Tech. = 8 sems, M.Sc. (Int.) = 10 sems., M.Sc. (2 Yrs) = 4 sems., DIIT = 3 sems., M.Tech. = 3 sems., Ph.D. = 8 Sems, Dual B.Tech./M.Tech. = 10 Sems. and Dual M.Sc./Ph.D. = 10 Sems. (5) A student with backlogs although not in the academically deficient list should make a conscious decision about his/her participation. However, a student with total backlogs accumulated more than one per semester (excluding the semesters on leave) shall not be allowed to participate in elections or nominations. (6) M.Tech. students admitted in the II semester of an academic year will not be eligible for contesting for Gymkhana Executive posts. They shall, however, be eligible for nominations on committees and will be treated for such purposes like final year B.Tech./M.Sc. (Intg.) students. (7) A PG student in the advanced stage of research shold seek the approval of the thesis supervisor before filing the nominations. In view of the above, a student interested in accepting a post should make a conscious decision about the time management for his/her studies and the responsibilities excepted of the post. It has been noticed that sometimes students are not aware about the duties and responsibilities of the post. Further, it has been observed that some candidates indulge sometimes in making statements which are redundant, false and derogatory to individuals and the Institute. In order to circumvent the above, it is recommended that (1) at the time of announcement of elections, the chief election officer will bring out the salient details about the duties and responsibilities of various office bearers for the information of the general body. (2) The Chief Counsellor, after the finalization of the list of candidates by the election committee, will call a meeting of candidates to apprise about their role and responsibilities. (3) The incumbent office bearer will prepare the interim report of their respective offices stating their achievements, plans under 3

consideration, etc. and will display on the notice boards of Halls for the information of students. (4) Each interested student filing the nomination for a post will be given a copy of the updated Students Gymkhana Constitution. (5) The act of making baseless and false statements will be viewed as an act of indiscipline and will be dealt with seriously. In addition of the above, it is emphasized that the handing over the charge to the newly elected body should be carried out within the stipulated period without any delay. Participation in Short-Term Students Activities: The students are encouraged to participate in co and extra curricular activities organized by the Students Gymkhana, Halls, Departments or clubs/societies of the campus. However, the students activities like (i) the competitive games and sports and other such activities representing the Institute like Inter-IIT Meets, etc. and (ii) the organization of the major gymkhana activities like cultural festival (ANTARAGNI), sports festival (ATTRACKTION/UDGHOSH), science and technology competition/exhibition (TECHKRITI) etc. that are organized on the campus, normally require intense involvement over weeks. Academically deficient students willing to participate in (i) competitive games and sports and other such activities representing the Institute that require time for preparation for weeks, or (ii) willing to take part as coordinators or secretaries in the organization of the above mentioned major Gymkhana activities, should seek the approval of the Dean of Students Affairs/Head Counselling before the participation. An academically deficient student (W, AP, and AP * ), or a student with high backlogs (accumulated more than at the rate one per semester) advised not to participate in a particular activity but still insistent on participation, will have to give an undertaking that if his/her academic performance goes down and he/she falls in the dismissal list then he/she will not appeal to the Senate for reinstatement. II.. ORGANIZATION MAJOR STUDENTS ACTIVITIES The major Students Gymkhana activities like annual cultural festival (ANTARAGNI), annual sports festival (ATTRACKTION/UDGHOSH), science and annual technology competition/exhibition (TECHKRITI) have over the years grown and received very wide popularity amongst our students, students from other institutions, campus community and also the community out side the campus. These activities (i) cover a wide range of activities (ii) are held over 3-4 days (iii) involve high budget and are self financing i.e. the students have to raise the total funds required through sponsorship, collection through passes, etc. (iv) 4

require the involvement of the students over months, (v) involve the arrangements of transportation, boarding/lodging as well as security of several hundred student participants from out side, and (vi) demand not only very intensive involvement of several offices and units of the Institute but also involve the use of Institute resources. While most of the activities have marked commendable success of our students, there appears to be increasing potential of threat to their success due to changing socio and economic factors. There is therefore need to consider the following factors in the organization of such activities. Planning of Activities: It should be noted that the primary objective of the students activities is to create and provide opportunity to the students to develop creativity, talents and spirit of participation. The programmes therefore should cover a wide range of activities. Duplication of the similar type of events should be avoided. The proportion of programmes from the professionals, therefore, should be kept at the level only to expose the students to outside professional and celebrated performers of national stature. It should also be borne in mind that very large size and certain types of programmes put tremendous pressure on the Institute administration and affect the life on campus. It is proposed that the following guidelines be followed in this regard. Each newly elected council/committee after the elections, will prepare the plan of action along with the budget of all the activities during the Gymkhana year including both (i) the regular activities under gymkhana budget and (ii) the selffinancing activities, and will present its proposed plan to its Advisory and Coordination Committee (ACC) consisting of the following: Dean of Students Affairs Faculty Counsellor (of the respective Council) Faculty Counsellor, Finance President, Students Gymkhana Convener, Students Senate General Secretary of the council Festival Coordinator The ACC will examine various aspects of the proposal including the relative contents and span of the events and programmes, expected size, venue requirements alongwith the financial details. After the required action by the Students Senate on the proposed plan of action, each Council will consult its previous years list of sponsors and will also collect the names of additional sponsors from students and faculty or any office of the Institute, and prepare the list of sponsors for the specific events. 5

All the lists of sponsors and events of all the Councils will be collated and an annual calendar of the Students Gymkhana will be drawn. A common brochure of all the activities will be prepared for sponsorship and will be mailed to various potential sponsors. A Council may, in consultation with its ACC, send its brochures and pursue the sponsorship with sponsors. The response including the draft for the sponsorship will be collected by the DOSA Office. The invitation to various educational institutions from the list approved by the DOSA should be sent by the respective Council. The responses from the institutions and the sponsors received by the festival cell must be intimated to the ACC through the Faculty Counsellor. The response will be periodically reviewed by the ACC and if necessary the plan of action will be modified. Sponsorship and Commission: It is observed that the same set of sponsors are approached by our students at different time for their different activities. It creates difficulties for the sponsors as well as to our students. Some sponsors demand for too many complementary passes for their sponsored events as well as for other events also. The ACC will decide the number of such passes keeping in view various logistics related parameters and the amount of sponsorship. It is observed that a large amount of the money is distributed to the students as commission money. This poses several problems for the organization of the event. It has a potential of creating sour feelings in the mind of students who put in hard work but are not the part of marketing cell. It also creates difficulties at the time of hosting and sharing the meals expenses for the members of participating team from out side. There are some sponsors who quite frequently sponsor the activities of our students. It is expected that they will act favourably on the annual calendar sent to them. There may be some sponsors who need to be approached by our students. The list of the sponsors thus should be divided into two: (i) the ones who are expected to respond favourably on the annual calendar, and (ii) who need to be approached by the students individually. There will be no commission payable on the sponsorship from the sponsors in the first category. To cover the expenses, a maximum of 10% commission (subject to certain maximum limit on the total) may be paid on the sponsorship collected in the second category. Further, in order to promote the team spirit amongst students, it is recommended 6

that, groups of students of a particular department, Hall, batch, or a club/society (recognized by the Students Gymkhana) should approach potential sponsors and obtain the sponsorship. Most of the sponsors sponsor certain specific events. There are several students activities which are very important but don t provide enough lime light to the sponsors and thus do not attract their attention. Councils find it difficult to successfully organize such events. It is recommended that a sum of 10% of the total sponsorship be kept aside as the Council s general fund for the general expenses in the festival and developmental activities of the respective Council. Prize Money: It is observed that in certain events, the prize money is very high. This usually happens when the sponsors specify the amount of money. Such an improportionate amount propels a wrong message and dilutes the very basic objective of the students activities in favour of the sponsors. The ACC should modulate the prize money and may increase, if necessary, the contribution of such sponsors towards the Council s general fund. Emergency Management : With a variety of activities spanning over several days over several places on the campus and with a large number of persons including several hundred from outside, various types of emergencies are likely to emerge. Coming of so many persons from outside poses another dimensionality to the problem. Not all of them can be speculated before hand, but there are some which based on the experiences of the past and also from the experiences from elsewhere can be planned for. Sudden power shutdown, fire, eveteasing, traffic, threat to the security particularly in Halls, etc. are some of such problems. It is felt that planning for fighting against these by making arrangements for emergency power supply, torches, posting the student volunteers/security guards, at sensitive places in advance will reduce the possibility of unpleasant happening. In addition, the DOSA should appoint some faculty members authorizing them to have free access to any place of event/programme and take the appropriate action on the spot. Preparation of Summary Report: It is observed that each year a Council starts the planning of the activities almost from scratch. There is very little feedback available from the previous years. There are very valuable experiences gathered every time after the event. 7

Each Gymkhana Council after the activities are over, will prepare a report including various aspects of the festival organization including the financial statements and submit to its ACC. The responsibility of submitting the report to the DOSA office through the Faculty Counsellor will be of the General Secretary and the Festival Coordinator. It is emphasized that the above recommendations regarding the planning and emergency management focus on the major students activities, but these guidelines should also be followed while organizing regular students activities like Freshers Nite, Galaxy, Indradhanush, etc. Further, in order to avoid the occurrence of objectionable incidents during their schedule, if any, the programme of these activities will be discussed with Chief Counsellor/Counsellors and the consent to hold them will be taken before hand. III. FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE: Chapter VI of the Students Gymkhana Constitution provides the rules and procedures regarding the financial affairs of the Students Gymkhana. It spells out the constitution of the finance committee, remittance towards, advertisements/sponsorship, sale of passes, complementary passes, sale of T- shirts, membership of clubs, mode of spending the collected money, heads of expenditure, submission of bills, drawal and adjustment of advances, etc. The Committee believes that proposed plan of increasing awareness amongst the elected members will help in adhering to the Gymkhana guideline. In addition, it is proposed that the DOSA will issue an abstract of the guidelines (see Appendix) to the Gymkhana executives and also to the various Counsellors. IV. SENATE STUDENTS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE (SSAC): The SSAC represents one of the unique students governance system of this Institute. It contributes to the sustenance of the value system within the guiding spirit of active participation and total involvement of students in creating a truly academic environment. It functions by arriving at decisions through discussions and acceptance of majority view. Its importance lies in confidentiality of its proceedings. Keeping all these aspects in mind it was felt that everything should be done to preserve the spirit of SSAC. Some of the specific recommendation are: 1. Members of SSAC should be thoroughly briefed by the Chairman concerning its spirit and mode of functioning every time the new SSAC is constituted. 2. Sufficient care should be taken in nominating members (both students and faculty) for SSAC. 3. SSAC should be able to call in special invitees to assist it, as and when necessary. 8

4. Wardens and HECs are encouraged to try to resolve issues at their levels. However, all matters must be reported to the Chairman SSAC and any stipulated punishments should be in the nature of recommendations to SSAC. The Chairman, SSAC may approve some such actions on behalf of SSAC and then report the same to SSAC. SSAC should firmly authorize its Chairman to take such actions. V. HALL MANAGEMENT: Students residing in the Halls manage various Hall affairs following the organizational principles as required by running one s home affairs. The HEC and various committees provide the structure to carry out the necessary activities. Ordinances 9 and 11 spell out general conduct and discipline and the governance of the Halls of Residences. The Committee feels that the constitution of Hall of Residence No. 5 (March, 1983) provides the details about general organization, organizational principles, of various councils and can be treated as guide post for hall management. Other halls should also have their constitutions along the lines of the constitution of Hall No. 5 after incorporating modifications as suited to their respective needs. The general guidelines about the eligibility for participation by a student through election or nomination will be the same as mentioned earlier in this report. The Committee would like to make the following recommendations with respect to running of messes in the Halls: 1 Mess Secretary The work load on the mess secretary is relatively higher and duties are time consuming and therefore students at large do not readily come forward to take the responsibility. The Committee therefore recommends that three mess secretaries be elected for this post especially in Hall I-V. This aspect should be considered for inclusion in the Hall constitution. 2 Mess Duty In addition to (1) above, the governance of messes may be made more effective by introducing one-day mess duty per semester jointly by 2-3 residents every day. 9

3 Appraisal of Mess Staff Though students contribute financially towards mess establishment, there is a widespread feeling among them that they have no effective say in the appraisal of mess staff. The Committee recommends the participation of mess secretaries in these matters. Sd/= (Neelkanth Mishra) President, Students Gymkhana & Member Sd/= (Abhishek Mishra) Convener, Students Senate & Member Sd/= (Sanjeev Bhargava ) Member Sd/= (Prawal Sinha) Member Sd/= (Kripa Shanker) Dean of Students Affairs & Chairman 10