SMVDU Katra: The 28th meeting of the Academic Council of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University was held on 26th Feb. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Sanjeev Jain, the Vice Chancellor of the University. Prof. Sunil Pandey, Prof. P. K. Jain, Prof. K. K. Biswas, Prof. Rajesh Srivastav, Prof. S. Dharmaraja and Sh. Lokesh Saxena were the external experts in the meeting. The Meeting began with a welcome note by the Registrar Prof. V. K. Bhat. The agenda items were presented by Dr. Sumeet Gupta, Dean Academic Affairs. Prof. V. Varma, Dean Faculty of Engineering, Prof. D. Mukhopadhyaya, Dean Faculty of Management, Dr. Vandana Sharma, Dean Humanities and Social Sciences and all the Heads of various departments attended the meeting.
In the meeting, concern over obtaining students feedback about their academic needs while reviewing and upgrading the curriculum was expressed. It was also impressed upon that while designing curriculum, the need of the industry and the compatibility of the curriculum with the corporate and industry requirements must be kept in mind. Introduction of self-study courses, out-of-the-class learning, industry exposure were also under emphasis. The external experts also expressed the need to conduct parent-teachers’ meet and it was highlighted that such meetings should be well planned and be part of the academic calendar of the University. Admission policies for NRI/foreign sponsored students, students with disability were also discussed. The expert members also suggested that the curriculum, benchmarking etc. should be in alignment with the National Institutional Ranking Framework of MHRD, of which public perception of the institution is an important component. The need was felt of training students about technical writing, interpersonal and other soft-skills and special training for writing research papers as the same is becoming a degree requirement for many programs. Launching of an MBA Executive program was also discussed. Policies for attracting senior faculty with outstanding record were also discussed. Numerous good decisions for students were taken with regard to facilitating their academic performance. The meeting ended with thanks by the Vice Chancellor to all experts.