Completed Projects-
Query redressal system: The most ambitious and wholesome project of SAC, this project has now started in full flow. Microsoft forms have been floated on WhatsApp groups and other online platforms to collect responses from the students regarding issues concerning them the most. The common issues were identified and appropriate steps in that direction have also been taken.
Yulu cycle sharing scheme: Yulu has started its operations in IIT Delhi with 150 Yulu moves and 65 Yulu miracles with several affordable plans especially for students with zero self ownership, hassle free signup and 24 hour service. Arrangements for refund of money paid to Greenolution have also been made.
Course and audit policy: The CAIC drafted a list of courses which had policies not aligning with the institute guidelines. These courses were then looked on a case by case basis and the associated course coordinators were contacted. Various issues to audit and withdrawal were also resolved.
Summer 2021 academic calendar: The issue of labs in summer was taken up and it was ensured that there were no labs in summer 2021, so that students don’t miss out on their internships.
Placements in Core: This issue was taken up and duly acknowledged. The OCS would take effort to increase the outreach.
Improvements in UG Section: The Student General Request integrated with the ERP portal is being strengthened to make it the sole mode of redressal of UGS related queries to ensure more accountability and transparency. The system was tested and deployed. Efforts are now being made to make the system more efficient.
Social Media presence: A tangible change is visible in the outreach of SAC. More more are now updated about the working of the SAC. The posters of the QRS are regularly floated on WhatsApp groups and a new Instagram page of SAC has also been made to further increase the outreach.
Partially Complete Projects-
RFID System: SAC is working on a one payment system, that will be used to handle all the transactions made in the campus, and through this planning to shift to a flexible messing system with special messes- South Indian and Non Vegetarian. The tender document to be floated amongst vendors has been finalised, talks with Dean BHM have been made and a list of vendors to whom the idea would be pitched has been obtained. The project is under progress, and is expected to be completed before the campus reopens in full flow.
Information Cell: The information cell, linked with the eAcademics portal, will be an extension of the current eCertification portal, acting as a one-stop portal for all student achievements. It will be collecting, verifying and centrally storing all important student data, such as Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs), Position of Responsibilities(PORs), Scholastic Achievements, Projects and Interns. Additionally, there is an attempt to incorporate outside-IIT achievements of students on the portal as well with the aid of an appropriate verification mechanism.
The data maintained by the portal would be OCS for the purpose of verifying CVs. It will also act as a database of achievements and records of IITD alumni for claiming their validity elsewhere, thereby removing the inconvenience faced currently in doing the same.
The project is in progress. The designs have been finalised and CSC has taken up the job of coding and bringing it to picture.
Project Portal: This would be a one step stop for IIT Delhi students to browse, apply and start their own projects under the mentorship of IIT Professors.The vision is to create a pan IIT portal through which students can browse and apply for projects in their areas of interest. The portal, once deployed, would save the students from the cumbersome task of writing lots of emails. The development part of the project is complete. It just requires the final nod from the administration and is expected to be deployed pretty soon.
Hospital Digitalisation: Digitalisation is a project undertaken to attempt to bring the entire hospital system online and thereby make it easier for the IITD community to gather information, book appointments and apply for medical certificates. Detailed summary report was drafted along with a solution model after consultation with community opinions, hospital reception and hospital staff. Hospital is planning to integrate prescriptions to the ERP system and SAC is trying to add the additional functionalities with the same. The senate has given permission to go ahead with the project. Front-end design models have been made and are going to be discussed with CSC IITD for further approvals and integration with ERP systems as they will overlook the same.
IITD App- This is one of the most long awaited and useful projects, taken by the SAC in association with the Dev Club. The app would serve to cater to a wide array of audience and provide the following useful functionality:
Map: There would be a dedicated map section containing the map of IITD. It would show all the important landmarks (SAC, LHC, Dogra Hall, etc), and would be useful for a lot of people ranging from the new freshers to the visitors coming to IITD, etc. It would show the opening-closing timings of the respective places (eg the tennis courts, etc) and would be a one stop destination for the entire IITD community.
Events: The app would serve to notify the students of the various upcoming events organized by all the various clubs of IITD. There would even be a feature that would allow the people to subscribe to the clubs whose notifications they want to regularly receive.
Fests: During the time of fests, a lot of things happen at the last moment, like venue changes, time changes. The app would serve to notify a large audience about such changes in the quickest and the most efficient manner.
The app is in the development stage. The development is being done by the DevClub, IIT Delhi, in collaboration with the SAC. The app is expected to be deployed soon.
Bus-tracking: The SAC is taking this new project to add the feature of tracking in the buses being run in the IITD campus. This would make the process of commutating more efficient and hassle free. The project is in progress and is expected to be ready by the time the campus reopens in full strength. The final plan is to integrate this feature within the IITD app being developed presently by the DevClub.
Feedback of Food Outlets (via Timble): Originally, proposed by the ex SAC GSec Faraz Mazhar, this project was ongoing but some certain things needed to be added by the infrastructure department.CELC meeting was convened and the discussed points were added to the previous doc prepared and the updated doc was sent back to Timble for further work.
Incomplete Projects-
Decrease Communication gap between Student and Professors: It has been felt that there has been an existing communication gap between the professors and the students due to the things going on online. There has been no physical interaction due to the semester being online. The matter has been taken up along with the BSW and regular Student Faculty interaction sessions (STIC) were to be scheduled. But nothing tangible in this direction has yet been seen.
Invalid due to Covid-
[related with campus fully reopening]
Open new food outlets
This project was only meant to be implemented in case the campus opens in full strength, which hasn’t taken place due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. So, nothing could be done regarding these ventures.
Summary-
A lot of work has been done by SAC in this tenure. The work is indeed visible and let’s hope that such good work continues in the future too.
The overall work by the entire SAC team has been pretty comprehensive this tenure despite the various challenges posed by the online semester in the midst of the pandemic which has affected almost all of us.
A tangible change in the public presence of SAC has been quite visible. With the new instagram page, and the regular update posts and stories on various media, a lot of people on campus are aware of the current initiatives of the SAC, which to an extent was missing earlier.
With the new revamped structure, the accountability of the SAC has increased. The team has been divided into specific sub groups, each handling a particular issue. This has indeed led to an increase in the efficiency of the SAC.
The query redressal system has indeed lived up to its expectations. Through it, the students had been able to raise some of the most pressing issues through a central channel (like unfair course evaluation policies, not aligning with the guidelines set by the institute)
The links to the forms were shared regularly on the WhatsApp groups and the social media platforms, thereby increasing the reach.
The SAC team seems to be approachable and do try to listen to all the suggestions and questions presented to them. This is a good sign as ultimately SAC is the apex student’s body, representing the students of IITD.
A lot of new initiatives (Information Cell, Project Portal) have been taken up and almost completed in this tenure, which is a very good sign and kudos to the team for the amazing work.
All in all, the SAC managed to do a commendable job in the first half. The GSec and the Deputy GSec have truly lived up to their word thus far. Let’s hope it stays the same in the second half as well.
Comments