Response: The best practices identified are as follows:
1.Courses that enhance Employability Skills
2.Attaining Academic Excellence by encouraging Faculty to pursue Advanced Learning Programmes
- Employability Skills Development
Title of the Practice: Training programs for students to enhance their skill sets for a holistic development
Objectives of the Practice:
- To train students on life skills so that they can excel in their academics and also in the careers of their choice.
- To train for Campus Recruitments
The Context:
- Students from vernacular backgrounds need additional training to acquire the skills expected by recruiting companies.
- Most of the students admitted through lateral-entry i.e., with a diploma qualification, need more grooming to perform on-par with the other students.
- To provide requisite training for students to improve their prospects of being recruited in Product Development and/or Consulting and service-based companies.
The Practice:
The Institution provides well-structured skill training programs for students of all branches of B.E, M.E./M.Tech and MCA beginning from their initial semesters itself, which helps them learn progressively. The details of the training programs are mentioned below:
- English language and communication skill course is part of the curriculum, in I and II Semesters, which help in honing the communication skills of the students. A class of 60 students is divided into 3 batches of 20 each and they are given ear- training in the Phonetics lab, thus enabling them to get rid of their mother tongue influence when speaking in English. In the Interactive Communication skills lab students actively participate in group discussions, public speaking, debates and presentations, while in the Reading lab students are taught various comprehension strategies to enable them to read different text types.
- In addition to the above, the students also undergo 56 hours of training in III Semester and 56 hours of training in IV semester, to enhance the LSRW skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing). These training sessions are conducted with an objective to improve the comprehension skills of students. Also during the III and the IV semesters, a class of 72 students is divided into two batches, each consisting of 36 students. Two trainers are provided for each batch to ensure that every student gets the attention needed thus making sure that there is maximum participation. Students are given team tasks and activities thus encouraging participative learning.
- Furthermore, during the V and VI semesters, training is imparted on soft-skills such as Quantitative, Logical, Aptitude, Verbal, Reasoning to mention a few. This aids in preparing the students for the recruitment process, for entrance exams for higher studies and for other competitive examinations. The students are a also provided with on-line resources (on-line videos) and on-line tests, every week, to enable them to prepare for all the above mentioned exams.
- The classes conducted during the III, IV, V and VI semesters are outsourced to third-party training partners. This is done because the trainers have industry experience and understand the need to bridge the gap between the curricula and the industry requirement and the demands the industry makes on fresh graduates. The students are given inputs based on the requirements of various companies.
- The third-party training partners also take care of providing on-line resources like on-line videos and on-line practice tests every week and they also monitor the performance of the students in the online tests. They share the reports of the performance of the students in the on-line tests with the respective departments.
- In the academic year 2017-2018, the Institution also started Technical Skills Training programs and embedded it into the curriculum, for the students graduating in the year 2019. This is owing to the fact that the model of recruitment process by various companies has changed. Most of the recruiting companies are now expecting the students to have basic programming skills irrespective of the branch of engineering they pursue. These Technical Skills Training programs include IT related skills namely Fundamental Programming Skills and Advanced Programming Skills. Students of engineering branches other than CSE and IT are offered training in these domains.
- Based on the feedback of the students graduating in the year 2019 and on their success in the recruitment process, the Institution decided to continue with the Technical Skills training programs making significant modifications as and when required based on the industry needs so that the students are better prepared for the recruitment process.
- The CRT (Campus Recruitment Training) program is conducted for the students during the summer vacation between VI and VII semesters. This program includes 140 hours of training in communication and aptitude skills. This is done to reinforce the skills students acquire as part of the training conducted in III, IV, V and VI semesters. Besides these skills, the students are also trained in Group Discussions, Resume Preparation and Interview Skills. They are also given company specific online practice tests every alternate day, during this training period. Based on the performance in these tests, the training sessions are customized to cater to the needs of the students and the industry, constantly monitoring their performance and making them adept at these skills.
- Pre, mid and post assessment tests are administered to the students by M/s. Cocubes, which provides a proficient on-line assessment tool. M/s. Cocubes is also a hiring agency. The preassessment test helps in identifying the training needs of the students and assists in customizing the training imparted based on their student competencies. Based on the scores obtained by the students in the pre-assessment test, the students are divided into batches. After the pre-assessment test the student’s performance is re-evaluated in the mid-assessment and the training sessions are then oriented to fix the gaps. A post-assessment test helps the students to :-
- understand their areas of improvement, if any, so that they can enhance their proficiency levels during the training. The post-test also helps the institution to identify the effectiveness of the training programs and make changes, if needed, accordingly.
- the pre-assessment test is conducted before the commencement of the CRT. The mid-assessment test is conducted after two weeks of training. The post-assessment test is conducted on completion of the CRT sessions.
- the scores that the students secure in the M/s. Cocubes assessment exams are helpful in terms of them getting recruitment opportunities. Cocubes shares the scores of the assessment tests with the students and also with the recruiting companies on a need basis.
- company-specific online practice tests are also provided to the students just before a particular company visits the campus for the recruitment process. This helps the students in preparing for their recruitment.
- every year many students across all the branches of B.E., M.E/M.Tech and MCA secure internships in industries of their respective discipline.
Evidence of Success:
Placement Summaries for the last 5 years indicate that the students have been performing consistently well and are recruited by reputed companies and the average pay package has been increasing year-on-year.
- 2014-2015 – 524(75%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs. 3.25 LPA
- 2015-2016 – 568 (78%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs. 3.5 LPA
- 2016-2017 – 549(79%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs. 4.00 LPA
- 2017-2018 – 476(67.42%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs. 4.25 LPA
- 2018-2019 - 513 (73.33%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs. 4.5 LPA
- 2019-2020 – 551 (79.48%) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs.5.25 LPA
- 2020-2021-486 (82.65 %) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs.5.75 LPA
- 2021-2022-539 (93.74 %) students secured jobs with an average pay package of Rs.9.00 LPA
Problems Encountered:
- Some of the students, though academically capable, could not afford the cost for the training due to their poor economic background. The college supports these students by extending financial assistance.
Resources Required:
- Professional trainers for imparting training.
- Resources to conduct training i.e., video lectures on topics in communication and aptitude, online exams for practice purpose, company-specific mock tests, etc.
- Attaining Academic Excellence through Faculty Advanced Learning Programmes
Title of the Practice: Encouraging faculty members to enhance their knowledge and upgrade their skills in their respective fields.
Objectives of the Practice:
- Help the faculty members to enhance and update their domain knowledge
- Students benefit from their teachers who have the enhanced their knowledge levels through the additional courses they undertake.
The Context: Improving the quality of the Teaching-Learning Process in the Institution.
The Practice:
- Faculty members are encouraged to carry out research work and pursue Ph.D degree in their areas of specialization. Towards this initiative, the faculty members are given paid leave from 90 days to 180 days and/or reduction of workload. They are also provided with financial support of up to Rs.15,000/ towards tuition fee, contingency, Thesis preparation, etc.
- The Institution encourages faculty to attend Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) on Pedagogy, Outcome-Based Education (OBE), Research Methodologies, and recent developments in the domain specific areas etc. They are also encouraged to attend Orientation courses, Refresher courses, Workshops, Training Programmes on recent and emerging technologies to update their knowledge and skills.
- The Institution enables faculty members to present/publish research papers in national and international conferences and also in journals with high impact factor. Faculty members who wish to attend conferences for presenting their research work either within the country or in other countries are encouraged by providing them with financial support to meet the expenditure towards registration, accommodation, etc.
- Faculty members are deputed to various programmes conducted by industries so that they acquire training in latest technologies, as part of the Train-the-Trainer programmes.
- Faculty members are provided with registration fee, Travel Allowance (TA), Daily Allowance (DA) and On-duty/Academic leave for attending all the above programmes.
- Faculty members are encouraged to register for on-line courses offered by NPTEL/Coursera and other reputed service providers for strengthening and updating their subject knowledge. They need to complete at least one on-line certification course in each semester. Management has also announced incentives to be given to faculty members who complete NPTEL course(s) with Elite and Gold certification, Elite, Gold and top 2% certification and Elite, Gold and top 1% certification.
Evidence of Success:
- 58 faculty members of the Institution were awarded their PhD.
- There are 23 recognized research Supervisors in the Institution among the teaching faculty across 7 departments. These Supervisors are guiding 112 research scholars. The research scholars include faculty members of our institution and also members from other institutions.
- Faculty members have 114 publications in National and International Journals.
- Faculty members have 106 paper publications in National and international Conferences and book chapters.
- Faculty members have obtained certification in courses conducted by Swayam/NPTEL Coursera, Edx etc.
- In the academic year 2017-2018 faculty members successfully completed 181 NPTEL courses of which faculty members obtained Elite certification in 96 courses, Elite and Silver certification in 02 courses and Elite and Gold certification in 09 courses.
- In the academic year 2018-2019 faculty members successfully completed 189 NPTEL courses of which faculty members obtained Elite certification in 100 courses, Elite and Silver certification in 31 courses and Elite and Gold certification in 09 courses.
- In the academic year 2019-2020 faculty members have successfully completed 67 NPTEL courses of which faculty members obtained Elite certification in 24 courses, Elite and Silver certification in 16 courses and Elite and Gold certification in 05 courses.
- In the academic year 2020-2021 faculty members have successfully completed 57 NPTEL courses of which faculty members obtained Elite certification in 22 courses, Elite and Silver certification in 14 courses and Elite and Gold certification in 04 courses.
- In the academic year 2021-2022 faculty members have successfully completed 54 NPTEL courses of which faculty members obtained Elite certification in 19 courses, Elite and Silver certification in 12 courses and Elite and Gold certification in 05 courses.
Problems Encountered
- It is difficult to depute faculty for long-term FDPs, Refresher Courses, Orientation Programmes, etc., during the semesters when academic sessions are in progress.
Resources Required:
- All faculty members are provided with Computers with internet connectivity