CRITERION V: STUDENT SUPPORT AND PROGRESSION 5.1 Student Mentoring and Support
5.3 Student Participation and Activities
5.3.1 List the range of sports, cultural and extracurricular activities available to students. Furnish the programme calendar and provide details of students’ participation.
Sports and Games: Athletics (Men & Women), Badminton (Men & Women), Basketball (Men &
Women), Chess (M & W), Cricket (Men), Football (Men), Handball (Women), Kabaddi (Men), Kho-Kho (Men & Women), Wt. Lifting & Best Physique (Men), Table-Tennis (Men & Women), Volleyball (Men &
Women)
Cultural: A two day cultural event is organised in the Institute every year. The best performers are selected to represent IARI in the Inter-Agri-University Youth festival usually organised at NDRI, Karnal. Students get a chance of holistic development by participating in the other extracurricular activities like: Essay,
Debate, Clay Modelling, Rangoli, etc. competitions. MOHR office supports the PGSSU in organizing these activities.
5.3.2 Give details of the achievements of students in co-curricular, extracurricular and cultural activities at different levels: University / State / Zonal / National / International, etc. during the last four years.
Reverie 2014, NDRI, Karnal: A team of twenty five students represented IARI for the 19th All India Inter University Youth Festival “Reverie 2014” organized by NDRI, Karnal from 24th to 26th April, 2014.
The IARI team lifted the winner trophy for events including quiz, fashion show, duet song, story writing (Hindi and English), mehendi and runner up trophy for events like poster making, painting, group song and antakshari.
5.3.3 Does the university conduct special drives / campaigns for students to promote heritage consciousness?
The Institute has not conducted any special drive for promoting heritage consciousness.
5.3.4 How does the university involve and encourage its students to publish materials like catalogues, wall magazines, college magazine, and other material? List the major publications/ materials brought out by the students during the last four academic sessions.
The Literary committee of the PGSSU invites articles, poems, photographs etc. from the student community for publication in the Annual Magazine. In the last two years, magazines Pankhudi and Ankur have been published.
5.3.5 Does the university have a Student Council or any other similar body? Give details on its constitution, activities and funding.
The Institute doesn’t have a body by the name of Student Council, but its role is taken up by the Students’
Union called the “The Post-Graduate School Students Union (PGSSU)” after the name of the institution, the Post-Graduate School of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The Union is run by the students and for the students.
The following are the aims and objectives of the PGSSU
• To inculcate a spirit of fellow feeling and a mutual contact among the members.
• To promote the social and cultural welfare of the members and to raise the tempo of athletic activities in the Post-Graduate School.
• To encourage the intellectual development of the members.
• To arouse among the members a spirit of social service.
• To provide an opportunity to the members to train themselves in the art of self-government and group leadership.
• To promote the consciousness of the members regarding the aims and working of various national and international student organization and
• To represent the Post-Graduate School students’ body on the national as well as intellectual plane.
• To find out immediate solution for all such problems as may jeopardize the common interest of the members by meeting, discussions and making suggestions, if necessary, to the concerned authorities.
• To promote the establishment of close relations between the students and the members of teaching staff of the Post-Graduate School. To maintain contacts with the ex-alumni of the Post-Graduate School and Associates of the I.A.R.I., New Delhi.
The funding for the students PGSSU and cultural, sports, magazine and other activities is by the students and matching grant by the institution.
5.3.6 Give details of various academic and administrative bodies that have student representatives on them. Also provide details of their activities.
• Student representatives are members in the following academic and administrative bodies:
• The Academic Council
• Standing committee on faculty and discipline
• Standing committee on scholarship, financial assistance and academic progress
• Standing committee on students’ problems and discipline, welfare, board and residences
• Board of Studies
• Library Advisory Committee
The Academic Council: The Academic Council is the main consultative, deliberative and task implementing body in the fields of education and training. It is responsible for broad policy matters on academic issues without dealing with individual cases. The Academic Council is responsible for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination within the Post Graduate School and exercises such other powers and duties as are conferred on it. The Academic Council is responsible for the determination of equivalence of degrees of candidates applying for admission from other universities and is the final authority to make selection out of the applicants for admission. Director, IARI is the Chairman of the Council. PGSSU President and an elected academic council student are members of the Academic Council.
They represent the student’s point of view w.r.t. academic matters taken up for discussion. Term of student representatives is one year. The details of the constitution, members and powers are discussed in the previous sections. The other committees that support academic council and academic activities are discussed below:
Standing committee on faculty and discipline: The Standing committee on faculty and discipline formulates guidelines regarding administration of faculty members, their duties, and obligations, and other related faculty matters. Also it deals with representations from individual faculty members regarding allotment of students, constitution of Advisory Committee, teaching of courses, representation in Board of Studies, and grant of laboratory and other facilities. PGSSU President is a member of the committee to present the students issues relating to above mentioned subjects.
Standing committee on scholarship, financial assistance and academic progress: This committee has a mandate for making procedures for reviewing the academic progress of students. Also looks into individual cases of students regarding extension of time limit for submission of thesis and cases of poor academic performance. It is also responsible for formulation of terms and conditions for the award of various scholarships and fellowships and procedure for assistance from Students’ Welfare Fund. PGSSU President is a member of the committee to present the students issues relating to above mentioned subjects.
Standing committee on students’ problems and discipline, welfare, board and residences: This committee deals with representations from students regarding the constitution of Advisory Committee, dropping/adding of courses, relief from Post Graduate School, maximum period of absence on leave, and removal of names from the rolls of Post Graduate School, etc. Other issues which fall in the purview of committee are: Use of the Institute’s facilities in terms of equipment, chemicals, etc. by the students, Cases relating to students’ discipline, amenities in the hostel including food services, Organisation of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, Rules regarding hostels, including guests, overstay etc., Placement of students for employment. PGSSU President, an elected lady students’ representative from PGSSU, EC Member, and an elected students’ representative in the Academic Council are the student representatives in this committee.
Board of Studies: Each Discipline has a, ‘Board of Studies’ committee which has the responsibility of reviewing the instructional programme of the discipline concerned in respect of each trimester, preparing recommendations for revision, addition or deletion of courses, organisation of the teaching of courses in each trimester in the discipline concerned and considering all matters relating to improvement and conduct of Post Graduate School. One Ph.D. third year student serves as student representative to this Committee.
The term is one year.
Library Advisory Committee: The Committee has advisory role in the functioning of library and recommends purchase of books and subscription of research journals. PGSSU President is a member of the committee to present the students requirement and issues relating to library. The term of the student representative is of one year.