On 11th May, 2018 , the Vivekananda Auditorium witnessed a constellation of erudite people from CEG. Heads of departments, Directors of various centers and professors gathered for the inauguration of the much awaited Induction program for the freshers.
Dr.Ranjani Parthasarthy, the coordinator of the event, was the first to address the gathering. Dr. Parthasarthy then called upon the guest of honour, Dr. Rajeev Sangal, to share his experience.
Dr. Sangal, Director of IIT(BHU) Varanasi, spoke about the various aspects of the Induction program. He started off his speech by insisting the faculty members present there to make the session as interactive as possible, so that they would come to know about some of the problems faced by the new students. He said that this might help them to jot down common problems and thereby come up with possible solutions.
Apart from having a remarkable background in research, he had foreseen the necessity of an induction program to revive basic morals among students and produce outstanding graduates. Hence, he went on to seek the permission from authorities to even include it as an academic course carrying one credit value in IITs. The course was successful and became highly beneficial to students. Many institutes were moved by the immense success attained by this program and started adopting such humanitarian courses.
He went on to highlight the primary objectives of the induction program such as creating a friendly environment, assisting students to realize their potential and enhancing student-teacher relationships. The faculty were then asked to share their own concern about students which would allow the program’s objectives to be justified. The concerns aroused and his responses were:
1. The anxiety that gets built up among the newcomers dominates their mind to an extent that the students have little motivation to gain knowledge.
Anxiety is one predominant emotion that surrounds the minds of students and gradually strengthens its roots to such a degree that it suppresses any constructive actions from the student’s side. The reason is mainly due to the huge expectations set by the excellent standard of the college as well as family background. Such emotions must be handled by trained professionals in a delicate way. They have to instill in students the feeling that one can always achieve their goal when they come out of this fear.
2. Expectation of maximal benefits out of minimal efforts and the result being unfruitful.
The statement by itself is regarded as the basic philosophy of engineering. Engineers and designers strive to utilize the minimal resources available to solve a sophisticated problem. That said, students cannot be blamed outright for exploiting this fact. Instead they can be motivated and made aware of the exponential growth of technology. This will motivate students to sharpen their skills to cater tomorrow’s needs and enable them to meet the high demands of the industries.
3.Goal-setting and diversions
Every person needs a substantial amount of time to figure out the area in which they are good at. The time again varies from one person to another. It is unfair to urge them to arrive at a stable goal for themselves by mere pressure. The right thing to do is to promote perseverance among students and motivate them to do their regular courses meticulously. Motivation is the key factor.
4.Activities (Techinical and non-technical):
After answering the concerns raised by our faculty, he then told about the activities that will accelerate the growth of humanitarian qualities among students. The non-technical activities include engaging in physical activities early in the morning. He said that it will enable the students to maintain their health and physical conditions. Involvement in literary activities will enable them to enlarge their vocabulary and analytical skills. Creative arts such as music, dance, etc will also help them improve their extracurricular skills and will genuinely be rewarding in the future.
Technical activities like conducting lectures by eminent people, who have enormous expertise in understanding students’ psyche, can enlighten students by imbibing basic moral values and reinforce their meaning deep into their minds. Building student-teacher network is a crucial aspect as mutual understanding is always needed between them in any situation. This will not only create a vibrant atmosphere in the classroom but will also allow students to interact freely with professors about their weakness and concerns. The other important thing would be the senior-junior relationship. This has nurtured the students of CEG all through these years both technically and non-technically. Such relationships are invaluable and will always be cherished.
Thus the approval of such an induction program is really something to look forward to and when the encapsulated activities are promulgated, it would yield enriching results and The Guindy Times earnestly hopes that the upcoming juniors make good use of it.
