The past month has been difficult. For one, Summer arrived with a bang. Overnight temperatures shot up giving us a taste of what was in store for us ahead. I am so not looking forward to May and June. The mornings are cool, for now. On walks in the morning, I can hear the koels, the barbets, and the oriental magpies. The peacocks look magnificent as they perch on trees modeling their tails. This year I have been lucky to have caught sight of Shikra- last year I missed them. The bougainvillea have just started blooming and the winter flowers have faded away.
On the garden side, we have planted the usual summer suspects- Bhindi (okra), Brinjals (eggplants), spinach and amaranth. Ever optimistic, Nanku Ram has planted tomatoes once again. He thinks they will fruit this year. My mother, who is staying with me at present, was happy when I gave her the first brinjal.
On the university side- the rankings have rated us once again as the 2nd Best University (one spot behind IISc) but I cannot help think how long we will remain so. This year most of the schools are not accepting Ph.D. students. Only our numbers remained unslashed- this was due to the decision that we took about 4 years ago. When the Supreme Court ruled that there would be 54% increase in seats, it was taken to mean at Ph.D. level too. We ended up admitting 60-70 Ph.D. students per year which translated into 2-3 students per lab per year. After two years of this policy, it became evident to all of us that this cannot continue. We needed laboratory space and more important we needed enormous funds to support these many students. So we requested the University to reduce our numbers. Needless to say it caused great consternation but we persisted and finally got the numbers reduced. As a result when the University decreed that we have to follow the UGC guidelines (8 Ph.D. scholars/professor; 6 scholars/Associate Professor; and 4 /assistant professor) we found that we were within the limits and thus, can admit students.
But the question remains- how many will apply and how many will end up coming to us.
For the rest- a blanket ban has been put in place till the number of Ph.D. scholars reduce down to the UGC defined guidelines. While it was truly mind-boggling to think that there were faculty with 20-30 students (how do they manage to guide these many students and ensure that they did good research work is something no one is talking about), yet a blanket ban will adversely affects us.
It is thus, a season of despondency as we ponder on what will be the impact of these guidelines on us.
On the garden side, we have planted the usual summer suspects- Bhindi (okra), Brinjals (eggplants), spinach and amaranth. Ever optimistic, Nanku Ram has planted tomatoes once again. He thinks they will fruit this year. My mother, who is staying with me at present, was happy when I gave her the first brinjal.
On the university side- the rankings have rated us once again as the 2nd Best University (one spot behind IISc) but I cannot help think how long we will remain so. This year most of the schools are not accepting Ph.D. students. Only our numbers remained unslashed- this was due to the decision that we took about 4 years ago. When the Supreme Court ruled that there would be 54% increase in seats, it was taken to mean at Ph.D. level too. We ended up admitting 60-70 Ph.D. students per year which translated into 2-3 students per lab per year. After two years of this policy, it became evident to all of us that this cannot continue. We needed laboratory space and more important we needed enormous funds to support these many students. So we requested the University to reduce our numbers. Needless to say it caused great consternation but we persisted and finally got the numbers reduced. As a result when the University decreed that we have to follow the UGC guidelines (8 Ph.D. scholars/professor; 6 scholars/Associate Professor; and 4 /assistant professor) we found that we were within the limits and thus, can admit students.
But the question remains- how many will apply and how many will end up coming to us.
For the rest- a blanket ban has been put in place till the number of Ph.D. scholars reduce down to the UGC defined guidelines. While it was truly mind-boggling to think that there were faculty with 20-30 students (how do they manage to guide these many students and ensure that they did good research work is something no one is talking about), yet a blanket ban will adversely affects us.
It is thus, a season of despondency as we ponder on what will be the impact of these guidelines on us.
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