SUC Report Cards 2018: Suraj Thotakura
Written on December 8th, 2018 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}The General Secretary's manifesto was categorised broadly into 6 categories based on the type of problems he wanted to work on: Campus Health Improvement, Skill Development, Food Standards Improvement, Living Standards Improvement, Campus Culture and other general issues. Out of 13 manifesto points, 2 were fulfilled and 6 are in progress.
| Manifesto Point | Status |
|---|---|
| Campus Health Improvement | |
| Student Health Council | Not Fulfilled |
| Mental Health | In Progress |
| Physical Health | In Progress |
| Skill Development Program | |
| Professional Classes | In Progress |
| Food Standards Improvement | |
| Food Outlet Committee | Fulfilled |
| Improving Living Standards | |
| Common Room Meets | Not Fulfilled |
| Internet Connectivity on Campus | In Progress |
| Survey in CP | Not Fulfilled |
| General Issues | |
| Scheduling of T-Shirts | Fulfilled |
| SAC | Not Fulfilled |
| Academic Awards | Not Fulfilled |
| Research Portal and Platform for Alumni Relations and Feedback | In Progress |
| Campus Culture | |
| Intranet Podcast | In Progress |
Campus Health Improvement
Student Health Council (Not Fulfilled)
The intent behind the formation of this committee was to spread
awareness and ensure proper healthcare of the students on campus. The
manifesto stated that a team of student representatives will be
inducted at the beginning of the semester along with a faculty in-charge
to overlook the procedure. However, a formal committee has not yet been constituted, and no inductions have been announced for this yet.
Mental Health (In Progress)
This point in the manifesto talked about increasing the availability
of the counsellor, and that the process to take an appointment would be
simplified. While the availability of the counsellor seems to have
improved, the process for taking an appointment even today appears to
involve taking a form physically from the SWD Office. The General
Secretary stated that the SU had been in talks with psychologists who
can train the faculty in handling students with mental stress and
depression. This manifesto point also talked of an anonymous portal that would be added to the SU Website for people to address their problems. However, with the SU website still appearing to be under construction, progress on this front seems unsure. However, the General Secretary did say that an app is being developed
to hear the grievances of any student facing mental trauma. This will
directly connect the student to a faculty trained for handling such
situations and that the student shall remain anonymous. This is a point
that is common to the manifestos of the President and the GenSec, and
the president said that he's taken up this initiative.
Physical Health (In Progress)
This point in the manifesto stated that the student representative
would take initiative to organize health camps. In the first semester, a
blood donation drive (by NSS) and an Eye-Check-up Camp (SU with the
Administration's help) were organised. This point also stated that articles would be published on seasonal health awareness and that regular surveys
would be conducted and the information from surveys would be given to
the MedC and the Faculty-in-Charge. While health camps did happen over
the semester, the latter two parts of this manifesto are yet to happen completely.
Skill Development Program
Professional Classes (In Progress)
The General Secretary stated that the plan was to conduct a survey
with the general body regarding their interests and skills and organized
(paid) classes by professional teachers, based on what a majority of
the General Body wants to learn. The General Secretary stated that he
could not take this up this semester due to other engagements. While the
General Secretary on 22nd November did put up a post on ShoutBox
regarding this, this point has not been fulfilled yet. He did however,
say that plans were in place to start work on this in the upcoming
semester.
A set of coding competitions with a generous prize money to encourage
coding culture on campus will also be organised. Prof. Niranjan Swain
was consulted for this and prize money of about Rs. 50,000
was allocated from the administration. These competitions will be
mainly targeted to help people learn skills which will be useful during
their placements.
Food Standards Improvement:
Food Outlet Committee (Fulfilled)
A formal committee was constituted to look into the matters related to the eateries on campus. (notice on ShoutBox).
The committee, which is headed by the GenSec, consists of H-Reps of all
the Bhawans and a Convener (this year's convener is Arjun Lokireddy).
The committee has so far issued notices to food outlets through the
Administration mostly related to hygiene issues. The General Secretary
is also looking to bring better food outlets on campus. Link to the FOC Charter. A feedback and review form was also floated. The form can be found here..
Improving Living Standards:
Common Room Meets (Not Fulfilled)
The manifesto of the Secretary promised frequent common room meetings
to know the grievances of the general body on matters regarding the
campus in general or about their bhavans. This was planned to happen
under the supervision of the warden. Such meetings have not really taken
place. The General Secretary did mention that they attempted to conduct
meets in Ram Bhawan, but that nobody showed up. The manifesto point
however promised frequent meets, which clearly didn't happen.
Internet Connectivity on Campus (In Progress)
Providing WiFi in Ram and Krishna Bhavans. New routers have been installed
and the bandwidth increased from 675mbps to 1gbps. Work is going on to
replace the old network switches (which is about 25% completed), after
which the speed is expected to increase. Also, Cyberoam is being
replaced with another software for better internet connectivity. While
significant work appears to have been done regarding this, it is not
exactly clear how much involvement the SUC might have in this front as
this is something that comes under the responsibilities of the institute and CCIT as well.
Survey in CP (Not Fulfilled)
The point aims at understanding the problems or shortcomings faced by
the shops at CP by being in constant communication with them. Although a
survey of the food outlets was done, this hasn't been extended to all
the shops in CP yet. With regard to CP a new coin based laundry service
is planned on being set up.
General Issues:
Proper Scheduling of T-Shirts (Fulfilled)
The plan was to draft a schedule for all the clubs, departments and
associations to release their T-Shirts and to ensure that delivery of
TShirts happens on time. While the Atmos merchandise this year was
delivered more or less on time, the first SU TShirt of the year faced
significant delays. The General Secretary said that the delays were
caused due to funds not being released by the Accounts Division, which
took more than 43 days to disburse the funds. However, with the Atmos
TShirts being released on schedule, the General Secretary assured that
the issues have been sorted out.
SAC (Not Fulfilled)
The General Secretary put forth this agenda point many times during
his campaigning period, promising to speak to the concerned authorities
to keep the SAC functional and open throughout the day and also to
extend the gym timings. Although the General Secretary has tried to make this happen the authorities have rejected this proposal citing a shortage of staff.
Academic Awards (Not Fulfilled Yet)
The proposal was to introduce new awards during the convocation ceremony namely:
- ‘Best Undergraduate Research Project’ award from each Department.
- ‘Best Post - Graduate Research Project’ award.
- ‘Best Thesis’ award to Ph.D students from each department.
The General Secretary has said that he will start working on this from next semester and that it needs a little more work from the administration's side.
Research Portal and Platform for Alumni Relations and Feedback (In Progress)
This project has been taken up by a team of seven students namely
Ranjan GSK, Veresh Kande, Vishwak Reddy, Vineeth Pothu, Vinay J, Naveen
Bathula, Tejo Makineni. With the help of Dr. Odelu Vanga from the
Department of CSIS they will be setting up a LinkedIn like platform for
this purpose.
Campus Culture:
Intranet Podcast (In Progress)
According to the General Secretary, the Intranet Podcast is almost ready. Trials are going on and he is positive that it will become functional by the start of next semester. A total fund of Rs 2.4L
of equipment was brought from the administration under this project. A
studio room is also being built. A committee of students and
constitution for this committee which comprises of a tech team and
content team was formed unofficially (inductions will be held next sem).
Through the podcasts anyone on campus will be able to voice their
opinions on SU or in general. He claims the SUC will connect to campus
though these podcasts. As stated already in his manifesto, the General
Secretary hopes that it will be a good platform for seniors to share
their experiences and also for clubs or societies to hold weekly
programs.
Outside The Manifesto
Other than working on points from his manifesto, the General
Secretary said that he worked on these initiatives on campus as well,
apart from working for fests:
- The drains surrounding the football and hockey fields have been
covered with grills in the wake of serious injuries to people who fell
in them accidentally. - The number of solar panels on old hostels is being increased to ensure better supply of hot water in hostels.
- Passport mela
- Paytm KYC
- Fixing of auto prices
- Hostel drains are also being covered
- Setting up of RO water filters
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Article by Tarun Agarwal and Sanath Salil. Edited by Vedika Kulkarni and Rohit Dwivedula.