What has your journey in CAIC been? Did you always plan to contest for GSec or was it spontaneous?
This was never a plan. I learned about CAIC only a few months back and I was fascinated by the clubs and work. To contest for Gsecy was a spontaneous decision.
Which CAIC club is your favourite and why?
AXLR8R – I have seen their core team working day and night in the workshop. Even with low support from IIT Delhi, they have managed to achieve significant feats.
Tell me a funny incident of yours related to CAIC?
Not one particular incident. But I keep getting requests/complaints related to hostel maintenance, which should go to BHM. We at CAIC don’t get washing machines repaired or look after hostel mess accounts.
What are the most common academic issues you expect to encounter? (Considering it to be an online sem)
More issues are expected to arise due to “one for all” policies, which might create inconveniences for some. We need to be more flexible with the policies to adjust to the future course of the pandemic. Issues related to course registration, attendance policy, inconsistent evaluation timeline, and audit policy are predicted to be the most frequent.
Interaction with authorities like profs, TAs etc. get hampered a lot during online semesters. The situation is more grave for introverted students. What steps do you plan to take to help them?
I am surprised that students are facing such problems. Most of the professors are very eager to connect with students through mail or meeting through Teams to help them with their doubts. TAs often provide their WhatsApp contact for accessible communication. If students still face issues, they should always feel free to reach out to CAIC.
Freshmen have difficulties regarding audit policies and selection of courses for next sem and have nowhere to go for advice except few approachable seniors. How do you plan to change it?
In general, regarding audit policies, one can find all the latest information under “curriculum information” on the IITD website. Parts of policies that are course-specific are made clear in the first week of classes. For the selection of courses, I would advise students to first go through “courses of study” and then take suggestions from their BSW Mentor.
Tell us something about TRYST? Is there going to be any difference from previous years?
I hope to have the first online TRYST in this session. With so many uncertainties due to covid, no schedule has been finalized yet, but I assure everyone that we will have it very soon.
How do you plan to convince the alumni to guide our students for placement, as mentioned in your manifesto?
Once we have the database for alumni working in different fields, plans to organize sessions through OCS can be implemented.
Few clubs under CAIC (like IGem) were inactive last year. Others were not as promoted amongst students as other clubs. How do you plan to change that?
Yes. This is a prevalent issue for clubs under CAIC. Problems arise because each club/society functions as an independent body. Expect it to improve once the restructuring process of CAIC is complete this year.
One common misconception about CAIC that you would like to clear?
I just want everyone to know at least the full form of CAIC: CO-CURRICULAR and ACADEMIC INTERACTION COUNCIL.
You can find his manifesto here
Interview by Maitree Shandilya