General Overview
CAIC, the Co-Curricular and Academic Interaction Council of IIT Delhi, is responsible for academic issues and for many co-curricular activities. Many tech clubs fall under its ambit, and it has conveners from all branches. CAIC has struggled a lot with the online mode of work. While the council has done some significant work in restructuring and has also provided support to onboarding students, their overall work has been slow, with many major projects still incomplete or under process.
Most of the reps reported that they were not informed about what was happening in the board, and found it quite challenging to reach the GSec. They found that it is quite hard to bring any new initiative and there is no tracking of promised work. Though they have been able to manage their department's work, they find it difficult to handle issues at the institute level due to less communication.
Many representatives told us that they are interested in doing more, but there is very limited work happening at the board level. Most reps felt a severe lack of team bonding. There have been no team bonding exercises, and they find it difficult to discuss things with their colleagues. Most of them feel that the pandemic is also to blame for this issue.
Completed
Orientations: Conducting orientations for UG & PG freshers for their introduction to various bodies and their workings under CAIC
It was conducted near the end of the first semester for both UG and PG freshers with all clubs. The freshers were introduced to all the clubs and were informed about their activities and recruitment processes.
TRYST- Congregating a team of experienced developers for establishing a precedent in the technical fest(hybrid), bolsteringIITD's academic outreach.
The team has already started preparing for the fest and it is supposed to take place in April. Everyone felt that good attention was given to TRYST and everyone is happy with the team employed for the fest. Also, seeing that the situation has improved, TRYST will be held in hybrid mode.
Partially Completed
PhD stipend: Extending stipend and hostel seat beyond 5 years for PhD students.
This was taken up but the administration has rejected it, citing the reason that they don’t have funds for it.
Daily necessities: Contingency fund to be carried forward as 60% of unused and making a centralized vendor include necessary everyday items and stationery redeemable under this fund.
This was taken up by the GSecc but the administration has replied that they can’t, as this is controlled by the Ministry of Education and is not under the scope of admin. Since M.Tech has different rules, the GSec has asked the admin to bring it for them.
MTP Projects: Ensuring increased transparency and flexibility in the MTP project allotment.
The number of projects offered has been increased, ensuring more flexibility but there is no change in the allotment process.
Skill development: Conducting workshops with expert teams and departmental societies on research paper writing, English proficiency
Many workshops and competitions for research paper writing will be held in TRYST.
New Constitution: A new structure of CAIC is being proposed where the council will now have 2 new DGs and hostel level CAIC reps.
This proposal has been accepted by the executive committee and will soon be presented in the senate after approvals by a few more authorities.
Regular Meetings: Organizing regular council meetings for resolution of the academic issues.
The number of meetings is the same as that of last year, but many reps have reported that they feel that enough meetings are not happening.
Inventory of Labs Resources: Creating a list to map lab equipment and research areas to PG students using the equipment and enrolled in those researches.
This has been accepted and the reps are working with the admin to float the form.
Not Completed/No information available
Internships: Endorsing freedom for master students internships after 1st year.
Master students are given striped and hence are considered employed during their summer break.
Online resources: Working to increase the number of subscriptions to online resources and software.
This was not taken up but instead of this, the body is working on building an inventory of lab resources.
Research inquiries: Developing a research council to address research-related grievances.
Not taken up yet.
PG involvement: Encourage the involvement of PG convenors in DRC/SRC/CRC meetings for discussion of grievances of their respective batches with their respective HODs.
Not taken up yet.
Events: Streamlining of various bodies under CAIC to cooperate efficiently for organizing various events and seminars/webinars with eminent speakers.
This has been left on the clubs to organise.
PG Placement: Revamping of respective nucleus committees to open more companies for PG students.
The GSec had asked OCS to work on the inclusion of PG people in OCS and in the placement process. While the Gsec claims that the number of PG volunteers has increased, due to delayed response by the GSec and no comments from OCS we cannot confirm the claim.
Schedule flexibility: Ensuring Increased flexibility in the OCS schedule to accommodate the students graduating at different points of time.
There was a request made to OCS to change the process, but they replied that since the placement process already has multiple phases it is not needed. This was not confirmed with OCS due to delayed response by GSec and no response by OCS.
Alumni database: Creating a database of alumni currently working in research labs and corporations to guide students for their career opportunities
Not taken up yet.
Communication: Proposing feedback and student grievance portal for rapid and smooth access to higher authorities.
A new academic portal is being worked on and this will be included in this.
Social Media: Ensuring regularity in the maintenance of social media handles of CAIC for broader outreach.
Not taken up yet. But they are planning to make changes to the website.
Help sessions: Initiative to organize Motivational sessions, especially for PG students to encourage social interaction and perseverance against academic pressure and depression.
On seeing that BSW is bringing the Kandha scheme, it was felt that it is no longer needed or should be taken up later and hence was dropped.
Well being: Developing a strong and accessible link between authorities and the student body for handling increased stress during COVID
It is being ensured that reps are reachable to students, no new initiative is being taken under it.
Summary
Overall, CAIC has been to a slow start with many issues. There has been a lot of work regarding restructuring, but on analysing the manifesto, we find that only two initiatives have been completed, and a few of them are on hold due to Covid and things happening online.
With the latter half of this semester being offline, let's hope that CAIC can get back on track and we will see work happening.
Written by: Tushar Shrivastava
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