The Bharathidasan University was examining the possibility of introducing a post-graduate integrated Ph.D programme, its Vice Chancellor M.Ponnavaikko has said.
Speaking at a meeting of the Standing Committee of Academic Affairs (SCAA) here on Saturday, Dr. Ponnavaikko said the concept could give an orientation for students towards Ph.D even while they were doing their post-graduation. Though the workload could be a bit high, such a programme could benefit the student community. The university would examine the concept and arrive at a decision by the next meeting of the SCAA, he said.
Dr. Ponnavaikko also said that henceforth the Board of Studies of various disciplines would not be allowed to make no change in syllabi midway through an academic year. All Board of Studies should meet and finalise changes in their respective syllabus before March 31. The SCAA would meet by April/May and approve the same for implementation in the ensuing academic year. He suggested that curriculum changes should be made only once in three years though changes in subjects could be made in between, especially in fields where there were rapid advances.
He pointed out currently changes in syllabus was being made midway through an academic year cause many practical difficulties. This created problems in question paper setting also. The Board of Studies were meeting in May/June to make changes in the syllabus and they were notified midway in an academic year. They were later placed before the SCAA for approval in retrospect. As many as 67 out of the 71 items in the agenda for Saturday’s meeting were such items of ‘reporting,’ he regretted.
Change in eligibility:
Earlier, the meeting decided to change the eligibility for M.Sc. Computer Science programme in the university from 2010-11 academic year. Accordingly, only candidates with B.Sc. Computer Science/BCA/B.Sc. Information Technology/B.Sc. Software Development or an equivalent degree would be eligible to join the programme. Currently, graduates of any discipline are eligible to pursue M.Sc. Computer Science. The change was to make the programme a natural extension of the B.Sc. Computer Science programme.
