Approval process for aviation course questioned at meeting

The Academic Council meeting of Madurai Kamaraj University on Friday witnessed heated arguments over the approval sought for B.B.A Aviation Management course as many senior members questioned the logic of seeking approval at a time when the course is already being offered in at least one affiliated college of the university since 2015-16.

The members also expressed their displeasure over the contents of the course syllabus. Alleging violation in the procedure, S. Nehru, Principal of Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College, said the course, if proposed by an affiliated college, must have received approval of the Syndicate, Senate and Academic Council before it was offered to students. “Two batches of students must be in the college. Without approval, were the students allowed to take semester examinations?” he questioned.

Aviation being a delicate area, whether experts from professional bodies in the sector were consulted by the Board of Studies in Business Administration in the university while finalising the syllabus, asked M. Kannan, Principal of Saraswathi Narayanan College.

V. Venkatraman, Principal of Rajapalayam Rajus’ College, appealed for changes in the syllabus. “For instance, some of the content regarding international conventions in aviation sector appear grossly inadequate. There is also a need to check whether the colleges have faculty members with adequate experience in the field to handle the course,” he said.

‘Innovative’ courses

Alleging that many such courses were being introduced under the garb of ‘innovative’ courses, Mr. Nehru said that, “Some of them are not even recognised by University Grants Commission or bodies such as Union Public Service Commission. Students studying these courses are denied permission to sit for competitive examinations,” he said.

V. Chinniah, Chairperson of School of Business Studies in the university, who moved the resolution for approval, assured that suggestions for updating the syllabus would be considered. The resolution was later declared as passed by A. Vijayarangan, Syndicate member, who chaired the meeting.

On delay in approval, a senior official from the university told The Hindu that it was due to certain administrative delays and the tenure of Dean of College Development Council getting over. “The particular college was provided affiliation approval for the course, based on which they started offering it. However, subsequent approvals from Syndicate and other bodies were not sought on time,” he said.

He, however, conceded that the concerns over syllabus were justified and therefore had to be rectified.