Thursday, November 27, 2008

• Documents will be scanned and placed in electronic storage
• Talks on with SBI to use ATMs for payment of fee: V-C

Chennai: If you are an alumni of the University of Madras who has spent hours or even days struggling to get your marksheets verified or duplicate certificates issued, some relief could be near at hand – at least, if you are a recent graduate.

The university has decided to digitise marksheets for the approximately 6 lakh students who have passed through its portals between 1985 and 2005. The documents will be scanned and placed in electronic storage. “This should make it a quicker and easier process to search for the correct documents when people come to us for verification or duplicates, especially when they are applying for further studies or a new job.


Until now, we had to do a manual search,” Vice- Chancellor S. Ramachandran told presspersons here on Wednesday about the decision taken at a University Syndicate meeting last week.

To begin with, the University has begun digitising the records of students who graduated between 2000 and 2005, and will then continue to work backwards.

In another move to use technology to make life easier for its students, the University is in talks with the State Bank of India to allow fees to be paid through the bank’s ATMs. This would especially be a boon for its almost 1.5 lakh distance education students, who will be able to use SBI’s vast ATM network across the country. This scheme is expected to be finalised in the next one or two weeks, according to Dr. Ramachandran.

MoUs approved
The University Syndicate has also approved several Memoranda of Understanding with international institutions, including an agreement with the University of Worcester, which was signed on Wednesday. The tie-up is initially in the field of education, and allows for exchanges of students, research scholars and faculty members between the two institutions

“India needs about 10 lakh teachers — both school and higher education — over the next five years. They need training in modern techniques and methods of teaching,” said Dr. Ramachandran, explaining the rationale behind the MoU. The agreement also provides for joint research projects, and short-term courses at the British university for Indian teacher training graduates, which will enable them to teach at international schools.

Other international agreements include a tie-up with the community colleges of the American states of Michigan and Iowa for student exchange programmes and tele-education using the University’s virtual university set-up which is expected to be complete next month. The University has also tied up with Anna University for collaboration between their medical electronics and biomedical engineering departments.

Several university departments are also getting an infrastructure boost. The Nanoscience Department has been granted Rs.19 crore to purchase sophisticated new equipment, while the animal house facilities at Taramani and Guindy campuses will be improved at a cost of Rs.50 lakh.

The Criminology Department has been granted Rs.1.68 crore by the State government to set up a Centre of Excellence in Cybercrime. The Centre for Coastal and Ocean Studies has tied up with the National Institute for Ocean Technology to establish hatcheries for research purposes on the coast at Palavakkam at a cost of Rs.2.5 crore.