A brainwave!
Hope it doesn't suffer a short circuit.
The Principal today mentioned conduct of week long courses, general and otherwise.
Would it not be possible to conduct an online course in English for Professional needs, Teaching with Technology and Teaching Methodologies, offering course materials and self-study materials, complete with ppts, notes and e-handouts, followed everyday be a questionairre of sorts and a feed back form that will allow the organiser to understand whether the objective is being reached?
Perhaps, on the last day, a video conferencing can be facilitated and interaction with an expert like Dr.Meenakshi Sundaram or Arthi Rajaratnam, Clinical Psychologist be made possible.
Hmm...exciting thought.
But, can I do it?
It should be possible and if accepted may mean hours and hours of preparation of materials and making sure that they are accessible to all registrants online, offline or on the Intranet. But, it would save teachers the problem of attending lectures of experts,  especially if they had their own classes to take.They could read the lecture notes, watch ppts, watch interviews, watch recorded lessons on their computers at their own leisure...
Am keeping my fingers crossed.

 The new Principal, Prof. Kavimani, assumed charge today.

He was given a warm welcome by all HODs and Faculty members.

In the evening, the new Principal met all the faculty members and addressed us.

He confessed that it was a homecoming for him, since Salem is his home-town. 

He then outlined some of the initiatives that he wanted to take and expressed his hope that he would be able to complete them with the co-operation of us all. He thoughtfully thanked the former Principals, Prof.Ebenezer Jeyakumar and Prof.S.R.Damodarasamy for having given the institution its identity and how that made his job easier.

Prof.Kavimani, wanted Industry-Academia interaction to be strengthened since he had seen first hand how the industry was ready to co-ordinate with us, as exemplified during the NBA and Autonomous visits. 

His second suggestion was that the institution must look at revenue generation as a component of Sustainable Development. He appreciated the Department of Civil Engineering for their contribution and exhorted faculty to look at projects from DRDO etc.

Next, the Principal wanted all departments to utilise resources like Networking with better application. The Intranet has to be explored for the benefits it could offer by way of speeding up the admin and desk jobs.

The Principal also suggested that a Newsletter would better highlight the achievements of the college among students, faculty and the public. 

His next focus was on creating a Green Club in the college  and taking measures like planting saplings and their maintenance being given over to the NCC cadets.

He stressed on the importance of a Litter Free GCE and underscored the point that such efforts would benefit the institution in many ways. 

He wanted to usher in technology by installing an LED Message Board which could flash information for the stakeholders - that is - the students and their parents. 

Finally, he wanted to resurrect the defunct Staff Club which would usher in a sense of participation and would be a platform to share the joys of all. 

I believe that these ideas, simple though they are, will  help future generations of learners to come into a GCE that will be greener, cleaner and smarter.