The newsletter is almost ready for the press. Something that seemed simple at first, has turned out to be a long and tedious process of gathering data and information. However, seeing something evolve from chaos soothens one. It's like seeing a cup getting filled,  golden drop by golden drop,  with honey.
The first years' had their first taste of practicals yesterday. All the last minute tasks like the third committee meetings, et all, are being tied up one by one. All indications that the madness of the first semester is slowly passing by...
Next semester, it's going to be yet another long grind, since we haven't found a part time staff to join us. However, as everything goes, this too shall pass...It's surprising how the last semester went off with the combined classes...may not have been possible, but for the kind nod from the Professor of Mechanical Engineering, allowing the use of the seminar hall for the combined classes. I think that most times, help comes unexpectedly, to help one tide over tough times.

Heard this fantastic news from a friend...for the first time, in the history of engineering education in TamilNadu, there's a lady principal, Prof. LakshmiPrabha, at Karaikudi. It's heartwarming, because one sees that women are slowly entering administrative jobs, to lead from the helm. I think this is a milestone in the history of engineeirng education here.
She is one of the best leaders I've seen and I wish her all success and achievements in her future years of principalship. 
The first year students are in a tizzy, as all efforts are taken to complete portions and to help them prepare for exams. Their practical exams begin next week and they are all scurrying from one block to another, to tie all the loose ends up, before they enter their exam halls. 

I cannot stop laughing...you will see why. 
Exams have begun in earnest and everyday, one sees children and older part-time students hogging private space all over the campus and pouring over their books. 
One must know that ever since a set of students, caught for malpractice, were punished by having to appear for the entire set of exams, students have been quite cautious about indulging in malpractice. 
However, things took a serious turn at one of the halls where our part-time students were giving their exams. Invigilators were quite busy, castor-oiled eyeballs nearly popping out from trying to find if there were students copying. Suddenly, two professors of the institution on squad duty, descended upon the candidates like the fury of Hades. They turned hall tickets, id cards and wallets, inside out, with the precision of a computer. One of them seemed to magnetically draw out 'bits' from shirt sleeves, pockets and even wallets, where 100 and 500 rupee notes had entire processes and equations crammed into the small spaces available. Invigilators watched in open mouthed awe at the uncanny ability of the Professor to spot out the violators. And, funnily enough, when all this going on, one of the older candidates, quietly folded his answer booklet and scooted out of the hall, like he had the Furies at his tail. I still wonder why he did that! 
There were requests to the Professor to  offer a workshop on how to spot out violators and to draw out the bits from the likely hiding spaces. He calmly revealed that only experience and a sharp eye to observe body language were needed.
The humour was a nice little distraction from the mundane and terribly tiring duty of invigilation.

I wish the Department of English could invest in a digital recorder, I heard about a Korean CENIX recorder, which can be used to record good speeches and then to load these audio files to the college website. Dreams live on.

Been off the air for quite some time now...28 hours of workload a week doesn't leave one with much energy for off class hours...Quite a few activities have gone on since the last post...
The departments had their inaugural functions and as one chief guest remarked, 'the buck does not stop there'...follow up activities should go on through the year. 
The Association of Sciences and Humanities had its smart beginning and if one were to go by the performance of the first years' involved in the organisation of the function, everything was beyond one's  expectations. 
For the first time ever, they had an audition for comperes...the queue stretched a mile and a yard (just  kidding, there were about 28 eager beavers). And, all of them were exceptional. 
They conducted the show like pros and bested their seniors. 
Led by Mr.Dharanidharan, Research Scholar and part-time lecturer of Chemistry, the children wowed the audience with their sweet voices and the boys' dance. Everytime, on occasions like this, for a few hours, the auditorium becomes a fairyland, where the most ordinary boy and girl, become stars whom everyone admires and applauds.
This is going to be one Super Set.
 

Flurry of activities...Civil Engineering Department had invited two eminent civil engineers from Salem for the inaugural function of their Society. It was an opportunity for me to get in touch with my last year's set, since they had turned seniors and were in charge of conducting the programme. It was a joy to see how kids who had looked at one with frightened eyes were today confident enough to organise, conduct and present a programme. 
This was followed by Progen-i 10, the annual programme where TCS presents it best student award and where the department releases its souvenir and conducts a symposium. The chief guest from TCS said that as major consumers of GCE's talent pool, they looked forward to employable graduates. He urged students to no longer keep thinking along expected lines. They could not afford to keep believing that the earth was round, when in fact, it is flat, in terms of emerging technologies. Creativity should play a major role in their thoughts, he asserted. He believed that Salem could boast of not only its mangoes and manganese and steel plant, but also of GCE as its treasure. 
ECE celebrated its ComCom10, which I sadly missed due to my absence from college on Friday. 
Festember 10, the annual competitive ground for engineering institutions was attended very eagerly by our students and one can proudly say that they stood 4th in the overall position. Their TLA, HLA and ELA members have again done well, bringing back home their pride and self-esteem. I had seen the kids practising for the drama round and was hopeful of something good. My hopes were not belied. Such competitions expose our students to the best of talents outside their small circle here and get them to appreciate the bigger picture.

It's the beginning of a long weekend for the kids...some doing the disappearing trick in the afternoon itself! Ha..ha...
Everything's quiet and subdued on the homefront. By that I mean, the college. 
The class on Advertisements and Marketing was animated and lively, thanks to students who seemed to like the topic. 

Teachers' Day was celebrated by our students with a neat little function in the auditorium. 

Student secretaries of the associations got together under the able leadership of Prof.Rajkumar to offer a Certificate of Merit to all the members of the teaching faculty. 

It was a thoughtful gesture fully endorsed by the Principal, Prof.P.M.Kavimani, who, we musn't all forget, is an alumnae of this institution. 

In his short speech he advocated the creation of students who would care about the society they live in.

A short entertainment programme it was,  with a lot of loving sentiment about the role played by teachers in shaping young minds, a few flash shows on teachers and of course, songs and dances by students. 

As usual, a few teachers braved the howls of the students as they sang songs to entertain them and perhaps, chase them away from the hall too ( At least that's what I attempted to do as I yowled out the Que Sera song). Dr.Venkatesh, accompanied by Prof.Noorula, and Prof.Kalpana  did have sweet voices and sang songs that I would love to listen to again.

The experience told me one thing again...the sound system is so awful that I nearly ran out of the hall on hearing my own voice come out of the mike in an echo that startled me...I kept hearing two or three voices too...quite disorienting and a rather unsettling feeling.

All said and done, our students must  be appreciated for utilising the opportunity to tell their teachers that they do care. I've always felt that in colleges, there is a disconnect between teachers and students, since each goes their way, once the class is over. On days like these, one realises, 'Yes, these kids do care!'  

Salem is having the best weather possible...the days are generally cool and the sky is always cloudy. There are intermittent showers through the day. It's been like this for the past fortnight or so. 
At college, the roads are wet and the red, satin backed beetles are seen burrowing themselves in the wet earth. While some of us hop, skip and jump over them, there are others whose unseeing feet squash the tiny things out of existence. 
ECE had its SAECE inauguration today. 
Students are paid their scholarships directly into their account, so all students have opened accounts at the SBI. 
And, there was a long line of M.E. admissions into the various PG streams this year. One noticed a number of  aspirants, some with wailing babes in arms and  some with accompanying parents. I feel that the AICTE directive that the entry level qualification for teaching positions in engineering colleges would be a PG degree may have been cause for the large number of admissions - especially since the number of engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu has risen to around 425.

Life is looking good for GCEians- the first company has stepped in for this year. EIT- Energy Info Tech, a Delhi based company came in for campus recruitment. Students of Civil, Mechanical and Metallurgy gave the tests and out of these around 12 Mech and 6 Civil students have been shortlisted for the final round. It was jointly offered to A.C. Karaikudi and it appears that their Civil students have done very well- around 12 have been shortlisted. 
I wouldn't say there is a transformation, but I do notice more willingness on the part of the Tamilmedium students of the first year to take their communication skills more seriously. And, most of them, around 90% appear to be fairly good at using the language. Challenges from the industry are always accepted by our students readily and they gear themselves up to face the demands of the industry. Good sign, as always. 

Oh, and if I may add a post script to the former blog entry, it was unanimously agreed that the Public Address system totally failed on this occasion. There was a terrible echo and the twiddling of the controls worked no magic and the audience was treated to an unruly echo in the hall. 
Sad, but once again, what has to be noted is that the college has outgrown its auditorium and expansion and modernisation in this regard is imperative. 

VEDANTHANGAL 2010, the Alumni Day was held on 8 Aug 2010, at the college auditorium. 
I believe around 600 old students from 1986 -2005 turned up for the event. A few had even brought their families over. There were boys from Iraq, U.S, Germany and from all corners of India. 
One of the third year students, Uday, remarked with surprise writ large on his face ,'You know, there were government bigwigs who came with beacon lights in their vehicles who were dancing with us!!!' He also narrated how an old student asked for 'Kavimani' and Uday said, 'Kavimani sir' and the gentleman remarked, 'Unnakku vena principal, but ennakku ennoda classmate' and Uday was left speechless. I wish I could've seen Uday's face. He also noted that many of the former students are in such senior positions in such famous and well established companies, Indian and global that it is a revelaltion of the status of GCE in the world map. It was difficult for him to accept the dimension of the professional status of most of our former students.
The  sentimental journey to their Alma mater, re-establishing the bonds of friendship and reliving memories of places they had lived in, sat in and rejoiced in, was one that had been looked forward to by all the former students and also by the organisers,, who had worked like ants to make it a memorable day for them. 
I sadly missed it because of an important work on the home front. 


 

The first sign that the first year students are arriving is seen in the college bus, as they, their parents and their luggage start filling in the aisles, the seats, the steps and the luggage carriers from Five Roads on. 

Today, it was especially a large crowd. The fear, anxiety, thrill and anticipation of being an engineering student was visible on their faces.

At 10.30, the welcome meet was held in the auditorium. There again, people filled all the seats, the aisle, the space along the wall, the corridors on either side and the open space outside the audi. 

They were welcomed by all HODs and the Principal. The Principal took the cake with his well delineated and illustrated address. He extended a warm welcome and told the students that they had come to an institution well endowed with facilities. 

He pointed out that the institution focussed on four  factors - teachers, parents, students and the alumni. He appreciated the faculty for their sense of duty and commitment and assured students that they were one of the strengths of GCE. 

He stressed the important role that parents played in moulding the hearts of their children. He illustrated the point with the story of mother giraffes sdropping their babies from a height of 8 metres at the time of the birth of their babies and kicking them, even for an hour sometimes, till the little one got up on its unsteady legs and tottered about. He said that was done to keep the baby safe from predators. In a similar manner, parents  must, he said, keep their sons and daughters always aware of the need to survive. He then appreciated the alumni for the stellar role they are playing in helping their juniors. 

Next, he urged students to remember that they must, like Viswanathan Anand who braved the Icelandic eruption, cancellation of the flight that was scheduled to take him to the place of the World title match, the 48 hour bus journey that he undertook to play at the World Title match, though no one expected him, at his fourth place, to win the title. He did...in a similar fashion, he assured students that they only had to work to make success happen. 

The whole ceremony took two and a half hours and one could only pity the  large numbers of parents and students who stood all the time. The audi can accommodate around 350, and today, there must've been atleast three to four to the 450 students admitted. Time for a bigger audi and the alumni's role in ensuring that that one place which they love more than their classrooms should be rightly expanded.

In the afternoon, students were taken around by NCC cadets to the labs and classrooms. God bless these fresh faced kids...

My laptop, barely a year and a half old,  crashed...had a fight with Dell...and so had been missing from blogspace for quite sometime. 

The new batch of GCEians was admitted on the 30th. The hustle and the bustle associated with this, it is said, was really taxing. Office assistants were in college till late in the evening, till about 8.30 / 9.00 p.m winding up the accounts. 

I report this as 'it is said', because I missed the admissions on account of a training at British Council. I know I will miss the odd student or two who will tell me shyly when in their thrid or final year that I was the first person they met in GCE! However, the training that I attended was of a quality expected only from the best in the country.

I believe that on the 8th August 2010, there is an Alumni meet. I'm sure old students are waiting to meet, greet and hug one another in glee at meeting after many years. 

Today, there was a very important development - the first SWOT meeting of TEQIP, under the stewardship of Prof.Subramaniam, was held, to facilitate the second phase of TEQIP. This second phase of TEQIP will focus on research. The good news is that students from various departments with whom he interacted have given very happy feedback about the benefits of TEQIP Phase I. The faculty  also actively participated in a SWOT analysis and everyone had a say. 

Classes will begin on the 6th for the first years...this time, due to the increased intake of 120 - 60 each for Civil and Mechanical, classes will be held in D1, EEE block, ECE block and so on. I shall certainly miss going to classes in the admin block; instead, we'd all be running to the classes in different directions. May be a good solution for burning calories! 

Weekly meetings are being held on Mondays by the Newsletter editors and student correspondents...we might try Adobe Photoshop to try the layout and desktop publishing. 

Why should we seek professional publishers ( might save time and effort, all one would have to do would be to collect articles and information and get it published, but that wouldn't be the same as effort from student artists and journalists, would it?) It's a challenge and I'm sure that the biscuits, puffs and cakes that we have before the meetings will spur us on to achieve success in bringing out the newsletter creditably.

Preparation of the GCE Newsletter is in full swing. The Principal has entrusted the responsibility to me and has given full freedom in the bringing out of the first volume.
I have formed a core group, comprising two first year students, one second year student, two third year students and two final year students. I'm proud that they are a very enthusiastic group and we have already decided on the content groups. We meet every Monday, from 4.15p.m. to 5.40 p.m. This week Uday, one of the Student editors brought two packets of biscuits, which went a long way in calming the late evening hunger pangs. Work expected to be completed by next week was charted out. We shall meet again next week. Ooohh...I just love this work. Tough, but hoping to bring out something good. Keeping my fingers crossed...

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.

Principal, Professor S.R. Damodarasamy retired yesterday from a service that began in 1977. 

In the morning the faculty hosted tea, during the course of which, encomiums were paid by the Heads of Departments on  his commendable contribution to the development of the college.

• getting accreditation for all courses - U.G. and P.G., except CSE - an accomplishment not seen in any of the other colleges,
• bringing in major reforms in academics by bringing autonomy to the institution and making sure that it got off to a flying start by noticing anamolies, making suggestions for changes to all departments,
• establishing the Digital Library, a state-of-the-art one and ensuring that it is used actively by making journal study compulsory for the post-graduate students,
• creating the language lab right from scratch and making it one of the best in the state,
• rejuvenating the pride of the institution - the Planetarium and effecting major repairs and maintenance,
• installing interactive white boards in all seminar halls,
• facilitating vidoe conferences with experts,
• inviting companies for placement,
• helping to effect the sixth pay commission recommendations for the teaching faculty 
• replacing the antique high rise drawing tables in D1 and D2 halls with modern, comfortable and sturdy drawing tables, installing rotating wall fans to offer respite from the non-rotating old ceiling fans that did not cool any candidate during exams, 
• initiating academic management system for all departments
• introducing steam cookers, chapathi and dosai makers, solar water heaters, a well equipped gym with introduction by a well known trainer in Salem

...these are but some of the notable achievments of Prof.S.R.Damodarasamy, which were highlighted during the farewell hosted by the teaching faculty.

Everyone appreciated his sharpness, his eye for detail, his adherence to the rules and regulations of purchases, his aesthetic sense, his acumen, his ability to arrive at quick but correct decisions, his concern for the welfare of students, his sternness when it came to dealing with indiscipline, his energy and enthusiasm for his work, his perfection and expectation of the same from all around him, his humane attitude in recommending an increase in remuneration paid to part-time teachers to higher authorities and the long hours of work he put in everyday.

Within a short span of two years, this Principal has made a difference to GCE and for that he deserves all appreciation and  praise. We all wished him a very happy and productive post retirement period.

Now I know why a vacation is necessary for a teacher...the frenetic pace at which lessons, tests, assignments, entry of marks (internal and external), setting up question papers, valuation, preparing proposals, quotations, passing bills, coming up with solutions for dya-to-day problems like getting HCL, Numeric, Cooltec, Globearena and Young India Films to get computers, keyboards, monitors, software and other technical glitches working right, monitoring their work, setting up exam schedules, conducting practical examinations, running up and down staircases and floors to meet colleagues, students, electricians, office staff, counselling a few dejected souls, meeting parents, saying goodbye to the final year students who visit the department, writing in their autograph books, stopping to chat with alumni while on the run to the Mechanical Department from the Admin Block, noticing increasing use of plastic in the campus and editing and proof reading theses and papers of friends, verifying stocks, preparing attendance records and all...all these and more demand the athleticism of a long jumper, the stamina of a marathon runner and the strength of a weight-lifter. 

Now, I'm determined to find time to complete my papers, started about a year ago and in various stages of completion, complete the book I've been writing a word in a week, water the plants at home and clean the chimney in the kitchen that is grease stained and say hello to my long neglected neighbours ( before they think that I am the new tenant at my house)...

Graduation Day 2010 went off smoothly, except for a few bumps here and there...

The first bump, and a scaredy one at that, till 4.30 p.m. registered graduands hadn't turned up and there were blocks of empty chairs staring at us...tension piled up, till like with a wave of a magic wand, chairs filled and at 4.40 p.m. the hall was choc-a-bloc with black gowns and those neck sashes. Proud parents watched on as their children proudly marched to the podium to receive their degrees from Dr.Shanmugavel, Registrar, Anna University, Chennai.

And then, at 4.45p.m. they were asked to disperse for tea and be back for the procession by 4.50. Just imagine, the procession was to start at 5.00 p.m. sharp and they were all outside. They were herded in with a little bit of cajoling, hard pushing and promises and threats. Hah..ha...

The procession started on the dot and the whole ceremony went off beautifully, in solemn silence and appreciation.Everything went off, like clockwork.  The Chief Guest was astounded by the dignified and silent way in which the graduands behaved during the entire ceremony. 

As always, for me, it was a touching moment, because as a parent I know that it is a fulfilling and defining moment, when we know that one of the prime duties as a parent is fulfilled and that we are now formally turning them over into the hands of future.

This time, the role of student volunteers, in various committees, headed by Paracharan, must be mentioned. Silently, behind the curtains, they worked like ants, doing thankless jobs, which were all essential and significant in the completion of the ceremony. But for them, I would say, things would not have worked so smoothly. 

The only other bump was that Karuppurwalas entered the open air catering area, dressed as students and hogged away the food, leaving us short by about 100 plates. How I hate these nameless guys who are making GCE their playground , just because they are allowed access to the GCE campus to reach the main road. 

However, apart from this, I would say, the Graduation Day was a grand success, in terms of turnout, participation and conduct. The principal was indeed a very happy person, as his efforts to make the function successful and a signing off event, were achieved. He retires in May after a very successful, eventful and  significant,  development-filled tenure  that contributed in no small measure to the growth of the institution.