The Hindu : To avoid delay, controller will sign Madras varsity UG degrees

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

To avoid delay, controller will sign Madras varsity UG degrees

By K. Ramachandran

CHENNAI May 20. Faced with increasing complaints of long delays in getting undergraduate degree certificates, the Madras University has amended its regulations so that the document can be given with the signature of the Controller of Examinations. From now on, the certificates will carry only facsimile signatures of the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar. So, once the controller's signature is obtained, the certificates can be despatched faster to a candidate or a college.

The amendment also states postgraduate degree certificates will have the signatures of both the registrar and the controller, besides the Vice-Chancellor's facsimile signature. From now, the Vice-Chancellor will sign only on Ph.D degrees.

A certificate signed by the deputy registrar (Academic) with the facsimile signature of the registrar should be given to each candidate coming successfully out of certificate courses, notes the amendment.

Hitherto, the registrar was signing all degree certificates, a laborious and time-consuming process. At the last convocation, 37,705 candidates took their undergraduate degrees, 9,516 postgraduate degrees and another 17,279 professional degrees, while 1,577 persons took M.Phil and 340 Ph.D degrees. In addition, 25,589 persons took their degrees, completing courses offered by the University's Institute of Correspondence Education. This meant the registrar signing all 92,095 degree certificates, besides hundreds of diplomas and certificates (under certificate courses). In the past two years, the registrar, N. Mani, has signed over one lakh certificates and sometimes the exercise turned out to be full-time work, especially during weekends or holidays.

Under the circumstances, the Senate sought to amend the regulations. Initially, the Chancellor's office sought some clarifications and university officials sent an explanatory note setting out the need for the change. The Senate ratified the amendment in October 2002 and now the Chancellor's assent has been received.

Photocopies of scripts

Meanwhile, the office of the Controller is preparing to meet the new system, introduced by the university this year, for provision of photocopies of valued answer-scripts to candidates on request. A new mechanism is being put in place to ensure that an answer-sheet is obtained immediately on demand.

The process of valuing 8 lakh answer-scripts under postgraduate and undergraduate programmes and another 65,000 pertaining to MBA/MCA programmes has started in 15 camps in the university area. The valued answer papers should be arranged according to the "foil card number and subject", and an index register maintained with details of the bags in which the answer-scripts were kept. This would enable the staff to locate the answer-sheets required and giving photocopies to the candidates within four days of requisition.

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