05-25-2006, 05:00 AM
<b>IITs, IIMs clueless about how to add more seats in time</b>?<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Consider this: at present, IITBombay inducts about 570 students in undergraduate programmes annually. With the new quota â and the government stipulating that the non-reserved category remains unaffected â <b>the intake will have to go up by at least 55% to approximately 875, including 235 OBC seats.</b>
<b>The total number of undergraduates on campus will go up by 1,200</b>. Such a huge addition means that both IIMs and IITs will need to expand infrastructure and faculty manifold, and quickly, a Herculean task as all these institutions are already grappling with serious faculty shortages and infrastructure issues.
<b>An IIM director said: "The physical infrastructure required â hostels, classrooms and the like â can be built up over time, but the shortage of faculty poses severe constraints</b>.
<b>IIM-A has 82 professors and needs 18 more. IIM-C needs 25 professors to its base of 65. At the IITs, the situation is worse. </b>
<b>IIT-B currently has about 400 professors but needs 150 more, while IIT-Kharagpur needs to add 187 to its 480 professors. </b>
"You can imagine the pressure each faculty member will have to take on to ensure that the increased numbers of students are being taught properly," said a senior faculty member at IIT Kharagpur.
Added an IIM-B professor: <b>"Even if the government pumps in huge sums of money, it won't help. Faculty doesn't grow on trees, and given the non-competitive salary structure, I doubt if they'll come." </b>
He estimates that only 20% of those who complete their doctoral programmes actually take to academia. What's worse is the June 2007 deadline.
Says an IIM professor: "The problem is that faculty supply is limited and all these institutions will simultaneously try to recruit more faculty to make it to the June 2007 deadline."
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<b>The total number of undergraduates on campus will go up by 1,200</b>. Such a huge addition means that both IIMs and IITs will need to expand infrastructure and faculty manifold, and quickly, a Herculean task as all these institutions are already grappling with serious faculty shortages and infrastructure issues.
<b>An IIM director said: "The physical infrastructure required â hostels, classrooms and the like â can be built up over time, but the shortage of faculty poses severe constraints</b>.
<b>IIM-A has 82 professors and needs 18 more. IIM-C needs 25 professors to its base of 65. At the IITs, the situation is worse. </b>
<b>IIT-B currently has about 400 professors but needs 150 more, while IIT-Kharagpur needs to add 187 to its 480 professors. </b>
"You can imagine the pressure each faculty member will have to take on to ensure that the increased numbers of students are being taught properly," said a senior faculty member at IIT Kharagpur.
Added an IIM-B professor: <b>"Even if the government pumps in huge sums of money, it won't help. Faculty doesn't grow on trees, and given the non-competitive salary structure, I doubt if they'll come." </b>
He estimates that only 20% of those who complete their doctoral programmes actually take to academia. What's worse is the June 2007 deadline.
Says an IIM professor: "The problem is that faculty supply is limited and all these institutions will simultaneously try to recruit more faculty to make it to the June 2007 deadline."
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