Written in February.
On 19th February 2020, the Academic Counselling Cell organised an interactive session at the Rotunda, with the new Director of BITS Pilani—Professor Sudhirkumar Barai. The evening also included a musical performance by Sagar and Srijan Verma and a light-hearted Q&A session by Dr G Muthukumar.
Previously, Professor Barai held the position of Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. He obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1995. He took over the position of Director from Professor Ashoke Sarkar for a period of five years beginning January 2020.
The evening began with a musical performance by Sagar and Srijan Verma, who performed a number of covers and two original numbers before Dr Muthukumar took the stage. His Q&A session contained a set of trivia questions based on the campus and its history, punctuated with humour.
The next segment of the evening started off with Professor Barai explaining his vision for the Institute. The Professor introduced himself as someone who had come to be fascinated by BITS Pilani when he had attended a Civil Engineering conference on campus and had chanced upon a view of the snake-path and the Saraswati temple from the Vice-Chancellor’s office. While discussing his plans for the campus, he conceded that he was still new to the campus. Although no specifics were discussed, Dr Barai spoke at length about how he wants to work towards carrying on the legacy of BITS Pilani.
Next, the Professor went on to answer some questions raised by students in the audience. While talking about how the importance of research is waning compared to fields like IT and Consulting, he said that despite the need to adapt to the changing times and ‘moving with the flow’, he did not want BITSians to forget their core competencies. He advised students to explore areas available in their own streams before choosing different arenas outside. He further suggested that students should take part in different technical conclaves, something that he plans to encourage during his tenure. While discussing the ‘Zero Attendance’ policy on campus, Dr Barai said that though he supports the continuation of this policy, students should realise the responsibility that comes along with such freedom.
Among his plans for undergraduate students, the Professor mentioned that he planned to change the ‘Placement Unit’ into a ‘Career Development Centre’, a model that he pioneered at IIT Kharagpur. While elaborating on this model, he stressed on a collaboration between placed graduates of the Institute and the Career Development Centre in grooming BITSians for industry-specific roles. He also discussed the extension of international programs, wherein students could study for one semester in a foreign university. He also hinted at working closely with social entrepreneurship groups in and around campus to help students make careers out of helping others.
When a student asked why the institute has a much stricter grading system compared to the IITs, Dr Barai defended the current grading pattern, stating that after some time in the industry, CGPA is not the metric that determines a graduate’s skill level and prospects of flourishing. He also added that students tend to misuse the lax attendance policy on campus and as a result, a more lenient grading system is not a pragmatic solution.
On being asked about the differences he expected between a government institution like IIT Kharagpur and a private one like BITS Pilani, he appreciated the lack of inertia in the administrative setup in BITS and stated that he planned to convert his vision into reality with the cooperation of all the students and teachers on campus.