BITS Pilani markets Practice School (PS) as “an educational innovation seeking to link industry experience with university instruction”. However, there is often a lack in clarity regarding the allotment procedure, evaluation components, and the expectations a station has from interns. The English Press Club interviewed Prof. P. Srinivasan, Associate Dean, Practice School Division (PSD), looking to clarify these doubts, as well as answer some questions regarding the inner workings of PSD.

Most allotted stations for both PS1 and PS2 have been in place for several years now. Prof. Srinivasan was confident that, ‘they will provide a very good learning opportunity to the students based on our own database feedback from the students, faculty reviews and the organisation coordinators.’ If a new PS station is in the process of being added, an off-campus faculty member often inspects it before it is made available to the students. Students can suggest new stations if they have a contact in a company or institute, with the PSD then following up on the suggestion and checking for its viability. This year, 3-4 new stations have already been confirmed for PS1.

Out of the 2200 students allotted PS1 every year, around 300-400 students are allotted research stations, which include renowned institutes such as IISc Bangalore, IGCAR Kalpakkam, and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. While these organisations provide research experience and occasionally result in publications, they don’t necessarily provide “industry experience”, one of the guiding philosophies behind the PS concept. When queried about it, Prof. Srinivasan stated that a research station has its own benefits, ‘the type of learning that a student gets from a research organisation is more technical which will help them in research elsewhere and in higher studies’. At the same time, he agreed that the core philosophy of exposure oriented PS1 is more applicable to the industry domain.

Regular assessment of stations is also a concern. The PSD does this for both PS1 and PS2 through a comprehensive online feedback form. In case of PS1, a sample of students is also interviewed. Taken along with faculty reviews, this information is used to decide whether to continue with an organisation.

For PS1, the criteria for allotting a station are a student’s preferences, CGPA, and accommodation status. While a student’s discipline doesn’t play a large role in PS1 allotments, some organisations have degree preferences or CGPA cut-offs. A student who has helped setup a PS station will also get preferential allotment. Since industry exposure is a priority and not discipline oriented research, students are often allotted projects outside the purview of their stream. This holds true especially in case of dual degree students, who rarely get allotted a science based station. Prof. Srinivasan stated that BITS Pilani students can easily acquire the skill set required for cross stream projects, giving examples of several students who have excelled in doing so.

Unlike the Placement Division, the PSD does not have any volunteers. Past attempts at recruiting student volunteers have not been successful, with Prof. Srinivasan speculating that this was because of a lack of student interest or a clash with their academic commitments. There are also some key distinctions between Placements and PS, such as PS being part of the Institute curriculum, with PSD having to ensure fair allotment. He was, however, open to receiving student help and didn’t rule out working with students in the future.

Since PS is treated as part of the coursework, it has evaluative components with faculty monitoring students on a regular basis. PS2 has well-structured evaluation components like mid-semester presentation, seminar, report, observation diary, and a final project. Nature of PS1 evaluation is slightly different, with students taking part in group discussions and a seminar. Students are also supposed to record their daily work in a PS Diary. A faculty may only be able to visit the station once every 15 days, and the Diary ensures regular progress is recorded.

In conclusion, the Associate Dean cited what he called a “proactive measure” taken up by the PSD i.e. the development of digital content for PS2. He elaborated, ‘This includes courses on Python, Perl and for finance internships, advanced Excel courses. Advance Excel is one of the fundamental prerequisites for students who want to work in finance. Since material such as this is not covered by any of the courses offered, PSD is offering 250 hours of recorded lectures across 28 courses. This content is open to students immediately after PS2 allotment. When these courses were not introduced, students used to spend a lot of time preparing for the project. But now after allocation of the station a student will have sufficient time to go through the course content and equip themselves, before working on the project. The Quiz 1 [in PSII] has content from the skillset cap material content, which ensures the student goes through it.’

Despite all these steps taken, Prof.  Srinivasan was disappointed at the lack of student interest in the PS process. He stated that most students were unaware of the resources provided to them and in some cases, even of the existence of the PSD portal. He hoped that the recent steps taken by the PSD, such as the interactive session for second years, changes the current situation and helps students make informed decisions.