23-05-2025
Anna University to ‘restructure' PG courses with poor student patronage
Anna University has begun the process of 'restructuring' postgraduate (PG) courses that have poor student patronage. At least 10 programmes, where student enrolment dwindled to less than half the sanctioned strength, will be suspended in their current form without altering the total sanctioned strength, university sources told The Hindu.
This will mean that these programmes will either be merged with other popular PG courses and the sanctioned strength will be transferred to those courses, or the programmes will be suspended and the strength in the undergraduate (UG) level will be increased. This is being planned such that the total intake of students is not changed.
Consultations with various departments and stakeholders are under way. After a consensus is arrived upon, the university will submit a proposal before the Convenor Committee for approval.
Citing an example, a university official said an ME computer science engineering (CSE) programme was being offered with a sanctioned strength of 24 students, while another ME CSE (specialisation in big data analytics) programme had a sanctioned strength of 12. Due to poor patronage, the two courses would be merged, with a total sanctioned strength of 36. Electives, including big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber security, data science, and augmented reality/virtual reality, will offer students the flexibility to choose papers from any or each of these programmes, the official said.
Similarly, in the master's programme in Leather Technology, offered by the Central Leather Research Institute, which has a sanctioned strength of 24 students, only two students enrolled last year and three students the previous one. Sources said this could be because of the abundant placement opportunities available for undergraduates. A new proposal seeks to sanction six seats for the PG course while increasing the intake at the undergraduate level by about 15%.
Also, in ocean technology, offered by the Civil Engineering Department, may be suspended, with plans to start a new course on climate change and disaster management. A similar proposal is being considered to merge the ME programme in solar energy with the ME energy engineering programme offered by the Mechanical Department of the College of Engineering, Guindy.
The newly introduced multimedia (specialisation in visual communication) course offered by the Media Sciences Department has also come under the scanner due to poor patronage, but a faculty member has opposed any move to suspend the programme.
'The restructuring exercise is aimed at enhancing the academic research and innovation ecosystem offered by different institutions at Anna University and improving its global ratings,' J. Prakash, Registrar of the university, told The Hindu. 'We have taken several steps to improve our QS World University Ranking from 383 this year to place within 150 next year, as mandated by the government. The restructuring of courses is one of the steps,' he added.
