I, Suman Rao (100110002), am contesting for the post of General Secretary, Academic Affairs (UG) VISION: As the foremost student representative concerning UG academics, I wish to represent student interests in (a) adopting liberal academic policies at par with the best universities in the world (b) building robust student support systems and (c) providing ample opportunity to launch students into the career of their choice. Towards these stated goals, I propose to achieve the following:

ACADEMIC POLICY REFORMS Achieve following reforms in policies and regulations governing UG Academics: Propose to allow course repetition towards grade improvement for core curriculum courses Push to reinstate policy of allowing taking up of summer courses for non-backlog students Propose to allow Self Study Program through CDEEP Video Courses for FR grades and on

instructor approval clear the course in immediate winter/summer term during II grade re-exam Press for allowing retagging of courses after every academic year; work with Department General Secretaries to categorize similar cases and streamline the process towards speedy approvals Press for incorporating D-AMP Heads into DUGC towards strenghthening student representation at department level to manage curriculum reforms, faculty feedback and FacAd-student relations

ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME Implement following initiatives towards matching international standards in student-to-student support Teaching: Propose appointment of separate paid Affiliate UG TA for every core course focusing only on: Targeted teaching and syllabus run-through prior to quizzes and examination dates Separate basic doubt-clearing, advanced doubt clearing and paper-solving sessions QuorsInfo: Establish a feature-rich portal with pre-loaded information on all courses including course

description, online study material, teaching trends, courseware from other universities and useful tips Reward student submitted tips & resources through community upvote based point system (like Quora); points can be used in targeted Ask-to-Answer facility for specific resources/queries

MINOR PROGRAMME REVAMP Adopt the following measures towards making minors obtainable, flexible and useful Build Your Own Minor: Take student suggestions and propose new interdisciplinary minors out

of existing courses, eg.Financial Mathematics Minor combining relevant SOM and Math courses Press for increase in minor seat limit by 50% to reflect the marked increase in student population; push for further increase in seat upper-limit up to maximum venue capacity Minor allotment: Propose additional procedure based on evaluation of relevant project work Curriculum flexibility: Propose certain courses not running in minor slot also be taken up as minor Push for pre-registration interface for 5th year Dual Degree students upon DDP Guide approval

PROMOTION OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH Institute Summer Project Allocation: Ensure procurement of at least 300 ISPA projects with well-defined project goals, stipend amount and URA criteria; introduce interdisciplinary projects Propose an 8-credit, 20 day travel-intensive Industry Visit winter course as Department Elective Undergraduate Research Award (URA): Push to remove restrictions on award of URA02 and URA03 to BTP/DDP respectively, extend award to any significant contribution in research efforts

TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES Explore collaboration with IDC students on Technical Activities as a credit-requirement project towards design, fabrication and finishing to convert technical prototype into commercial product Propose mechanism to award URA to documented technical activities on faculty-panel evaluation

2 YEAR M.Sc REFORMS Propose to allow examination at the start of the semester itself for courses already completed in Bachelors degree, so as to take up a dept elective in replacement of the completed course M.Sc internships: Follow up and ensure inclusion of M.Sc students as Internship Coordinators Include M.Sc representatives in UG Acad Council for direct outreach and speedy redressal

CAREER SUPPORT AND SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: Soft Skills Development Center: Conduct professional classes to improve spoken English, GD/interview skills, resume and SoP writing, technical writing and presentation skills etc Revive a dedicated Apping Support Website chronicling selects, rejects, experiences and fundae Arrange SKYPE interactions with alumni towards fundae on higher studies and apping process Conduct summer & winter bootcamps on coding, computational softwares, app-development etc Conduct regular talks by young alumni across a variety of professions towards career awareness

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Foreign university internships: Compile a master-database of all independently secured foreign university internships over past five years and host the internship experiences on a dedicated university internship portal Share professor-details with PT Cell to convert large number of these contacts into IAFs Will maintain a dedicated Semester Exchange Portal with opportunities and curriculum advice

LOGISTICS SUPPORT: Registration Support Task Force: Council presence in hostels every night of reg. period for grievance redressal & instant advice Application clearing help by Council's Task Force at Dean AP office with live status tracking Graduation Support: Reduce passing-out hassles by providing complete remote assistance in obtaining library/department/mess no dues certificate and other passing-out formalities Will conduct mock registration to ensure hassle free core time-table and elective allocation Propose Online Approval System for course dropping and course adjustment procedures

INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND AWARENESS Ask the GSAA portal: grievance redressal mechanism Establish facility to tag complaint to relevant student functionary; implement a live complaint tracking facility and build an online FAQ to serve as a one-stop solution for grievances Allow online uploading of application so council may pursue complaint on behalf of student Prepare helpbooks for professors on Moodle & ASC usage, biometric attendance slot system etc Rewrite the FacAd Guidebook with detailed information on FacAd responsibilities, discretionary

powers and overridable rules; Conduct an Annual Faculty-Advisor Seminar headed by Dean AP Compile a Minor Advisory Booklet with detailed advice on each minor course and programme

INFRASTRUCTURE Propose special budget for upgradation of basic laboratory-course related equipment Ensure procurement of e-books by central library for all available core course reference textbooks

CREDENTIALS AND AWARDS Chief Editor, InsIghT IIT Bombay Apr 13 - present Member: Students Gymkhana Executive Committee (SGEC) Apr 13 - present Undergraduate Research Award, IIT Bombay Dec 12 Teaching Assistant (twice) IPE, IIT Bombay Autumn 11 & 12 National Semifinalist, NALSAR University Debate Championship Apr 11