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Saturday, September 8, 2007

Staff crunch plagues IIMC Delhi


By IE
Friday September 7, 02:46 AM


The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is facing a major staff crunch and has been functioning without a director for nearly three years now.
In an extremely stretched stop-gap arrangement, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has got one of its Joint Secretaries to hold additional charge as IIMC Director and the institute has hired a team of mostly ex-students as Academic Assistants and Coordinators to help share the burden of an understaffed and overworked faculty.
Under the I&B Ministry, the institute has managed to fill 10 of the 24 faculty positions with a core staff of just five professors. While the ministry has only recently kick-started the process of recruiting a new director, it seems to be in no hurry to fill up vacant faculty slots. IIMC is conducting interviews for only two or three positions and it is learnt that the response to the interview calls scheduled for this week has not been good. The IIMC Director's post has earlier been held by the likes of Media Advisor to Indira Gandhi Sharda Prasad, former Chairman of Editor's Guild M V Desai, UNESCO communication expert Lakshman Rao and others.
Joint Secretary in the I&B Ministry Stuti Kacker-who is also holding charge as Director IIMC-said the process to fill vacant positions is on but the ministry wants a "lean" faculty on the lines of the American model.
"A search cum selection committee is already on the job looking for a Director and we are in the process of filling up other positions as well. We are looking at the US model which has a lean core staff and a good back-up of visiting/guest faculty," said Kacker.
IIMC with a list of some 150 on its guest faculty list hardly manages to get 15-20 of them regularly for its Delhi centre. The Dhenkanal IIMC centre in Orissa has just one Assistant Professor in charge and is bereft even of the privilege of a regular guest faculty.
"The autonomy of IIMC has eroded over the years. As many as six faculty members put in their papers last year because they were on contract and were not being regularized. Frustrated, they took up higher and better paying positions elsewhere. The ministry also insists that UGC norms be followed for recruitment but we don't feel the need for a PhD for faculty members. The lean staff now left holds regular classes besides 35-40 short-term courses and practically little or no leave. Naturally, teaching quality is also affected in such a situation," said a faculty member on condition of anonymity.
meanwhile, the Research department, Content Creation Project and Indian Information Service department are as good as defunct while the post of Professor, Hindi Journalism, has been discontinued.
Students in the latest batch, just a month into the session, are already worried.
"I have enrolled for Hindi journalism and it seems no one is very interested in the course. We just have a single faculty member. Let's hope things will get better in the coming months," said a student.
IIMC, meanwhile, nurses ambitious plans for the 11th Five year plan envisaging a university status offering undergraduate courses, restructured courses and a faculty of 64.

23 comments:

AKS SPEAKS said...

hey.i was in 2006-07 batch in eng journalism..i dnt know hw cn iimc be calld india's no 1 institute..givn d fact dt besides d ad/pr course which has maintaind great placements and gud committed faculty, the rest of the courses are not worth the hype...the inter-dept politics, intra-dept conflicts, lack of professionalism, lack of comitment and devotion all work against the students here..yes the tag of iimc stays wd us forever but one certainly feels a disapointment after coming here as the expectations are way too much and the reality is different...

Unknown said...

hey i am a student of English journalism from IIMC, Dhenkanal(orissa) batch 2007-08. Our batch has registered 75% of on-campus placement....currently i m working with deccan chronicle, hyderabad...For print journalism it is definitely a blessing.

Stuti said...

Hi I totally agree with Sonia. I was in the 2002-03 batch in english journalism. The campus placement that year from the eng journalism batch was dismal. Moreover none of the teachers helped us out when it came to placements. IIMC has not been able to do justice to its reputation with students being left to fend for themselves. Dissappointing

Anonymous said...

i won't comment on iimc delhi since i was never a student there. Perhaps, the situation there is indeed dismal but it is very different for students from iimc dhenkanal. we had great placements. each and every person in our batch (that passed out just a couple of months ago) is doing very well, with most getting a job through campus placements. And yes, we learnt loads, mind you. Not just theoretical stuff but practical nuances of the field which is comin in handy now that we are in the job arena.
and perhaps one of the biggest advantages of being in a remote corner of orissa is that the administration is relatively free of politics, and genuinely care about the students, which was the case in our iimc.
So maybe this is the other side of the coin. some in iimc delhi think they got a bad deal and here are us, who got back much more than we had hoped for. Strange world, strange iimc.

Gaurav Shukla said...

hi guys..
I have been selected for Eng Journalism course at IIMC Dhenkanal.. although i opted for Delhi.. but ,may be due to lower rank, i got the Dhenkanal Campus..
Well I knew about the track record of IIMC delhi but I have no ideas about Dhenkanal campus.. Well can nybody tell me about the placements record and the study environment over der..
Will it be a wise decision to join Dhenkanal campus..
pl help.. responses wud be appreciated...

Manisha said...

Dear all
I had also opted for IIMC Delhi campus for english journalism but got through the Dhenkenal campus...I am a little skeptical about joining it as I dont know if passing out from IIMC Dhenkanal would be the same as passing out of IIMC Delhi (in terms of the reputation and the job placments).
From what I have heard it seems that the faculty at Dhenkanal is very nice...
Would like some advice from people who hav passed out form IIMC Dhenkanal
thanks

Reetesh Anand said...

Hi Gaurav and Manisha....
Yours are not the only instances of skepticism about IIMC Dhenkanal. Barring a few who belong to Orissa there would be few who voluntarily opt Dhenkanal. I was in Dhenkanal (2006-07) batch and i too went through the same doubts. Its mid-October now and if you would already be there...if you did not decide against the tag Dhenkanal. And it is likely that you would either be too happy or too unhappy about your decision. From what i experienced, i can tell you, the first few days there are too taxing and you don't like it. Then there is a phase when you fall in love with the place and everything there...And after the initial euphoria is done with, you start counting your days there and wish to get out of the place at the soonest. And the last phase — you don't want to leave. But let me tell you, once out, you would not regret your decision at all. From what i have seen, i believe, Dhenkanal is in no way inferior to Delhi, so far as training is concerned. The tag value is just the same and from what i get to hear from the batch after mine, placements too have been brilliant. So, there's not much to be skeptical about. Just enjoy your time there...and meanwhile learn the most you can.
Good luck !!!

Anonymous said...

Firtly I'd like to thank this site and its alumni contributors for all their practical advice and guidance. I just got selected for iimc dhenkanal and this site helped me a lot in preparing.
I wish to know more about the place, especially how to get there, the faculty, hostel condt.s, etc.
Do reply and thanx again!

Anonymous said...

Firtly I'd like to thank this site and its alumni contributors for all their practical advice and guidance. I just got selected for iimc dhenkanal and this site helped me a lot in preparing.
I wish to know more about the place, especially how to get there, the faculty, hostel condt.s, etc.
Do reply and thanx again!

ankur said...

hey..i got thru iimc,dhenkanal..im not really sure wat 2 do???i put up in delhi..n m really sceptical abt goin 2 dhenkanal..as in everyone's heard abt iimc,delhi..bt dhenkanal...hardly evr..placements..infrastructure...acessibility???please do help me out..i need 2 decide by the 10th f dis month...

Unknown said...

Hi. I am a IIMC aspirant. Can you please tell me how the placements and faculty are ?

Unknown said...

Hi I am an iimc aspirant. Can you tell me how the placements and faculty are ?

chinki said...

is going to dhenkanal fruitful..because i heard thet the faculties are not good nor even the placements...well m not bothered about placements am just concerned about the academics..wont i be learning anything??

Unknown said...

Hi,
I am looking for admission in iimc this year in Adv&PR course. Can someone tell me how is the campus placement for the same as i dont want to be nowhere after one year.
Please help me.......

Unknown said...

I have been selected for IIMC dhenkanal campus though i choose Delhi as my first option. Can any one please tell me what is the overall placement records from this campus especially for the last few years?

Unknown said...

I have been selected for IIMC dhenkanal campus though i choose Delhi as my first option. Can any one please tell me what is the overall placement records from this campus especially for the last few years?

Unknown said...

hello every one...i want to know about the placements in iimc delhi...i wanna do pr course der..pls help me....

Ghanashyam said...

Plz can anyone tell me how is the placement of Ad/Pr

देखो, सोचो, समझो और दुनिया को बेहिचक बताओ said...

Please tell me, from where I can get the list of old IIMCians.

kanika.... said...

hi i have done my graduation in pharmacy and now want to do my pg in AD/PR from iimc...seniors or pass outs can you please tell me more about iimc..what is the criteria for intake and whether they will entertain me for this course or not!!
i would wait for your replies..you can mail your reply on kanusharma007@gmail.com

anisa said...

i WAS WONDERING HOW ARE THE PLACEMENTS IN IIMC FOR AD/PR IF ITS WORTH THE SHOT . AND WHICH IS BETTER IIMC OR JAMIA?? KINDLY REPLY THANK YOU ..

Animesh said...

I have a PI for journalism at IIMC, can you guys please suggest me some ideas to crack the interview.

Animesh said...

I have a PI for journalism at IIMC, can you guys please suggest me some ideas to crack the interview.