Branch change for BTech students: PEC okays new guidelines
Punjab Engineering College has finalised new guidelines for facilitating students to switch their branch at the end of their first year of bachelor of technology
Punjab Engineering College has finalised new guidelines for facilitating students to switch their branch at the end of their first year of bachelor of technology.
The committee, which was formed to review the merits and demerits of the move, proposed the guidelines. The Punjab Engineering College (PEC) senate approved its recommendations in its last meeting. The guidelines will be implemented from the 2022-23 academic session. The committee considered the rules at different National Institute Of Technologies (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITS) for change of branch after the first year, while making the recommendations.
The branch change will be allowed after the second semester on the condition that the student should not have any backlogs and their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) should be greater or equal to 8.5 after first year. In case there is a tie in CGPA, the all-India JEE Mains rank will be considered to break the tie. PEC offers eight undergraduate courses to students.
While considering the matter, the PEC panel observed that most prestigious institutes offer the option of branch change after the second semester based on the CGPA obtained after the first year.
As per the recommendations of the committee, now approved by senate, a maximum of 10% of the sanctioned strength of the branch should be permitted to change the branch and the strength of the branch should not fall below 80%. Branch change will only be offered on remaining seats.
An official of the institute said not many students opt for the branch change, but the provision was reviewed, as per the senate’s decision, before a final call was taken.
UMC rules under review
Meanwhile, PEC has initiated revision of its Unfair Means Cases (UMC) rules. The senate in its last meeting said that the standing committee of UMC may review the existing UMC rules and present its recommendations in the next meeting of senate.
