Convocation robes or traditional attire? PEC senate to decide today

PEC has already formed a committee to decide on the dress code for the next convocation that will be meeting soon

The western graduation robes worn by students at convocation ceremonies may soon be a thing of the past at Punjab Engineering College (PEC), as the institute is in the process of changing the dress code for its upcomingconvocation.

The last convocation at PEC took place in 2019, complete with conventional robes. Proposal to switch the dress code to traditional attire has been in deliberations for months. (HT File Photo)

Authorities are mulling on replacing the conventional convocation robes with traditional Indian attire. The proposal, which has been under deliberation for the last few months, will again be taken up in the meeting of the PEC senate on Monday.

The institute has already formed a committee to decide on the dress code for the next convocation, which will be meeting soon. The senate meeting will also take certain decisions regarding the annual convocation ceremony.

The date for the ceremony, which will be held after a two-year Covid induced gap, is yet to be finalised.

After the senate’s approval, the final proposal regarding traditional attire will go to PEC’s board of governors (BoG) for final nod. If approved, PEC will be the first educational institute in Chandigarh to allow students to wear traditional attire during convocation ceremonies.

During the last meeting of the PEC senate, the committee members had requested for more time to have a re-look at the recommendations submitted by them and the senate had urged the committee to finalise its recommendations at the earliest. PEC director Baldev Setia said, “The change in the convocation dress code was proposed by the senate. Many institutes in the country have already changed the dress code to traditional. So, we are also planning the same.”

The institute is also planning to introduce gold medals for master of technology (MTech) toppers this time and an agenda item related to this will be discussed in the senate. Until now, no medals were given to MTech toppers at PEC.

The proposal to award more than 800 degrees in the convocation will also be taken up in the PEC senate. This includes undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate degrees. Meanwhile, faculty recruitment process is also underway at PEC. The institute will recruit 58 faculty members and the application forms received for the post are being scrutinised. As many as 1,461 applications have been received for the post of assistant professors, 419 for associate professors and 93 for professors..