Student volunteers make admission process easier

With staff members on leave during the vacations, colleges have roped in students to manage and assist the large number of confused applicants.

A quick query at a student-run help desk allowed Pranali Tanawade, 17, to make light work of the often-complicated college admission process.

HT Image

“When I saw a large number of students running to different counters, I was quite confused. I then asked one of the three students at the help desk and they guided me to the right place,” said Tanawade who has applied for a degree course at KC College, Churchgate.

As admissions are conducted during the vacations when staff members are on a leave, colleges often lack adequate manpower to handle admission formalities. Some city colleges have overcome this dearth by appointing student volunteers to guide the applicants.

“Apart from general doubts about the fee structure, form submission and cut-offs, students also ask whether it is possible to put in forms for two different courses,” said Sagar Mehta, a third-year student of KC College who has been at the help desk for a week now.

NM College, Vile Parle, has 80 student volunteers placed inside the campus to ease the process.

They check if students are carrying all the required documents, direct them to the right classroom and help avoid confusion in each classroom.

“We have allocated volunteers at the entrance, in the office, inside each classroom and in the corridors to assist the applicants. Basically, we play the role of a peon, a security guard and staff member all at once,” said Harini Warrier, a volunteer at NM College.

Gagandeep Dindh, 17, who has applied for a degree in commerce at NM College, had queries regarding his form and the payment of application fees. “If it was not for the precise directions given by these volunteers, I would have easily lost my way in the huge campus,” said Dindh.

When Rucha Ghag, 17, visited HR College to submit her admission form, she was “pleasantly surprised by the student-friendly environment”. “I thought students in colleges would be snobbish and not helpful to freshers. But I saw more than a dozen students volunteering to help me complete the admission formalities,” she said.

The student volunteers will be present on campus until June 7, the last day for submission of degree college forms.