Alumni Association India Institute of Technology Kanpur

Transcription

1 Alumni Association India Institute of Technology Kanpur Meeting Minutes Of the Board of Directors Of the / 3 rd Meeting Date: Tuesday Time: 06:30 PM (IST) Through: Conference Call

2 Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Agenda of the II Meeting of the Board of Directors of Held on at 6:30 P.M. IST Venue: IIT Kanpur (through conference) S.No. Agenda Item 1 Description Welcome of the members and announcements, if any Agenda Item 2 Confirmation of minutes of 2 nd BOD meeting held on June 12, 2012 Agenda Item 3 Updates from the Secretary West Coast chapter event and the DAA ceremony DRPG Account settlement for the financial year Updates on the current state of the Alumni Database and its merger Guru Dakshina Accounts Auditing Agenda Item 4 Agenda Item 5 Constitution of working groups AA publications, newsletter, Updates by the working groups: 1. Formalization of understanding with the Institute 2. Constitution and its review 3. Election reforms 4. Chapter development 5. Website development 6. Database management Agenda Item 6 Agenda Item 7 Agenda Item 8 Agenda Item 9 Agenda Item 10 Agenda Item 11 Agenda Item 12 IIT JEE Reforms Reunion registration fees Fund Raising for the Alumni Association Instituting Life Time Achievement Award for exceptional work in science and technology Involving alumni in the career development and placement support CARE fund for alumni Toilets for workers 1

3 Agenda Item 13 Agenda Item 14 Agenda Item 15 Transparency in the functioning of the Alumni Association Life Membership Drive Any other item Sudhir Misra Secretary Alumni Association IIT Kanpur 2

4 Agenda Item 1 Welcome of the members and announcements, if any Members present: 1. Prof Ashok Gupta, President 2. Mr Salil Dave, Vice President 3. Prof Sudhir Misra, Secretary 4. Prof Mukesh Sharma, Treasurer 5. Mr Dharam Vir, Member 6. Dr Ajay K Shukla, Member 7. Mr Saurabh Sharma, Member 8. Prof Manindra Agarwal, Member 9. Mr David Thomas, Member 10. Mr Nikhil Padhye, Member Invitees: Regrets: Mr Mustan Tambawala, Nominee to PAN IIT Mr Anuag Goel, Nominee to PAN IIT 1. Mr Sashi Singhania, Vice President 2. Prof. Kripa Shanker, Member 3. Shri Rakesh Pandey, Member 4. Prof Ram B Misra, Member After the President extended a warm welcome to all the BOD members, the President, Alumni Association welcomed the following new BOD member and invitees: Mr Nikhil Padye (BT- MT (Dual)/ME/2009) Mr Mustan Tambawala, Mr Anuag Goel, The Secretary informed the Board about the untimely demise of Mr Ashish Dembla (BT-MT, EE 2009) and his parents in a road accident in USA on Saturday July 7, The Board observed a brief silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls and passed the following resolution: The Board of Directors, Alumni Association deeply mourns the untimely and tragic death of Mr Ashish Dembla (BT-MT, EE 2009) and his parents in a car accident in the USA, and expresses its deepest condolences to the bereaved family. We pray for eternal peace to the departed souls and for strength to the family to bear the loss. 3

5 Agenda Item 2 Confirmation of minutes of 1st BOD meeting held on April 29, 2012 The minutes of the second BOD meeting held on June 12, 2012 as circulated with the agenda items, and due modifications as indicated by Mr Dharam Vir, attached as annexure 1 were confirmed unanimously. Agenda Item 3 Updates from the Secretary a. West Coast chapter event and the DAA ceremony The West Coast Annual Dinner with the Presentation ceremony of the Distinguihsed Alumnus Award and the Intitute Fellow was held on June 16, The event turned out to highly sucessful, with a good number of particpation. Two of the four DA awardees for attended the event. IIT Kanpur Foundation meeting was held on the morning of June 16, 2012, where the President, AA, and the Secretary, attended as a special invitees and briefed the Foundation about the financial position of the AA, and mentioned that the funds available are grossly inadequate to carry out even the basic activities such as salaries of AA staff, chapter development, etc. The Director and DRPG expressed full institute support for AA activities but also clarified that the AA is a registered separate and independent body in its own right and therefore, a) the Institute cannot raise funds for the AA, b) no funds collected through the Foundation, etc and transferred to the Institute can be directly or indirectly transferred to the AA It was decided that the Foundation would include AA activities as one of the items for which funds from the US alumnus are raised. The details for this will be worked out by the Foundation and the AA. The Board put on record the appreciation for Mr Abhay Bhushan and Mr Rajeev Ranjan and the other members of the organising committee for organsing the event. b. DRPG Account settlement for the financial year The Secretary informed the Board that since in the FY no grant was received from the Institute, after the new board took charge, the issue of expenses incurred in the previous year under the heads for which the grant was to be received was raised with the DRPG. The BOD was also informed that against this claim of Rs Lakhs, a sum of Rs Lakhs has been received by the Office, along with a letter this settlement is final.. The Secretary thanked the 4

6 DRPG for this reimbursment. It was decided that the details of the items for which the reimbursement has not been made will be circulated to the BOD at the earliest. c. Updates on the current state of the Alumni Database and its merger Taken up with agenda item 5.6 d. Guru Dakshina Taken up with agenda item 8 e. Accounts Auditing The Auditing of the accounts for the financial year has been done by our Chartered Accountant i.e. Sanjeev Bhargava and Associates and the process of getting the Balance Sheet made is under process. The Secretary also presented the action taken report attached as Annexure 2. Agenda Item 4 Constitution of working groups AA publications, newsletter, The Board unanimously agreed that no separate working group is required for the Newsletter. The schedule of the Newsletter was discussed and it was agreed that the Alumni Newsletter be released on quarterly basis and appropriate changes may be made on the Alumni Association website. The proposed new format of the Newsletter will be circulated to the Board within 10 days, for the feedback and necessary input. The issue for the sponsorship of the Newsletter was discussed, and the document circulated by the Secretary (Annexure 3) was accepted. It was further decided that Mr Sashi Singhania be requested to work with probable sponsors for the forthcoming issues. Agenda Item 5 Updates by the working groups: 1. Formalization of understanding with the Institute The Secretary and the DRPG updated that the Board that a rough draft of the MOU has been made and broadly agreed upon. The text is now being written and will be circulated as soon as it is ready. The matter will be taken up for discussion in the next meeting. 2. Constitution and its review 5

7 Mr Dharam Vir who is leading the group circulated the draft paper to the Board and feedback on the same was requested within 7 days time, after which the draft will be circulated to all. 3. Election reforms Mr Dharam Vir who is leading the group will soon be circulating the draft paper to the Board for the feedback. 4. Chapter development The Secretary informed the Board that the draft guidelines were circulated to the chapter coordinators and since no feedback was received, the Board decided that these may be circulated again, and requesting for feedbacks within seven days time. The Board until then, also requested Mr Anurag Goel to incorporate the suggestion of Prof Manindra Agarwal to highlight the benefits that the alumni receive from the Chapters. 5. Website development Input from Mr Salil Dave 6. Database management The Secretary and the DRPG informed the Board that the work for a unified database was in progress. The Board emphasized that the process needs to be expidited and there should be a a full discussion on the matter, if needed.. Agenda Item 6 IIT JEE Reforms The Secretary informed the Board about the recent developments in this issue. He also mentioned that the minutes of the Council meeting, once received, will be circulted to the Board. Agenda Item 7 Reunion registration fees During the Foundation meeting held on June 16, 2012 the idea that the Institute bears the full cost of the reunions with a cap of exependiture at Rs per alumnus was informally discussed. Any excess above the will be borne by the batch. In a subsequent circulation outlining the implementation of this, if required, the Secretary had sent a scheme to the DRPG under which, the Alumni Association will charge a non-refundable registration fees of Rs 2000 for those coming alone and Rs 3000 for those coming with their families as a token registration money. This will help the office to make an accurate estimate of the likely registrations (and avoid frivolous registrations). This will be collected 6

8 through normal online collection, etc. and kept with the Alumni Association to cover the administrative expenditures of the reunion, which will not be charged to the Institute. The BOD was apprised of the matter and also informed that the issue was still under consideration with the Institute, and any updates will informed circulated. Agenda Item 8 Fund Raising for the Alumni Association The Seceratry informed the Board, that Alumni Association needs to start its own fund raising drive after the recent developments at the IITK Foundation meeting held on June 16, Initially, the following three Heads were proposed to start the fund raising drive, and more activities can be added in due course of time: 1. Chapter development and growth a corpus, the interest of which enables travel, and other expenses for initiating and nurturing chapters of the AA. 2. Student Alumni Interaction programme corpus, the interest of which will help in strengthening the different activities related to Student Alumni Interaction including the Student Alumni Interaction day, Student Alumni carrier awareness programme and the student Placement Office. 3. General Activities for the general activities of the Association. The BOD approved initiating a fund-raising drive for the above three activities.. The Board also decided that the Guru Dakshina link of the Alumni Association website should be modified accordingly, pointing towards the Institute donation page and the Alumni Association donation page. The Board also resolved that the Alumni Association write to IIT Kanpur for: a) making appropriate modifications on their donation pages on similar lines (as decided for the AA website) so those who wish to make donation are suitably directed to the AA website, and, b) making the required modifications in the case of donations being made to the IIT so that a part of the funds (the quantum to be decided by the donor) can be transferred to the AA. Agenda Item 9 Item deffrered for the next meeting 7 Instituting Life Time Achievement Award for exceptional work in science and technology

9 Agenda Item 10 Involving alumni in the career development and placement support The agenda was taken up with the Fund raising drive for Student Alumni Interaction, the idea was supported by all. Some of the suggestions in this direction included, alumni visiting the campus may be encouraged to interact with students, an archive or blogs can be created for promoting student alumni interaction, and an involvement of the alumni or the AA with the Student placement office in some form.. Agenda Item 11 CARE fund for alumni Item defered for the next meeting Agenda Item 12 Toilets for workers Item defered for the next meeting Transparency in the functioning of the Alumni Agenda Item 13 Association Item defered for the next meeting Agenda Item 14 Item defered for the next meeting Life Membership Drive Agenda Item 15 Any other items a. During a brief discussion on certain statements made by some BOD members in public fora, it was suggested that members should maintain a restrain while making public statements or postings, and should try to to verify facts, and information from the AA and/or IIT.. b. On the proposal of the Secretary to set up an investment committee for the Alumni Association similar to the committee in the Institute, it was agreed that a committee consisting of Secretary, Treasurer, Past Secreatry and Prof. Manindra Aggarwal, DPRG, be created for the purpose and the BOD kept informed about the investments made. c. The Secretary informed the Board about the forthcoming PAN IIT Meet in Kolkatta during December 7 to 9, Names were sought from the Board for participation. The members were informed that the Alumni Association 8

10 may not be able to take care of the expenses involved, at least at this stage. d. The proposal for an Annual Convention to held at different places was circulated by the Secretary. Because of the last minute circulation, a discussion on the issue could not be held and the members were requested to send their feedback within a week. e. It was decided that the left over items should be taken for consideration in the next meeting. The meeting ended at about 08:30 PM (IST). (Ashok Gupta) President, IITKAA (Sudhir Misra) Secretary, IITKAA 9

11 Annexure 1: Minutes of the BOD meeting June 12, 2012 Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Alumni Association India Institute of Technology Kanpur Meeting Minutes Of the Board of Directors Of the / 2 nd Meeting Date: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Time: 06:30 PM (IST) Through: Conference Call 10

12 Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Agenda of the II Meeting of the Board of Directors of Held on June 12, 2012 at 6:30 P.M. IST Venue: IIT Kanpur (through conference) Sl No Agenda Item 1 Description Welcome of the members and announcements, if any Agenda Item 2 Confirmation of minutes of 1 st BOD meeting held on April 29, 2012 Agenda Item 3 Updates from the Secretary Creating a local advisory group New Account in the State Bank of India Agenda Item 4 Vacant Position of Member 4 Nominations from AA to the PANIIT Agenda Item 5 Agenda Item 6 Constitution of working groups AA publications, newsletter, Updates by the working groups: 7. Formalization of understanding with the Institute 8. Constitution and its review 9. Election reforms 10.Chapter development 11.Website development 12.Database management Agenda Item 7 Agenda Item 8 Agenda Item 9 Agenda Item 10 Agenda Item 11 Agenda Item 12 Sharing information from Alumni Association database with other alumnus Instituting Life Time Achievement Award for exceptional work in science and technology Involving alumni in the career development and placement support Charging administrative costs to the various event costs e.g. reunion CARE fund for alumni IIT JEE reforms 11

13 Agenda Item 13 Agenda Item 14 Agenda Item 15 Agenda Item 16 Agenda Item 17 Merger of AA and DRPG accounts on Facebook and Linkdein etc. Toilets for workers Transparency in the functioning of the Alumni Association Life Membership Drive Any other item Sudhir Misra Secretary Alumni Association IIT Kanpur 12

14 Agenda Item 1 Welcome of the members and announcements, if any Members present: 11. Prof Ashok Gupta, President 12. Mr Salil Dave, Vice President 13. Mr Sashi Singhania, Vice President 14. Prof Sudhir Misra, Secretary 15. Prof Mukesh Sharma, Treasurer 16. Mr Dharam Vir, Member 17. Dr Ajay K Shukla, Member 18. Mr Saurabh Sharma, Member 19. Prof Manindra Agarwal, Member 20. Prof. Kripa Shanker, Member 21. Mr David Thomas, Member 22. Prof Ram B Misra, Member Special Invitees: Mr Kiran Modak, CTO, Unsocial Inc. Mr Anuag Goel (BT/ME/71) Regrets: Shri Rakesh Pandey, Member After the President extended a warm welcome to all the BOD members, the Secretary, Alumni Association welcomed the following new BOD members: Mr David B K Thomas (BT/ME/77, DAA 2010) as a Distinguished Alumnus awardee Prof Ram B Misra (BT/ME/68) as the IITK Foundation nominee He also introduced and welcomed the following special invitees for this meeting Kiran Modak, CTO, Unsocial Inc. Mr Anurag Goel Announcements: The Secretary made the following announcements: Nostalgia the Farewell function of the graduating students welcoming them to the Alumni Association was held successfully on May 3, 2012 The Alumni Association had a successful Life Membership drive for the 2012 graduates, with less than 10% of the graduates opting not to become a Life Member. 13

15 The Jamshedpur and the Bhubaneshwars chapter were successfully launched and the process initiating the Gurgaon - Faridabad Chapter (Haryana Towns in NCR) and the Chandigarh chapter has started. The BOD thanked the members in the chapters and the coordinators for their initiative and expressed a hope that all chapters will function in a vibrant manner and contribute to strengthening the association at large. Arvind, (BT/EE/69) a Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was elected as a Fellow by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the category of Computer Engineering. The BOD congratulated Prof Arvind and wished him continued success in his work. Agenda Item 2 Confirmation of minutes of 1st BOD meeting held on April 29, 2012 The minutes of the first BOD meeting held on Apil 29, 2012 as circulated with the agenda items, attached as annexure 1. Agenda Item 3 Updates from the Secretary Proposal to set up a Local advisory group of the AA It was decided that a local working group may be created to facilitate the working of the office and help the BOD carry out its functions. The Secretary was authorized to create the group. The Secretary was asked to keep the BOD informed about the activities of this group. Agenda Item 3 Updates from the Secretary Opening of a new bank account with SBI It was unanimously resolved that the Alumni Association may open a new savings account with the IIT Kanpur branch of the State Bank of India to facilitate day-today functioning. Agenda Item 4 Vacant Position of Member 4 The Secretary presented the matter and as per the constitution, the Board may recommend the name of an alumnus, who has a postgraduate residing outside India. The name of Mr Nikhil Padhye (BT/MT-Dual/2010) was proposed and it was 14

16 unanimously agreed that the President be authorized to contact him and invite him to be a member of the BOD. Agenda Item 4 Nominations from AA to the PANIIT The President informed the Board that Mr Mustan Tambawala (BT/CHE/74) and Mr Anurag Goel (BT/ME/71) have been nominated as the nominees to the PAN IIT Board for the year period Agenda Item 5 Constitution of working groups AA publications, newsletter, Though the constitution of this working group was deferred for consideration in the next meeting, it was decided that (a) the NL (Vol 2) should be finalized and released as soon as possible in the existing format, and, (b) a basic format of the web-based version be made ready within a month s time. Agenda Item 6 Updates by the working groups: 1. Formalization of understanding with the Institute The Secretary informed the Board that the work has started to draft an MOU with the Institute in consultation with Prof Manindra Agrawal, DRPG and that a draft proposal will be put to the board within a month s time. 2. Constitution and its review Mr. Dharam Vir who is leading the group informed the board that working paper will be ready in 20 days time, and the final document be presented to the board by August. 3. Election reforms: Mr Dharam Vir who is leading the group informed the board that he is in touch with the others involved in the group and a working paper will be ready in 20 days time, and the final document be presented to the board by August. 4. Formation and development of chapters 15

17 The Secretary invited Shri Anurag Goel to brief the Board about the background of the chapter formation guidelines, as have been drafted by him. It was agreed that this could be a starting document to move ahead. It was decided that the guidelines as drafted by Shri Goel be circulated to the chapter coordinators and also be put on the website for the wider circulation and feedback. Prof Manindra Agrawal pointed that the document should also enlist the benefits the members derive of being a part of a chapter. Shri Dharam Vir proposed that there should be representation of the chapters on the Board of Directors. It was decided that the suggestions might be considered by the Committee on Constitutional Reforms. 5. Website Development The Secretary, invited Shri Kiran Modak, CTO from Unsocial Inc., the company who is revamping the Alumni Association website, to brief the BOD. Shri Kiran briefed the members about the company and the progress of the Alumni Association website. It was agreed that the demo of the site be presented during the June 16, 2012 event in CA, USA by the members of the BOD present there. It was also decided that: a) company be requested to provide on-site maintenance of the site with support from the AA office also. Shri Salil Dave was requested to carry this forward. b) the President should get in touch with the IIT Kanpur Foundation to support this endeavor of the website 6. Database management The issue of two separate databases i.e. one with the Alumni Association and the other with the DRPG was discussed. The Board reiterated that it will be desirable if the two databases be merged and that this task be completed within three months. Agenda Item 7 Sharing information from Alumni Association database with other alumnus The item was presented by the President and the Secretary, who informed the BOD that requests for details, such as , etc. of other alumnus was 16

18 received by the AA from time to time, and some clear guidelines were needed in dealing with such requests. In view of the fact that (a) building and strengthening the network of alumni in India and abroad is one of the missions of the AA, (b)development of AA chapters at locations across the world is one of the very important means of reaching the above goal, and (c) the BOD, AA is committed to work to establish new chapters and strengthen existing ones, the following decisions were unanimously taken:- 1. Information (limited to name, roll no, address, phone number) about the alumni in a certain area may be provided to an alumnus who expresses interest in starting or strengthening a chapter or undertaking activities that help alma mater and alumni. 2. The alumnus will give an undertaking that he shall not use this information for any other purpose. 3. A mail to this effect shall also be sent by the Alumni Association to all the alumni whose addresses etc. are thus provided to someone. Agenda Item 8 Instituting Life Time Achievement Award for exceptional work in science and technology The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 9 Involving alumni in the career development and placement support The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 10 Charging administrative costs to the various event costs e.g. reunion The matter was presented by the Secretary, who informed the BOD that the AA office invested a substantial part of their time and other resources in working to organize reunions of different batches, and only the direct expenses are booked under the reunion costs. After detailed discussion, it was decided that an administrative cost of 20% of the total reunion costs be charged as a part of the registration fees, this may also be taken as an initiative of resource mobilization.. Agenda Item 11 CARE fund for alumni The item has been deferred for the next meeting. 17

19 Agenda Item 12 IIT JEE reforms It was unanimously felt that the proposed scheme is not in the interest of the students and the Institute. The Alumni Association Board unanimously resolved: 1) That it is strongly opposed to IIT Council proposal of change in admission process to IITs. 2) That it strongly endorses the view that the admission process at IITs must be left to IITs to decide. This is the only way to maintain autonomy of IITs. 3) That a fresh look at the situation be taken immediately and efforts be made to work out a strategy keeping in view the interests of all concerned. 4) That the hastily arrived at decision for such a major change be withdrawn, and a proposal arrived at after discussions be implemented only from the year In view of the importance of the matter, the need to release it to the press, circulate in other foray at the earliest, and the Secretary not being able to act on the matter immediately, Prof Manindra Agarwal was requested to share the resolution with others at IIT Kanpur as may be required. He kindly agreed to do the needful. Agenda Item 13 Merger of AA and DRPG accounts on Facebook and Linkdein etc. The Board unanimously decided that the two accounts being maintained by the DRPG and the Alumni Association be merged and the registered members informed accordingly. It was decided that this should be completed within 3 months, and that the details will be worked out by an appropriate group set up by the Secretary and the DRPG. Agenda Item 14 The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 15 Toilets for workers Transparency in the functioning of the Alumni Association The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item Life Membership Drive

20 The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Agenda Item 17 Any other item It was agreed that the next meeting be held on at 06:30 PM (IST) The meeting ended at about 08:00 PM (IST). (Ashok Gupta) President, IITKAA (Sudhir Misra) Secretary, IITKAA 19

21 Annexure 2: Action taken Report Action taken report for the II nd BOD Meeting held on June 12, 2012 S. No Action item Status as on date 1 Congratulatory Letter to Prof Arvind Action item completed 2 Opening of an account with the SBI Under process 3 Release of Alumni Newsletter Issue 2 4 Chapter Guidelines to be forwarded to the various chapter coordinators Newsletter released on June 20, 2012 Action item completed 5 Merging of the Alumni Database Under Process 6 IIT JEE reforms The BOD resolution passed on as discussed 7 Merger of AA and DRPG accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn etc. Under Process 20

22 Annexure 3 Dear Members of the BOD, As you are well aware that the Alumni Association brings out its Alumni Newsletter, where the news of interest to alumni is published. Each issue is put together with the news about major alumni events (on campus or outside), alumni achievemnts, books authored, highlights of the Institute events, obituary etc. You may visit the following to access some of the earlier editions of the Newsletter. Keeping the available manpower and other logistics in mind, we have worked a schedule for the forthcoming issues of the Alumni Newsletter (attached with this mail) Now, to be able to generate resources to be able to bring out the Newsletter regularly, it is proposed that 1.we identify a Principal Sponsor for each edition of the NL. 2. The cost to the sponsor is proposed to be INR One Lakh. 3. the sponsor be allowed to send material equivalent to about HALF a printed page highlighting the activities (s)he is engaged in, or, write about the company (they work for). 4. the sponsorship may be raised to INR 2 lakhs in case a full page is requested for. The item will be taken up for discussion in the forthcoming BOD meeting on July 10. In the meantime, we are also working towards the new format of the Newsletter, the next issue will be available in the new format. Best Sudhir Misra Secretary, Alumni Association IIT Kanpur 21

23 Alumni Newsletter Quarterly issue (to be reviewed) S. No Newsletter Issue Time to be released Sponsorship Key articles Issue 20-Jun Issue 30-Aug Issue 30-Nov Issue 28-Feb-13 GenXM.com Founded by Damnish Kumar (MSC5/MATH/2000) et al New BOD, DAA, Newsmakers, Obituary etc Westcost award, Nomination DAA, IIT JEE Newsmaker etc Forthcoming reunion, Newsmakers etc All reunion coverage 22