Meeting Minutes Of the Board of Directors Of the / 2 nd Meeting

Transcription

1 BOD/ /2 nd Meeting/ Minute Alumni Association India Institute of Technology Kanpur Meeting Minutes Of the Board of Directors Of the / 2 nd 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) Sl No Agenda Item 1 Agenda Item 2 Agenda Item 3 Description Welcome of the members and announcements, if any Confirmation of minutes of 1 st BOD meeting held on April 29, 2012 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: 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 7 Agenda Item 8 Agenda Item 9 Agenda Item 10 Agenda Item 11 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 1

3 Agenda Item 12 Agenda Item 13 Agenda Item 14 Agenda Item 15 Agenda Item 16 Agenda Item 17 IIT JEE reforms 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 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. Mr Sashi Singhania, Vice President 4. Prof Sudhir Misra, Secretary 5. Prof Mukesh Sharma, Treasurer 6. Mr Dharam Vir, Member 7. Dr Ajay K Shukla, Member 8. Mr Saurabh Sharma, Member 9. Prof Manindra Agarwal, Member 10. Prof. Kripa Shanker, Member 11. Mr David Thomas, Member 12. 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,

5 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. 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-to-day functioning. 4

6 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 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, 5

7 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 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. 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. 6

8 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 suggested that this 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 received by the AA from time to time, and some clear guidelines were needed in dealing with such requests. It was agreed 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. After a detailed discussion it was decided that: 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 undertake activities that help alma mater and alumni. 2. The alumnus will give an undertaking not to use this information for any other purpose. Appropriate guidelines need to be put in place. 3. A mail to this effect will also be sent by the Alumni Association to all the alumni whose addresses are thus provided to someone. It was also suggested that a web-poll on sharing the information may be conducted amongst the alumni. 7

9 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. 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. 8

10 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 Toilets for workers The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 15 Transparency in the functioning of the Alumni Association The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 16 Life Membership Drive The item has been deferred for the next meeting. Agenda Item 17 Any other item It was agreed that the next meeting be held on July 10, 2012 at 06:30 PM (IST) The meeting ended at about 08:00 PM (IST). 9 (Sudhir Misra)

11 (Ashok Gupta) President, IITKAA Secretary, IITKAA 10

12 Annexure 1: Alumni Association Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Minutes of the First Meeting of the Board of Directors Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Date of the Meeting: 29 th April 2012 Held through Teleconference Meeting commenced at 07:30 hrs (IST) Members present: 13. Prof Ashok Gupta, President 14. Mr Salil Dave, Vice President 15. Mr Sashi Singhania, Vice President 16. Prof Sudhir Misra, Secretary 17. Prof Mukesh Sharma, Treasurer 18. Mr Dharam Vir, Member 19. Dr Ajay K Shukla, Member 20. Mr Saurabh Sharma, Member 21. Mr Rakesh Pandey, Member 22. Prof Manindra Agarwal, Member Leave of absence: 1. Prof. Kripa Shanker, Member 11

13 Minutes Agenda Item 1: Welcome of the members and announcements, if any. The Secretary, Prof Sudhir Misra, called the meeting to order and welcomed all the members to the meeting. He made the following announcements: Prof K Vijay Raghavan (BT/MT/CHE/75/77) who is currently the senior Professor and Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, has been elected as Fellow of Royal Society. Prof Arvind (BT/EE/69), MIT's Johnson Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, has been named the chosen for the IEEE Computer Society's 2012 Harry H. Goode Award "for fundamental contributions to research in dataflow computing, memory models, and cache coherence protocols." Fortune magazine has listed Infosys co-founder Shri NR Narayana Murthy (MT/EE/69) among the 12 "greatest entrepreneurs of our time" along with Apple's late chief Steve Jobs, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Prof Rahul Jain (IITK/BT/EE 1997) is one out of the four Indian American academics, who by the Office of Naval Researcher has been honored with the 2012 Young Investigator Award through its Young Investigator Program. It was decided that the AA should send a congratulatory note to each of these alumni, who have done the AA and the Institute proud. Agenda Item 2: Confirmation of the minutes of the previous BOD meeting The minutes of the joint Board meeting were confirmed with the modification in the minutes on the Agenda No 3 as given below: The portion After a detailed discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the Boards take a note of the minutes as circulated the incoming board take into consideration the note circulated by Prof Kripa Shanker on the matter the incoming board await the report of the group above It was decided that based on the above input, the BOD of the AA will take a fresh look on the matter. Will be replaced by the following: The minutes of the meeting be confirmed were confirmed by the members of the BOD ( ). - While confirming the minutes, the boards also noted (1) the contents of the note circulated by Prof Kripa Shanker on the matter, and, (2) that the report of the above group was awaited. 12

14 13 Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur It was decided that based on the above input, the BOD of the AA will take a fresh look on the matter. Agenda Item 3: Updates from the Secretary The Board took note of the following information provided by the Secretary: Nostalgia- The farewell function of the graduating batch is scheduled for May 3, The Distinguished Alumnus Award ceremony may be held on June 16, 2012 in the Bay Area in the USA, when the Patron and some other functionaries of the Institute are in USA. More updates as received will be circulated to the Board. While noting the information, the BOD felt that holding the ceremony in the USA will provide visibility also to AA activities. The note prepared by the President on the overall list of tasks ahead - While taking note of the details therein, it was felt that the AA should try preparing a unified document incorporating the 2 year and 4 year plan document being drafted by Mr Salil Dave and Ashok. Others members could add to that document. The BOD could take up different items from this list depending on priority and the resources available. That the 44 th convocation will be held on June 2, Agenda Item 4: Constitution of working groups It was unanimously agreed that some working groups should be formed to enhance the efficiency in the functioning of the AA. After detailed discussions, the following groups were constituted: 1. Framework for working with the Institute (including nature and extent of grant to support AA activities), including MOU The group will comprise of Prof Sudhir Misra, Prof Manindra Agrawal, Prof Mukesh Sharma, Mr Sashi Singhania, Prof Kripa Shanker and Dr Ajay Shukla. The group will submit its report within 3 months. 2. Constitution of the AA and its review The group will consist of Mr Dharam Vir and Prof Kripa Shanker. It was also decided to request Mr Anil Srivastava, a member of the last BOD, to join the group. It was also noted that Mr Dharam Vir has already done a lot of homework matter as is clear from the documents attached in the Agenda papers. The group will submit its report within 3 months. 3. Election reforms This group will consist of Mr Dharam Vir, Mr Navpreet Singh (Election Officer 2010) and Prof Y N Singh (Election Officer 2012). It was also suggested that input may be sought from the chapter coordinators and other alumni. The group will submit its report within 4 months. 4. Chapter development This group will consist of Prof Ashok Gupta, Mr Salil Dave, Mr Dharam Vir, Dr Ajay Shukla, and Prof Sudhir Misra. It was also decided that Mr Anurag Goel be requested to join the group. It was also agreed that coordinators of the various active chapters may also be requested to provide input. 5. Website development There was a unanimous view that the AA website needs immediate attention, and Mr Salil Dave was requested to take the lead and possibly seek help from others such as Mr Ramki

15 14 Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Balasubramanium. It was noted that an allocation of Rs 3 lakhs has been made in this financial year for the website revamping. 6. Database management It was felt that the there was an urgency to take action to enhance the registration of alumni with the AA and also remove deficiencies/inaccuracies in the existing databases. While discussing the issue of database management, the following two issues emerged for consideration and detailed examination: (a) Whether the AA is legally bound to share with its member(s), addresses and ids of the members in view of privacy related laws, and what regulatory / legal requirements for associations such as the AA are in this regard and (b) Technical or operational issues including database maintenance and up gradation and how they can be resolved. After due deliberations, it was agreed that for (a) above appropriate legal opinion may be sought before any data of any alumni is shared. Further, the process followed earlier for information sharing (i.e. instead of sharing the information directly with someone who requests it, an appropriate mail/information be forwarded by the Office of the Alumni Association to the concerned). In this context it was pointed out that the technology may be so used that networking without sharing is made possible. A group consisting of Prof Sudhir Misra, Prof Manindra Agrawal, Mr Sashi Singhania, and Mr Saurabh Sharma was formed to discuss the matter in greater depth and submit a report to the BOD in about 6 to 8 weeks time. It was also decided that utmost care and caution should be exercised in sharing data and information made available to the AA by the alumni with other individuals, institutions and/or organizations / societies. 7. AA publications, newsletter Due to lack of time, it was decided that the item be taken up in the next meeting. 8. Creating a local advisory group Prof Sudhir Misra proposed that a local Advisory Group be set up to help the AA office in its day-to-day functioning. It was decided that the proposal outlining the scope and constitution of the group proposed to be set be brought before the BOD in its next meeting for consideration. It was further decided that each of the groups formed above should be free to add and / or consult other members and chapters, if required and will try to keep the BOD abreast of the progress made in the assigned tasks. Agenda Item 5: Nominations for the DA on the BOD The Secretary provided a summary of the nominations received from the BOD members for the Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient on the Board. It was decided that the AA office should contact Mr David Thomas and in the event, he is unable to accept, contact Prof Jayathi Murthy. During the discussion, Mr Rakesh Pandey wanted his objection to the process of nomination followed be placed on record (See Annexure 1). It was further decided that the response to this mail sent by Prof Sudhir Misra (Annexure 2) be also placed on record.

16 Agenda Item 6: Nominations from AA to the PANIIT No names could be finalized for nomination to the PAN IIT Board. It was decided that all members will send their choices to Prof Ashok Gupta, who will make the final decision.. Agenda Item 7: Proposed activities for 2012 and their budget The BOD noted the calendar of events circulated (Annexure 3). The budget proposed by Prof Mukesh Sharma, Treasurer, Alumni Association, for the events to be held during the first quarter was accorded an in principle approval. Agenda Item 8: Current financial position of AA Prof Mukesh Sharma informed the financial position to the Board as on April 1, 2012 (when the new Board took over). He mentioned that the situation was very grim and needed immediate attention. The Board noted with concern that the grant for the last year from the Institute through the office of the DRPG had not been received so far. The Board was informed that a letter for reimbursement of the expenses that are to be covered under the grant, has been sent to the DRPG. Prof Manindra Agrawal informed the Board that the issue wouldbe resolved within a week. Agenda Item 9: Mobilization of funds for immediate activities (2012) Looking at the current financial position, it was agreed that funds need to be mobilized for the immediate use, and policy needs to be framed for generating funds for the AA activities to make it a self sustaining entity in the future. Prof Sudhir Misra pointed out that roughly speaking the AA required about 20 lakhs annually for the normal expenses including salary of staff, office expenses, travel, etc. and had a corpus of about Rs 1.25cr, which therefore needs to be taken to about Rs 2 crores as quickly as possible. It was decided, in principle,that a resource mobilization drive needs to be undertaken. Prof Sudhir Misra was requested to present to the BOD some options which could be discussed in a subsequent meeting of the BOD. Agenda Item 10: Long term mobilization of resources The agenda will be taken up in the next BOD meeting. Agenda Item 11: Any other item No item was taken up. The meeting ended at about 09:30 AM (IST). (Ashok Gupta) President, IITKAA (Sudhir Misra) Secretary, IITKAA 15

17 Annexure 1: From: Rakesh Pandey To: Sudhir Misra Cc: Ashok Gupta ; Manindra Agarwal ; Prof. Kripa Shanker ; akshuk@gmail.com ; d_vir@yahoo.com ; mukesh@iitk.ac.in ; professorgupta@yahoo.com ; salildave@hotmail.com ; sashisinghania@yahoo.com ; saursharma@gmail.com ; alumni@iitk.ac.in Sent: Saturday, April 28, :57 PM Subject: Re: DAA names for BOD (Annexure 1 page 93) Dear Sudhir, There are members who have, in the past, raised issues of following the IITK AA Constitution. I am raising the same issue now. The IITK Constitution does not say that the out-going board cannot nominate the DAA after their tenure. I would have raised this issue at the last board meeting. But I was not successful in connecting and I did not get a call from the calling company. In fact both Salil Dave and I wrote an while the meeting was going on about this lack of connectivity. I finally had got connected 3 minutes before the meeting ended. You had acknowledged the connectivity problem as well. While we all want to contribute to IITK AA and its success, I protest this change in approach; it is a violation of the IITK AA constitution. Violations of the IITK AA Constitution, by the way, cannot be over-ruled by a non-constitutional vote. Thanks, Rakesh 16

18 Annexure 2 : On Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 12:56 PM, Sudhir Misra <sud@iitk.ac.in> wrote: Dear Rakesh, i am not a legal expert and would like to look at the issue in a common-sense manner. the facts as see them are: 1. the previous BOD did not complete the nomination process. 2. the new BOD took over on and a jt meeting of the BODs took place on in the meeting on 15.4 it was decided that taking cognizance of the situation, it will be best if all the members (of the previous and new BODs) participated in the process 4. no objection to that discussion was raised in the meeting - in fact Prof Kripa Shanker raised specifically this question and all present agreed to it. 5. As things stand, the erstwhile BOD has ceased to exist (as on ) and cannot discharge any of its functions and hence in a manner of speaking it could be looked upon as an impasse, and we need to take a 'reasonable' stand, and we are doing that in the collective wisdom of BOTH boards appeared best. 6. having said all that, i would strongly feel that rules and procedures should be facilitators and not impediments in functioning. I am copying this mail to the BOD. With regards sudhir 17

19 Annexure 3 EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR THE YEAR S. No Event Date Venue Invitees 1 First BOD Meeting Nostalgia (farewell function of the graduating batch) Nomination process for the Distinguished Alumnus Award Nomination process for the Satyendra K Dubey Memorial Award Golden Jubilee Reunion Batch-of th Year Reunion Class-of PAN IIT 8 9 Silver Jubilee Reunion Class-of-88 Golden Jubilee Reunion Batch-of-63 Sunday, April 29, 2012 Thursday May 3, 2012 Starting date 15 June, 2012 Through teleconference OAT, IIT Kanpur NA 15 June, 2012 NA November 23 to 25, 2012 November 10-11, 2012 December 7-8, 2012 December 27-29, 2012 March 8-10, 2013 IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur Kolkata IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur All BOD Members All the graduating students of 2012 Nominations are open to all Nominations are open to all All the graduates of the Class-of-67, all those who entered in 1962 All the graduates of the Class-of- 2002, all those who entered in 1998 All IITians All the graduates of the Class-of-88, all those who entered in 1984 All the graduates of the Class-of-67, all those who entered in 1963 Coordinators /for details alumni@iitk.ac.in g/daa/daamain.asp g/sda/sdamain.asp alumni@iitk.ac.in alumni@iitk.ac.in alumni@iitk.ac.in alumni@iitk.ac.in 18

20 EVENTS YET to be SCHEDULED FOR THE YEAR Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Distinguished Alumnus Award (DAA) 2012 Satyendra K Dubey (SKD) Award th Year Reunion Class-of-78 To be scheduled To be scheduled To be scheduled IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur All the members of the Alumni Association, faculty, students All the members of the Alumni Association, faculty, students All the graduates of the Class-of-78, all those who entered in