MU to introduce digital evalaution for PG courses

Mangaluru: Mangalore University (MU) will introduce digital evaluation supported by the Unified University and College Management System (UUCMS) from the next semester for postgraduate courses offered at its Mangalagangothri campus in Konaje, vice-chancellor PL Dharma said on Saturday.Speaking on the sidelines of the second general academic council meeting, Dharma said the university does not have the resources to implement digital evaluation simultaneously for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and will therefore begin with a pilot project for campus-based postgraduate courses. He noted that the PG segment has fewer than 2,000 students, accounting for around 17,000 answer scripts, and that digital evaluation will be introduced for the second and fourth semesters. If the pilot proves successful, the university will consider extending the system to undergraduate courses as well.Dharma said the university will use its computer lab facilities as an evaluation centre and cited faster processing and earlier declaration of results as key advantages. He noted that a similar pilot had been conducted in the MBA department about eight years ago.He said the move is also aimed at reducing costs and improving convenience for evaluators. The university is planning remote-access evaluation, which would reduce travel by faculty to evaluation centres and cut travel and daily allowance payments. In such a model, the university is considering increasing remuneration per answer script, he said.Sources in UUCMS said the platform is planned to be offered to state universities using existing infrastructure under the system, to reduce evaluation costs. Marks card issueAt the academic council meeting, Dharma said the university had issued physical consolidated marks cards following requests from students, as the versions generated through UUCMS were not accepted by some employers and foreign universities. He said consolidated marks cards had been issued to around 17,500 undergraduate students, while printing of postgraduate marks cards is underway. He added that the move was undertaken with the approval of the state govt.