'Students will be the ultimate beneficiaries'

Bangalore University (BU) is planning to issue degree certificates online from the current academic year onwards. The academic council had approved the proposal on Wednesday. The university is conducting preliminary meetings with the software experts in this regard. MS Talwar, registrar (evaluation), BU spoke to DNA about the project and its objectives.

How will the new system help students?The decision to issues degree certificates online is meant to help students. People who had graduated from the university must have experienced problems in getting their degree certificates on time.  In the current system, they have to wait at least for six months to get their degree certificates, after the completion of the course. We have found out that the current system is not particularly efficient. We are still sending off last year’s certificates. We do not want to continue such practices.  If the process goes online, students will not have to wait for the university to send them their certificates. They can get it by themselves. Online dispatch of the certificates will definitely help complete the process fast and the ultimate beneficiary will be the student. Will this facility be available even to students who have already passed out, but await their certificates? As of now, we are considering  only those students who have completed their graduation this year. After a few years, we will extend the project and incorporate former students too. We are taking all possible steps to implement the project this year itself. Have you hired anyone for technical support? We have not yet finalised any particular company or group for providing technical support for the project. We are considering many companies including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and National Informatics Centre. We will form an expert committee comprising faculty members from the departments of electronics and computer science to look into the issue. The university will call for tenders after considering their report. Is BU the first university in the state to adopt the online system? Yes, the Bangalore University will be the first university in the state to issue the degree certificate online. However, the Mysore Univesity had adopted a similar system to conduct viva voce for PhD students from foreign countries.  How do you ensure security of data in the online system? We will ensure the privacy of each student before uploading the certificates. The expert committee will study the steps to be taken to ensure security. During the primary discussions, we have decided to give each student a password to download his/her certificate. We will come out with more details about the project soon.Is there any plan to issue the marks cards online?Yes, we are thinking about it. Online marks cards will come with students’ photographs and will be tamper-proof. We are also planning to issue smart cards for students. It will have their name, attendance and course details.