New Delhi : Students of online programmes will get access to all facilities provided by the placement cell of Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana. The university will offer two programmes online – Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in human resource and marketing. BR Kamboj, Vice-Chancellor, spoke to Careers360 on how the online degrees match up to the regular ones. Edited experts

Q. What has been your experience with admission for online programmes?

A. The purpose of introducing an online admission process is to support the administration and candidates by providing a faster, transparent and easy way. Admission in the online programmes can be taken just by visiting the website ddegjust.ac.in or ddegjustonline.ac.in and following the admission steps which are clearly mentioned over at the website. The online system provides 24*7 support to the students. Moreover, fee payment, submission of assignments, online classes, query handling mechanism, all become easier and more accessible to the students.

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Q. What is the difference in fees for online and offline programme?

A. We are offering two full-fledged online programmes – MBA in Human Resource and Marketing and BCom-General. In online mode, the BCom programme fee is Rs.15,000 per year and for online MBA, Rs.25,000 per year, slightly higher than offline programmes. The reason for the difference in the fee is that the online programmes are technology-driven and offer flexibility to learners. Students get access to e-tutorials, e-content, recorded lectures along with live lectures, discussion forms and a proctored examination. However, initially, the fee seems to be a little high but the overall fee of the online course is approximately at par with the offline courses.

Q. How will the classes be imparted? Will they be live or recorded?

A. In the online programmes students get access to both live lectures as well as recorded lectures from academic and industry experts. However, e-tutorials and e-content are also provided to the registered students. They can login using their user-id and password by visiting the university website ddegjustonline.ac.in.

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Q. Are your recruiting separate faculty for conducting online programmes?

A. Yes, we have recruited separate faculty for online programmes. Faculty members are recruited

strictly as per All India Council for Technical Education and UGC norms. All the faculty members are highly qualified and committed to providing excellent online education to the students.

Q. What will be the evaluation procedure after the exams?

A. We follow fully confidential system for evaluation process. BOS&R (Board of studies and research) of the concerned teaching department recommends a panel of evaluation. The controller of examination allows evaluation of answer sheets on the basis of above panel. All the information related to students is kept fully confidential and none of evaluators get access to personal information of students.

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Q. Will the online degree programmes replicate the rigour conventional ones?

A. Online learning is certainly more effective option for the students. Now, amidst the global pandemic, most of the leading global universities are ramping up their online course offerings. Online programmes make a university degree more accessible for those who are working full time or who live far from the campus. We are confident that online degree programmes will be fruitful for the students. Our dedicated team is continuously working for assurance of quality and outcome-based learning from the online programmes.

Q. Many teachers have misgivings about the quality of the online degree programmes. What is your opinion?

A. Enrolment in online programmes is expanding across the globe through online degree programmes are a new scheme in India. Our quality standards for online education is based on “best practices” identified through experience and research. We ensure quality by integrating the factors, that is learning objectives, assessments, course materials, faculty and student interaction and online student support. We are committed for quality control in the online program. We have integrated technology and human touch for the programmes. Online degree programmes will be a great success if both synchronous and asynchronous mode of education are followed. This will also help us achieve our Digital India programme.

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Q. What about access to the library and other resources? With it be open to students of online degree programmes?

A. The university’s library in its electronic repository, has access to over 7,500 e-journals of 19 publishers through UGC-INFONET consortium under the e-ShodhSindhu project. In addition, the access of emerald management with special 298 packages and ASPP (All Society Periodical Package) of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) which is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. This has also been provided under e-ShodhSindhu project by INFLIBNET. Students enrolled in online programmes can access all online and digital resources of the library.

Q. Will there be one intake or two?

A. Admission in the online programme will be twice a year, July –August and January –February.

Q. Will the university also assist with placements for the students of online degrees?

A. The university has a training and placement cell that takes care of training and placements for the students. The cell is equipped with the appropriate infrastructure to execute the placement process. Training and placement cell keeps liaison with the potential industries and provides necessary guidance to the students. Students of online programmes will also get access to all facilities provided by the placement cell of the university. Also, the directorate of distance education has a very strong alumni chain as we have been offering distance education programmes for over 20 years.