Engg principals arrive at UoP, find meeting venue booked by another dept

A miscommunication bet-ween the University of Pune (UoP) examination department and the engineering faculty caused major inconvenience to around 100 principals of engineering colleges yesterday.

Engg principals arrive at UoP, find meeting venue booked by another dept

After arriving at the UoP to attend a meeting organised by the examination department, the principals learnt another department of the university had already booked the auditorium where their meeting was scheduled.

After an exchange of words for 30 minutes, the venue was shifted to the auditorium of the adjacent geology department, but it could accommodate just 40 people.

The Namdev auditorium, which is the biggest auditorium in the UoP, was the original venue of the principals’ meeting, but it was filled with students of the department of centre for performing arts when the principals arrived.

Around 55 students of the department were engaged in drama workshops, a requirement for their upcoming semester examination.

“We had booked the Namdev auditorium a month ago, so how can they (engineering college principals) just come and grab the hall without any prior intimation?” an angry faculty member from the centre for performing arts department said, requesting anonymity.

The students refused to vacate the auditorium, and the scheduled principals’ meeting was shifted to the geology department.

There are 114 engineering colleges in the district, Ahmadnagar and Nashik that are affiliated to the UoP. Many of the principals had travelled a long distance to attend the meeting and were irritated by the venue change.

Dean of engineering faculty Dr Gajanan Kharate dismissed the incident as a “minor thing” and said the meeting was successfully held in the geology department.

“No arguments took place at the Namdev auditorium and as soon as we came to know the hall was already booked, we immediately shifted to another auditorium,” Kharate said.

Sources in the examination department said the official who had booked the auditorium was on leave yesterday. u00a0The meeting was jointly called by the examination department and the engineering faculty to provide an overview of the ongoing online examinations in engineering courses.u00a0

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