JU prof to face show-cause notice over ‘evaluation lapses’

Kolkata: Jadavpur University (JU) authorities have decided to issue a show-cause letter to the professor accused of submitting answer scripts of the Media Law and Ethics paper for 50 Journalism and Mass Communication MA students without evaluating them, sources revealed.

The issue came to light on Monday when it was discovered that the results for the second-semester exams of nearly 50 postgraduate students had been released without evaluating one of their papers. The oversight was identified after students filed RTI queries and applied for review. The review process exposed the error to the university authorities. The students had taken the exam in July, and the results were published in August.

In response to student complaints, JU’s vice-chancellor (V-C) convened a meeting on Tuesday with the accused professor, the dean of the concerned faculty and the head of the department. A senior official stated that a decision was made during the meeting to issue a show-cause notice to the professor. Also, the answer scripts will undergo re-evaluation.

Bhaskar Gupta, interim V-C of JU, commented: “Students were concerned about the timely publication of results. The Dean and Head assured them that the results would be published on time, ensuring all fairness.”

The V-C declined to comment on the show-cause decision, stating: “I won’t comment on this issue as the examination process is strictly confidential. All I can say is that we have taken the complaints very seriously.”

Furthermore, a few months ago several MA Journalism and Mass Communication students accused faculty of grading based on political affiliations, leading to lower marks for

certain students.

This sparked protests, and a departmental decision was taken to review the final semester exam answer scripts by external experts.

The review process for 19 students who filed grievances began, but after two and a half months, the results have still not been released. In response to protests on Monday, the head of the department assured students that results would be published by Friday, with the exception of a student who filed an RTI.