Making of ACAS 9: ALISS

As one idea breeds another, one programme necessitates another, there are many threads which led naturally to the birth of ALISS. Al Shifa International Student Seminar (ALISS) is, at one end, one more event to put the learner at the heart of academic things at ACAS. On the other, it is one more novel venture to let the learners take ownership of their learning. If there's one idea from which the ALISS naturally grew, it is the Invited Student Talks. There are a number of other academic tributaries which finally flowed into ALISS like Project Prize, Project Quality Cell and Publication Wing. ALISS fit perfectly into the ecosystem of application-centred learning which we promoted. 

The Plan 

Invited Student Talks were introduced with the idea of offering genuinely challenging opportunities to the students to perform to their strength. Though initially we took speakers who fit our bill when it was an English Department initiative, later we upgraded the same to the institution level and allowed students to talk on topics they are comfortable with, provided the topic is understood by the audience. While the Invited Student Talks were progressing fine, it was felt that further space could be ceded to the students. Why not conceive a Seminar which will be fully student-driven? This took us to a National Student Seminar which was organised by the English Department in year 2021. 

From here, we moved to the next level, an International Student Seminar which will be run by the whole institution, with all Departments joining the show. It will be absolutely student powered as from the beginning to the end, the whole event will be planned, organised and run by the student community. Unlike the Invited Student Talks, here the experience they are guaranteed related also to planning, execution, organising, resource finding, scheduling, coordinating, speaker and inaugurator invites, fund mobilization and utilisation: a 360 degree experiential event. 

The Implementation 

The idea of ALISS had a peculiar charm though the execution of it had inherent difficulties. Though it is customary for many of us in the field of education to throw around terms like student-owned and student-centred, genuine practices of the same kind are not that easy to come across. From the formation of organising committees at the start to the final run of the event, the idea was put to test at all levels. The Organising Committee was composed of student representatives from all batches, of all programmes we offer with chief coordinators being assigned more leadership roles. Initial meeting of the committee prepared the timeline based on the dates finalized for the event. It has been a two day event so far. The to-do list is prepared and work is assigned to the sub committees with coordinators for each one. These meetings are held with or without the presence of faculty advisors. While the initial meetings are held in the presence of the faculty advisor, this is gradually reduced as the students begin to take control of the matters. 

Very rigorous, periodic follow-up was conducted once the date and themes of ALISS are announced. Weekly inputs are gathered from all concerned regarding the registration and speaker statuses. Student representatives visit campuses around as part of the awareness campaign too. The Dept level leadership and the faculty members play a mentor's role in connecting the student coordinators with campuses they are not familiar with. As the dates of the seminar draws closer, the committees which are incharge of different aspects like speakers, technical support, food etc are activated. The preparation of the list of student paper presenters for the a seminar in which parallel sessions are conducted is time consuming, especially when we have to accommodate the requests from presenters to bypass the general policy. Though labelled fully student-powered, ALISS approximated that status slowly. If in the first edition, we had student keynote speakers only, in the second we had student inaugurator too. 

The Challenges 

One area of specific challenge was getting student keynote speakers for the ALISS. As the concept is new, the young ones were reluctant to put their hands up and voice their willingness. They were to be motivated, mentored and given the requisite assurances of many kinds before they say, 'count me in!'

At the same time, there were of course a handful of them who quickly grabbed the opportunity. The network we have created through multiple programmes and platforms with other HEIs were of much use here. There were times when we used the Invited Student Talks platform to see if the student speaker will be able to deliver! This is because some of those students, young as they are, will sound more confident than they are actually capable. What they can do and what they think they can do may not align fine. In such situations, we provided them the invited talk platform so that they can see for themselves what they can deliver and we can be assured too. What we were concerned about was not just how well they will present and communicate but more than that, how their failure to present well or defend themselves will affect them in the long run. We didn't want the young ones to cut a sorry figure really struggling to deliver while on stage. Often these Invited Talks were like dress rehearsals for them. 

While organising a National Seminar with all student speakers itself is challenging enough, we thought of taking it to next level, by bringing in a student inaugurator too. So far we have picked research scholars for the role. This was a notable challenge because though there are plenty of students who have ideas and can articulate well, being on stage was understandably a difficult test for them, all the more so when they realise to hag they have to 'inaugurate' it. Decades of baggage of the big names who have 'inaugurated' events play at th back of their minds. When it comes to the finding part, so far we have been able to run the show on our own, without relying too much on sponsorships. 

Another interesting experience was related to the stage of the inaugural ceremony. In the first edition, we had the Principal, Managing Trustee and the Faculty Coordinator on the stage, along with the student coordinators and it was inaugurated online. But we wanted it to be a literally students-only stage the next time. Hence it was decided that there will be only students on the stage for the inaugural ceremony:  Student Coordinators and the Student Chief Guest. This warranted some practice, rehearsal and dress rehearsal in the presence of the Principal on the eve of ALISS! The efforts taken by the faculty members in this direction is admirable indeed. But we were happy that the inaugural part of ALISS went off smooth the next day. I have wondered if the inhibition was equally on the part of the faculty members, us, to let them have a full run of the stage, as we often find ourselves guilty of not adopting a 'let go' attitude! 

The Takeaways 

ALISS has brought lot of praise our way for not just conceiving such an idea, but for putting it into practice. The opportunities which the student community across the country and abroad had to be our Student Keynote Speakers were praiseworthy. The benefits of ALISS contributed to the 'afterwords journal' and the project prizes too. It also lead to publications of other kinds. Faculty upskilling, Institution networking, students' opportunity to listen to talents from across the country, the increased visibility of the campus- all these are but some of the gains from the effort. 

The Way Forward 

As we were an institution which is event-intensive, ALISS was another challenge we took in our stride. We are glad that both editions of ALISS were satisfactorily run and the growth we have witnessed when the two are compared gives us reasons to march on. 

It was Ms. Renjitha, Asst Professor of English who led the initial National Student Seminar hosted by the English Department. Both editions of ALISS were coordinated by Mr. Suhaib. P, Asst. Professor of Commerce at ACAS, with diligence and devotion. The way they took ownership of the event was key to the successful run of it. Thank you Suhaib and Renjitha.

The road ahead for ALISS is laid out with more challenges as similar events could spring up around. To retain character and quality of the event, the institution will have to carry on with renewed vigour, playing with the idea and innovating it further. Possibilities are immense as events like ALISS are micro-internships for students as what they pull off at the end is something really significant. 

Babu. P. K., Ph. D.