When can I take the FE exam?

To be eligible to take the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering exam, you must meet the following requirements:

1. Completed 90 credits
2. Achieved senior status
3. Be enrolled in mostly 400-level courses toward your engineering degree
4. Be enrolled in the ENGR 490 section assigned to your major department
   • Section 1002-Chemical & Materials Science Engr
   • Section 1003-Civil & Environmental Engr
   • Section 1004-Electrical & Biomedical Engr
   • Section 1005-Mechanical Engr
   • Section 1006-Geological Engr
   • Section 1007-Metallurgical & Mining Engr

For seniors ready to take the FE exam, you will still need to register for ENGR 490 the semester you plan on taking the exam. Please be mindful that if you plan on graduating in the semester you take the exam, you will need to take the exam no later than prep day to allow for adequate processing time (uploading your exam proof). Otherwise, this may delay your diploma.

CSE students are not required to take the FE exam. 

The exam will be held at any NCEES-approved testing facility year round at a testing day and time that you choose. Do not wait to sign up for an exam date! If you choose to wait to sign up for the test in the middle of or later in the semester, the testing center dates will most likely be FULL! This may cause a delay, or even denial, in receiving your diploma if you are taking the exam in your last semester. Yes, it is an expensive test, but isn't it more expensive to have wait an extra semester for your diploma?

How do I sign up for the FE exam?

Register for the exam on the NCEES website.

How do I prepare for the FE exam?

You may access and review the current FE Supplied Reference Manual, the same type you'll be using during the examination, on the NCEES website.

Study sessions are often organized by the student chapters of ASCE and ASME once a semester. Emails will be sent to students enrolled in ENGR 490, and flyers will be posted on the College's Facebook page. There is often a small cost in order to attend each session.

Please contact Sam DiMuzio (sadimuzio@unr.edu) with any questions about review sessions.

Once you've passed the FE exam

Go to the Nevada State Board of Engineering website and apply for Engineer Intern certification. Instructions on how to apply can be found on their website.

Savvy, talented and knowledgeable database professionals are always in demand. This article covers some of the best, most in-demand certifications for database administrators, database developers and anyone else who works with databases. 

During the past three decades, we’ve seen a lot of database platforms come and go, but there’s never been any question that database technology is a crucial component for all kinds of applications and computing tasks. 

Database certifications may not be as sexy or bleeding-edge as cloud computing, storage, or computer forensics. That said, there has been and always will be a need for knowledgeable database professionals at all levels and in a plethora of database-related job roles. 

To get a better grasp of the available database certifications, it’s useful to group these certs around job responsibilities. In part, this reflects the maturity of database technology and its integration into most aspects of commercial, scientific and academic computing. As you read about the various database certification programs, keep these job roles in mind: 

• Database administrator (DBA): Responsible for installing, configuring and maintaining a database management system (DBMS). Often tied to a specific platform such as Oracle, MySQL, DB2 or SQL Server. 

• Database developer: Works with generic and proprietary APIs to build applications that interact with a DBMS (also platform-specific, like DBA roles).
• Database designer/database architect: Researches data requirements for specific applications or users, and designs database structures and application capabilities to match.
• Data analyst/data scientist: Responsible for analyzing data from multiple disparate sources to discover previously hidden insight, determine meaning behind the data and make business-specific recommendations.
• Data mining/business intelligence (BI) specialist: Specializes in dissecting, analyzing and reporting on important data streams, such as customer data, supply chain data, and transaction data and histories.
• Data warehousing specialist: Specializes in assembling and analyzing data from multiple operational systems (orders, transactions, supply chain information, customer data, etc.) to establish data history, analyze trends, generate reports and forecasts, and support general ad hoc queries. 

Careful attention to these database job roles highlights two important technical issues for would-be database professionals to consider. 

First, a good general background in relational database management systems, including an understanding of Structured Query Language (SQL), is a basic prerequisite for database professionals of all stripes. 

Second, although various efforts to standardize database technology exist, much of the whiz-bang capability that databases and database applications deliver come from proprietary, vendor-specific technologies. Serious, heavy-duty database skills and knowledge are tied to specific platforms, including various Oracle products (such as the open-source MySQL environment and Oracle itself,) Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2. That’s why most of these certifications relate directly to those enormously popular platforms. 

It’s important to note that NoSQL databases – referred to as “not only SQL” and sometimes “non-relational” databases – handle many different types of data, such as structured, semi-structured, unstructured and polymorphic. NoSQL databases are increasingly used in big data applications, which tend to be associated with certifications for data scientists, data mining and warehousing, and business intelligence. Although there is some natural overlap, for the most part, we cover those certs in our annually updated “Best Big Data Certifications.” 

Before you look at our featured certifications in detail, consider their popularity with employers. The results of an informal search on several high-traffic job boards show which database certifications employers look for most when hiring. Though these results vary from day to day (and by job board), such numbers provide a useful perspective on database certification demand in current job listings.

Job board search results (in alphabetical order by certification)*

*See our complete methodology for selecting top five certifications in the “Best Certifications” series.

**Combined totals for MCSA: SQL Database Administration (540), MCSA: SQL Database Development (569), MCSE: Data Management and Analytics (640) and MTA: Database (503).

If the sheer number of available database-related positions isn’t enough motivation to pursue a certification, consider average salaries for database administrators. SimplyHired reports $86,415 as the national average in the U.S., in a range from $60,960 to over $128,000. Glassdoor’s reported average is somewhat higher at $93,164, with a top rung for experienced, senior DBAs right around $135,000.

Top 5 database certifications

Now let’s look at the details of our top five database certification picks for 2020.

1. IBM Certified Database Administrator – DB2

IBM is one of the leaders in the worldwide database market by any objective measure. The company’s database portfolio includes industry standard DB2, as well as IBM Compose, Information Management System (IMS), lnformix, Cloudant and IBM Open Platform with Apache Hadoop. IBM also has a long-standing and well-populated IT certification program, which has been around for more than 30 years and encompasses hundreds of individual credentials. 

After redesigning its certification programs and categories, IBM’s major data-centric certification category is called IBM Data and AI, which includes a range of database credentials: Database Associate, Database Administrator, System Administrator, Application Developer and more. It’s a big and complex certification space, but one where particular platform allegiances are likely to guide readers straight to the handful of items that are relevant to their interests and needs. 

Database professionals who support DB2 (or aspire to) on Linux, Unix or Windows should check out the IBM Certified Database Administrator – DB2 certification. It’s an intermediate credential that addresses routine administration, basic SQL, and creation of databases and database objects, as well as server management, monitoring, availability and security. 

This certification requires candidates to pass two exams. Pre-exam training is recommended but not required.

IBM Certified Database Administrator – DB2 facts and figures

2. Microsoft SQL Server database certifications 

SQL Server offers a broad range of tools and add-ons for business intelligence, data warehousing and data-driven applications of all kinds. That probably explains why Microsoft offers database-related credentials at every level of its certification program. 

Microsoft has taken significant steps over the last year to change its certification program from technology-focused to role-centric, centered on the skills one needs to be successful in specific technology jobs. With these changes in mind, Microsoft now identifies four job tracks in its certification program: Developers, Administrators, Solution Architects and Functional Consultants. You will find a wide variety of skills and technologies within each of those categories, but we’ll concentrate below on the company’s SQL Server certifications.

MTA: Database Fundamentals

The MTA program includes a single database-related exam: Database Fundamentals (98-364). This credential is ideal for students or as an entry-level cert for professionals looking to segue into database support.

MCSA

Microsoft offers several SQL-related credentials at the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) level:

• MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014 (three exams)
• MCSA: BI Reporting (two exams)
• MCSA: SQL 2016 BI Development (two exams)
• MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration (two exams)
• MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development (two exams)

MCSE

There is one SQL database credential at the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert level: Data Management and Analytics. This certification has the MCSA as a prerequisite (a list of valid items follows in the table) and then requires passing one elective exam.

Microsoft SQL Server database certification facts and figures

3. Oracle Certified Professional, MySQL 5.7 Database Administrator 

Oracle runs its certifications under the auspices of Oracle University. The Oracle Database Certifications page lists separate tracks for Database Application Development (SQL and PL/SQL), MySQL (Database Administration and Developer) and Oracle Database (versions 12c, 12c R2, and 11g, and Oracle Spatial 11g). 

MySQL is perhaps the leading open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Since acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2010 (which had previously acquired MySQL AB), Oracle has rolled out a paid version of MySQL and developed certifications to support the product. 

A candidate interested in pursuing an Oracle MySQL certification can choose between MySQL Database Administration and MySQL Developer. The Oracle Certified Professional, MySQL 5.7 Database Administrator (OCP) credential recognizes professionals who can install, optimize and monitor MySQL Server; configure replication; apply security; and schedule and validate database backups. 

The certification requires candidates to pass a single exam (the same exam can be taken to upgrade a prior certification). Oracle recommends training and on-the-job experience before taking the exam.

Oracle Certified Professional, MySQL 5.7 Database Administrator facts and figures

4. Oracle Database 12c Administrator

Most Oracle DBMS credentials require candidates to attend authorized training classes to qualify for the related exam, but MySQL (and Sun-derived) credentials often do not. Oracle certifications also represent a true ladder, in that it is generally necessary to earn the associate-level credentials first, professional-level credentials second and master-level credentials third, culminating with the expert level. 

Oracle Database 12c R2 is the latest version, which includes enhancements to Oracle Database 12c. Oracle 12c certifications are currently offered at the associate, professional and master levels. 

A Foundations Junior Associate certification (novice level) is also available for Oracle Database 12c, as are three specialist designations: the Implementation Specialist, the Oracle Database Performance and Tuning 2015 Certified Implementation Specialist, and the Oracle Real Application Clusters 12c Certified Implementation Specialist. 

Available expert-level credentials include the Oracle Certified Expert; Oracle Database 12c: RAC and Grid Infrastructure Administrator; Oracle Database 12c Maximum Availability Certified Expert; Oracle Certified Expert; Oracle Database 12c: Data Guard Administrator; Oracle Certified Expert; and Oracle Database 12c: Performance Management and Tuning. Oracle still offers 11g certifications as well. 

Note: Although premium support for Oracle 11g Database ended on Dec. 31, 2014, extended support lasts until December 2020, so it’s probable that Oracle Database 11g will remain in use for the short term. 

We focused on requirements for Oracle Database 12c certifications. One important consideration is that Oracle 11g is forward-compatible with Oracle 12c, but Oracle 12c is not backward- compatible with the prior version. Because Oracle 12c is a newer version, IT professionals with Oracle 11g certifications should consider upgrading their 11g credentials.

Oracle Database 12c Administrator facts and figures

5. SAP HANA: SAP Certified Technology Associate – SAP HANA (Edition 2016)

SAP SE has a large portfolio of business application and analytics software, including cloud infrastructure, applications, and storage. The foundation of the SAP HANA platform is an enterprise-grade relational database management system, which can be run as an appliance on premises or in the cloud. The cloud platform enables customers to build and run applications and services based on SAP HANA. 

SAP offers a comprehensive certification program, built to support its various platforms and products. We chose to feature the SAP Certified Technology Associate – SAP HANA cert because it aligns closely with other certifications in this article and is in high demand among employers, according to our job board surveys. This certification ensures that database professionals can install, manage, monitor, migrate and troubleshoot SAP HANA systems. It covers managing users and authorization, applying security, and ensuring high availability and effective disaster recovery techniques. 

SAP recommends that certification candidates get hands-on practice through formal training or on-the-job experience before attempting this exam. The SAP Learning Hub is a subscription service that gives certification candidates access to a library of learning materials, including e-learning courses and course handbooks. The annual subscription rate for individual users on the Professional certification track is $3,048. This online training program is designed for those who run, support or implement SAP software solutions. Though this may seem like a steep price for online training, you will likely be able to pass any SAP certification exams you put your mind to by leveraging all of the learning resources available to SAP Learning Hub Professional subscribers. 

Typically, SAP certifications achieved on one of the two most accurate SAP solutions are considered current and valid. SAP contacts professionals whose certifications are nearing end of life and provides information on maintaining their credentials.

SAP Certified Technology Associate facts and figures

Beyond the top 5: More database certifications

Besides the ones mentioned in this article, other database certification programs are available to further the careers and professional development of IT professionals who work with database management systems. 

While most colleges with computer science programs offer database tracks at the undergraduate, master and Ph.D. levels, there are few well-known vendor-neutral database certifications. The Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP) is part of this unique group, offering its Certified Data Professional and Certified Data Scientist credentials. Find out more about ICCP certifications here. 

EnterpriseDB administers a small but effective certification program, with two primary certs: the EDB Certified Associate and the EDB Certified Professional. PostgreSQL was the fourth-ranked relational database management system in October 2019, according to DB-Engines. 

Credentials from Google, MarkLogic, Teradata and SAS may also be worth considering. All of these credentials represent opportunities for database professionals to expand their skill sets – and salaries. However, such niches in the database certification arena are generally only worth pursuing if you already work with these platforms or plan to work for an organization that uses them. 

Ed Tittel

Ed is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who has worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant, and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written for numerous publications, including Tom’s IT Pro and GoCertify, and is the author of more than 140 computing books on information security, web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems. 

Earl Follis

Earl is also a 30-year veteran of the computer industry, who has worked in IT training, marketing, technical evangelism, and market analysis in the areas of networking and systems technology and management. Ed and Earl met in the late 1980s when Ed hired Earl as a trainer at an Austin-area networking company that’s now part of HP. The two of them have written numerous books together on NetWare, Windows Server and other topics. Earl is also a regular writer for the computer trade press, with many e-books, whitepapers and articles to his credit.

Content provided by IBM and TNW.

Today’s AI systems are quickly evolving to become humans’ new best friend. We now have AIs that can concoct award-winning whiskey, write poetry, and help doctors perform extremely precise surgical operations. But one thing they can’t do — which is, on the surface, far simpler than all those other things — is use common sense.

Common sense is different from intelligence in that it is usually something innate and natural to humans that helps them navigate daily life, and cannot really be taught. In 1906, philosopher G. K. Chesterton wrote that “common sense is a wild thing, savage, and beyond rules.”

Robots, of course, run on algorithms that are just that: rules.

So no, robots can’t use common sense — yet. But thanks to current efforts in the field, we can now measure an AI’s core psychological reasoning ability, bringing us one step closer.

So why does it matter if we teach AI common sense?

Really it comes down to the fact that common sense will make AI better at helping us solve real-world issues. Many argue that AI-driven solutions designed for complex problems, like diagnosing Covid-19 treatments for example, often fail, as the system can’t readily adapt to a real-world situation where the problems are unpredictable, vague, and not defined by rules.

Common sense includes not only social abilities and reasoning but also a “naive sense of physics.”

Injecting common sense into AI could mean big things for humans; better customer service, where a robot can actually assist a disgruntled customer beyond sending them into an endless “Choose from the following options” loop. It can make autonomous cars react better to unexpected roadway incidences. It can even help the military draw life-or-death information from intelligence.

So why haven’t scientists been able to crack the common sense code thus far?

Called the “dark matter of AI”, common sense is both crucial to AI’s future development and, thus far, elusive. Equipping computers with common sense has actually been a goal of computer science since the field’s very start; in 1958, pioneering computer scientist John McCarthy published a paper titled “Programs with common sense” which looked at how logic could be used as a method of representing information in computer memory. But we’ve not moved much closer to making it a reality since.

Common sense includes not only social abilities and reasoning but also a “naive sense of physics” — this means that we know certain things about physics without having to work through physics equations, like why you shouldn’t put a bowling ball on a slanted surface. It also includes basic knowledge of abstract things like time and space, which lets us plan, estimate, and organize. “It’s knowledge that you ought to have,” says Michael Witbrock, AI researcher at the University of Auckland.

All this means that common sense is not one precise thing, and therefore cannot be easily defined by rules.

Secret AGENT

We’ve established that common sense requires a computer to infer things based on complex, real-world situations — something that comes easily to humans, and starts to form since infancy.

Computer scientists are making (slow) but steady progress toward building AI agents that can infer mental states, predict future actions, and work with humans. But in order to see how close we actually are, we first need a rigorous benchmark for evaluating an AI’s “common sense,” or its psychological reasoning ability.

Researchers from IBM, MIT, and Harvard have created just that: AGENT, which stands for Action-Goal-Efficiency-coNstraint-uTility. After testing and validation, this benchmark is shown to be able to evaluate the core psychological reasoning ability of an AI model. This means it can actually give a sense of social awareness and could interact with humans in real-world settings.

To demonstrate common sense, an AI model must have built-in representations of how humans plan.

So what is AGENT? AGENT is a large-scale dataset of 3D animations inspired by experiments that study cognitive development in kids. The animations depict someone interacting with different objects under different physical constraints. According to IBM:

“The videos comprise distinct trials, each of which includes one or more ‘familiarization’ videos of an agent’s typical behavior in a certain physical environment, paired with ‘test’ videos of the same agent’s behavior in a new environment, which are labeled as either ‘expected’ or ‘surprising,’ given the behavior of the agent in the corresponding familiarization videos.”

A model must then judge how surprising the agent’s behaviors in the ‘test’ videos are, based on the actions it learned in the ‘familiarization’ videos. Using the AGENT benchmark, that model is then validated against large-scale human-rating trials, where humans rated the ‘surprising’ ‘test’ videos as more surprising than the ‘expected’ test videos.

Common sense?

IBM’s trial shows that to demonstrate common sense, an AI model must have built-in representations of how humans plan. This means combining both a basic sense of physics and ‘cost-reward trade-offs’, which means an understanding of how humans take actions “based on utility, trading off the rewards of its goal against the costs of reaching it.”

While not yet perfect, the findings show AGENT is a promising diagnostic tool for developing and evaluating common sense in AI, something IBM is also working on. It also shows that we can utilize similar traditional developmental psychology methods to those used to teach human children how objects and ideas relate.

In the future, this could help significantly reduce the need for training in these models allowing businesses to save on computing energy, time, and money.

Robots don’t understand human consciousness yet — but with the development of benchmarking tools like AGENT, we’ll be able to measure how close we’re getting.

Alpine skiing officials will test a new format for the combined event, a race that is under review to remain on the Olympic program.

French newspaper L’Equipe reported that the International Ski Federation (FIS) will test a new team format for the combined, which has been an individual event on the Olympic program since 1988. L’Equipe reported that a nation can use a different skier for the downhill and slalom in the new setup, quoting FIS secretary general Michel Vion.

For example, the U.S. could use Breezy Johnson in the downhill run and sub her out for Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom run, should the format be adopted into senior competition.

The format will be tested at the world junior championships in January in St. Anton, Austria, according to the report.

In response to the report, a FIS spokesperson said, “Regarding the new format of the combined is correct, and our directors are working on the rules so for the moment the only thing we can confirm is that there will be this new format for the Alpine combined that has been proposed by the athletes’ commission.”

Some version of the combined event has been provisionally included on the 2026 Olympic program, with a final IOC decision on its place coming by April.

This will be the third consecutive World Cup season with no combined events. Instead, FIS has included more parallel races in accurate years. The individual combined remains on the biennial world championships program.

L’Equipe also reported that the mixed team parallel event, which is being dropped from the Olympics, will also be dropped from the biennial world championships after this season.

“There is nothing definitive about that yet, but it is a project in the making,” a FIS spokesperson said in commenting on the report.

Vion said the mixed team event, which debuted at the Olympics in 2018, was not a hit at the Beijing Games and did not draw a strong audience, according to L’Equipe.

Story continues

The World Cup season starts in two weeks with the traditional opening giant slaloms in Soelden, Austria.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

More: Olympics

Ironman Kona World Championships return, live on Peacock 2022 Ironman Kona World Championships results Chelsea Sodaro wins Ironman Kona World Championship, ends American drought

Alpine skiing to test new format for combined race originally appeared on NBCSports.com

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

Macy’s is testing a new concept in south suburban Evergreen Park: a dual store format that includes its off-price concept, Macy’s Backstage, and a small-format Market by Macy’s.

The store, located at 9700 S. Western Ave. at Evergreen Plaza, opened last week and will mark its official grand opening on Friday. Marc Mastronardi, the company’s chief stores officer, said in an interview that Macy’s will be watching the store’s performance as it decides whether or not to pursue Backstage and Market pairings in additional locations. No additional dual-format stores are in the works in the short term, Mastronardi said.

Advertisement

“As we build out our plans for the future years, we’ll come back and start to decide whether they are better represented together, or different, (or) a combination of both,” he said.

At a combined more than 70,000 square feet, the Evergreen Plaza stores are smaller than typical Macy’s and are part of the retailer’s growing investment in locations outside of traditional shopping malls. The company announced this summer it would open Market by Macy’s locations outside of shopping malls in Georgia and Missouri as well as in Evergreen Park. The Missouri store, when it opens in November, will replace a full-size in-mall Macy’s nearby that is slated for closure.

Advertisement

Once-grand department stores and mall retailers have struggled over the last decade, and the pandemic didn’t help matters. In January 2021, Macy’s announced it was shuttering its store at Water Tower Place downtown, leaving more than 300,000 square feet vacant. And in April, former Water Tower Place owner Brookfield Properties announced it was walking away from the troubled mall, where the former Macy’s space remained empty.

Last year, the company closed seven full-line in-mall stores and didn’t open any, according to external communications associate Stephanie Jimenez. Macy’s did open 45 Backstage stores within in-mall stores, she said, in addition to a handful of freestanding Backstage and Market by Macy’s locations outside of malls. The company is on track to open eight Market by Macy’s outside of malls by the end of the fall, Jimenez said.

The “vast majority” of U.S. Macy’s are still in malls, Mastronardi said, and he said he sees the company’s future growth happening both inside and outside of malls.

Although Macy’s describes the Evergreen Plaza concept as its first dual-store format, it has pursued store-within-store concepts before. The company has Backstage locations in over 300 of its mall-based stores nationally. In Chicago, a Backstage opened in the company’s State Street flagship in the Marshall Field and Co. Building in April. The company first brought the Backstage concept to the Chicago area in 2018. There are now nine in the area in total.

In another pass at store-within-store concepts, the company is opening Toys R Us stores across its U.S. retail locations.The State Street Toys R Us is scheduled to open this month.

Evergreen Park’s demographics made it an attractive location for the dual-format test location, Mastronardi said. Market by Macy’s has fewer, more curated offerings than a full-size Macy’s but the products are available “up and down the value scale,” he said; the off-price Backstage concept caters to lower-income consumers.

“The combination of that assortment aligns to having what’s in the suburban Evergreen market,” Mastronardi said. “You’ve got a demographic that is willing to travel that represents a really broad range of age, of affluence, gender.”

Macy’s has hired more than 60 people to work in the Evergreen Plaza store, and the company says it plans to hire for about 20 seasonal positions as the holiday season approaches.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) released results of the maiden Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate (CUET-UG) admissions late on Thursday night with almost 20,000 candidates scoring 100percentile in around 30 subjects.

The union government had in March announced that it will conduct CUET-UG, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and made its score a mandatory yardstick for all central universities while keeping it optional for others.

At least 90 universities are participating in the CUET-UG this year.

While the NTA– an autonomous testing agency under the union ministry of education was entrusted to conduct the exam–, the higher education regulation University Grants Commission (UGC) worked as its nodal agency for the exam.

Also Read: CUET results: Social media users question delay

The debut edition of CUET-UG was conducted in six phases between July 15 and August 30 across 489 examination centres located in 259 cities across India and 10 cities abroad.

A total of 14,90,000 candidates had registered for the examination that witnessed 60% consolidated attendance in all six phases.

HT here explains the journey of CUET-UG 2022:

Origin of CUET

In 2010, the government had set up 12 new central universities across the country, and introduced a common entrance exam known as Central University Common Entrance Test (CUCET) for them. Till 2021, those 12 central universities, including central universities of Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala Jammu and Punjab, were conducting admissions through it.

Later in 2020, when NEP was launched, it envisaged a common entrance exam for all universities. To implement the policy recommendations, the UGC had in 2020 set up a seven-member committee headed by VC of Central University of Punjab, RP Tiwari, to prepare the modalities for the common entrance exam.

After several rounds of discussion. UGC submitted its recommendations in December 2020 and suggested implementing them from 2021-22.

However, the UGC had put it on hold in view of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March this year, UGC announced the implementation of the exam under the title CUET from the session 2022-23 and made it the sole criterion for admission to undergraduate courses in all central universities.

Until now, many universities were either enrolling students on the basis of their class 12 performance or were conducting their individual entrance exams.

Why a common entrance exam?

While introducing CUET-UG, the UGC had said it would reduce the burden of students. “The students right now are applying to different universities and appearing in different entrance exams for undergraduate admissions. At the same time, they also have to focus on their board exams to get 99% and 100% marks. We should not assume that all central universities were conducting admissions on the basis of class 12 marks. Many universities have already been conducting their individual entrance exams for undergraduate admissions. Multiple exams were causing a lot of stress not just among the students but also their parents,” UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar had said.

“Another reason why the NEP 2020 advocated for a ‘one nation one entrance exam’ is to provide equal opportunity to students from different backgrounds and different education boards. It will provide a kind of level playing ground for the students,” he had said.

The criticism

A section of students, parents, teachers and principal raised concerns over making CUET-UG the sole criteria for undergraduate admissions. They argued that not giving any weightage to class 12 marks in the admission process will make board exams “irrelevant”. Another criticism was on the syllabus of CUCET-UG as it was “strictly” based on NCERT syllabus. People questioned how it would provide equal opportunity to students from other boards, ISC or state boards. Lastly, there were apprehensions that CUET may also mutate into a coaching driven competition like most entrance exams are in the country.

Exam pattern

The CUET-UG was a computer-based exam and was conducted in multiple choice questions (MCQ) format. It was divided into four sections namely, I-A, I-B, II, and III. Section I-A and I-B consisted of language subjects. Section II was domain specific and section III was a general test.

A candidate was allowed to choose a maximum of any three languages from Section I-A and Section I-B together, and up to six domain subjects. It means, overall, candidates could take a test in a maximum of nine subjects, i.e., two languages + six domain specific subjects + one general test or three languages + five domain specific subjects + one general test.

The exam will be strictly based on the class 12 NCERT syllabus.

The hiccups

The exam, which was initially planned in two phases, had to be conducted in six phases due to multiple cancellations and postponement of papers after technical issues were reported at the examination centres. While the first phase was conducted in July, the remaining five phases were held throughout August. The initial phases of CUET were marred with technical and administrative glitches. While on August 4, all exams scheduled in the evening shift were cancelled at all 489 centres across the country, 50 and 53 centres were affected on August 5 and 6, respectively.

However, the NTA rescheduled exams for all affected students and extended the dates till August 30.

How CUET-UG was different from NEET, JEE?

In case of both, the National Eligibility Criteria Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses, and the Joint Entrance exam (JEE) for engineering admissions, there are no subject combinations. It is either Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics or Physics, Chemistry and Biology and everybody takes these combinations only.

However, in CUET-UG, each of the 1.49lakh candidates had applied for at least five universities choosing around 54,000 subject combinations. That makes CUET-UG a big exercise.

What next?

The NTA will provide universities with the CUET-UG scores of students who have applied for admission to that particular university. The universities will then prepare their individual cut-off list using those scores and conduct their counseling sessions for admission. Students will have to visit the admission portal of the universities they have applied for and complete the registration process.

Meanwhile, the government is likely to conduct CUET-UG twice next year– one in March-April and the other in November-December – to provide more opportunities to students.

Sign on to read the HT ePaper epaper.hindustantimes.com