FAQs regarding Course Tagging

Postgraduate Academic Council 2019-20 

August 2019

  1. What is course tagging?

Course tagging is a facility provided to the students of the Institute to choose additional courses, and to finally select the courses that count toward the CPI derived from the credits prescribed for the completion of the academic requirements of the programme (the ‘Programme CPI’) . This facility allows students to change the tags of “non-core” courses, i.e. Department Electives, Institute Electives,  and Additional Learning Courses. 

This facility can only be availed after the coursework is complete. At present, online course tagging facility is available for M.Tech. programmes. Students from M.Sc., M.Des., M.Mgt., M.Phil., MPP, MUDE, and Ph.D. can avail of the offline course tagging (Manual Course Tagging) facility. 

Tagging is not an option to blindly optimise courses in order to boost the CPI.

Students are requested to note that there is no term called “course swapping”. 

  1. When should one tag a course?

The course tagging facility is available online on the ASC Portal (asc.iitb.ac.in) throughout the tenure of the respective PG programme, once the coursework for the student is complete. However, the student can re-tag courses only once during the course of the programme. Hence this option should be exercised only when necessary, after discussion with Faculty Advisors, Department Coordinators (DCs) and Academic Unit Representatives for Academic Affairs (AURAAs).

  1. What is the necessity of tagging/re-tagging a course?

Tagging or re-tagging of courses can be done for one of the following requirements:

    1. Increasing the Programme CPI: Programme CPI has been described above. It is also the CPI that appears on the placement resume. This CPI excludes “Additional Learning Courses”, so a student can replace an Elective tag by an Additional Learning tag, in order to increase the overall CPI.

    2. When the number of courses taken are greater than the number of prescribed electives, the extra courses need to be tagged as “Additional Learning” courses. We recommend the retagging of the elective(s) with the least grades. Again, please make sure that retagging of any course does not make you fall short of the required credit requirement in any of the categories (core, institute elective, department elective, etc.)

  1. Precautions to be taken before tagging.

As mentioned above, hold off re-tagging till the end of programme unless it is absolutely necessary, since you get only one chance to do it.

Prior to opting for the tagging process, please check the existing tags associated with the courses that you have opted for. 

Please familiarise yourself with the course and credit requirements of your programme in your department.

Note the changes that you want to make to the tags and discuss it with your Faculty Advisor.

Only attempt the re-tagging once you are confident that courses that intend to re-tag as additional learning are non-core and replaceable by one of the courses that you have already completed or that you can complete in the coming semester.

  1. How can tagging be done?

The course tagging facility is available online on the Application Software Cell (asc.iitb.ac.in). This may be accessed by selecting “Academic” in the menu tree and selecting the option for “Change in tag” in the menu. The application must be duly filled online, and once saved, you should be able to see the updated tags for your courses.

Manual Tagging: Ideally, this option should not be availed unless ASC does not permit you to make any change on the online interface which should be allowed as per the Institute and department  specific rules. In this case, a print of the appropriate form must be taken, and approved by the Faculty Advisor of the student, as well as the Head of the Department from whom a change in course tag is being sought. This application must then be submitted (preferably forwarded through the department office) to the Office of the Dean (Academic Programmes [AP]), and this application, if approved by Dean (AP), will be sent to the Academic Office for implementation.

  1. What tags can different courses be changed to?

The courses offered at IIT Bombay for Postgraduate students fall under one of these categories, Core Courses (C), Department Electives (D), Institute Electives (E) and Additional Learning Courses (T). The following table lists the possible changes in the tags of these courses.

Tag allotted to a course

Description

Changeable to

C

Core Course

No change possible

D

Department Elective

T

I

Institute Elective

T

T

Additional Learning Course

D, I

  1. What if a change in the tags, apart from the ones described in the table above is desired?

If such a change is required, an application must be made out to the Dean (AP), duly endorsed by the Faculty Advisor of the student and the Head of the Department.

  1. Is there a provision to retag a Credit Course as Audit course?

No, it is not possible to tag a Credit course as an Audit course. 

  1. How is the CPI calculated when additional courses (more than the degree requirement) are credited? / Are Additional Learning Courses (ALC) considered for CPI Calculation?
    Each programme has a number of courses (and associated credits) that can be taken by a student. There is a maximum number of credits that a student can complete that will be included in the CPI. This number varies from programme to programme. ALC are not considered for calculating CPI. 

  1. How many courses can be retagged at a time?
    There is no particular upper limit of courses that can be tagged at a time, as long as the programme requirements for your degree are met (number of credits, number and type of core and elective courses).
    As such, it would be advisable to ensure that the number of courses that have been taken, meet the requirements for the degree programme, and that speak with your faculty advisor before tagging.

  1. If one course is remaining, to complete the credit requirements, then can retagging be done after registering for that course, even before the grades are declared?
    The coursework will be deemed once the grades for the course have been released. Retagging can be done, once that is over.

  2. Can a Department Elective credited in first semester be replaced by additional Department elective from third semester?
    Any department elective done in the entire programme irrespective of the semester, can be replaced by another department elective provided you have done excess number of course(s).

  3. What are re-tagging rules for PhD as there are no core courses/institute electives?
    While there are no core courses/elective requirements for PhD programmes in departments, each department may have different requirements that need to be met for their qualifier. In such a case, manual tagging can be exercised once the coursework is completed, provided the requirements for the qualifier, and course credit requirements  have been met.

  4. What if Minimum Course Credit requirement displayed on ASC portal is not correct? Due to which retagging is not possible in spite of meeting the required number of credits.
    Such issues can be resolved by an application to the Dean of Academic Programmes through the Head of Academic Unit. Once approved, this should be reported to the Academic Office for correction.. It is advisable to check the credit requirement displayed on ASC portal beforehand. 

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