2. Courses and Their Categories

2.0. Theory and Lab Course Systems (LTPC)

• Courses classified as Theory or Lab.
• Credits: C = 2×L + 2×T + P

2.1. Core Courses

• Mandatory for your degree.
• Count in CPI.
• Must be completed within program duration.
• Give exposure to departmental subjects & research.
  

2.2. Minor Courses

• Credential for 30 credits (≈5 courses) outside your discipline.
• Awarded: “B.Tech. in xxx with Minor in yyy” on degree & transcript.
• Eligibility: From 3rd semester.
• Allocation: Only through pre-registration, CPI-based.
• Waitlist managed by CPI in most cases.
• If <30 credits completed, no Minor, but courses show individually.

2.3. Honor Courses

• Credential for +24 (sometimes 30) credits in your own discipline.
• Mentioned on degree: “B.Tech. in xxx, with Honors”.
• Grades separated from Major CPI.
• Registration: Normal ASC, but tag as O.

2.4. Electives

• Department Electives (advanced courses in your dept, 4xx/5xx)
• Interdisciplinary STEM Electives (no core prerequisites, cross-dept STEM)
• Interdisciplinary HASMED Electives (Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, Management, Design)

All electives count in CPI.

2.5. Additional Learning Courses (ALC)

• Extra courses beyond curriculum.
• Don't count in CPI unless retagged.

2.6. Audit Courses

• For learning only (no credits, no grade points).
• Permission from instructor required.
• Max 2 allowed in the program duration.
• Reflected as AU if attendance/requirements met.
• Not counted in CPI.

2.7. Sit Through

• Attend without registering (with instructor's permission).
• Not in transcript, no credits.

2.8. Self-Study Courses

• For final-year students needing credits for graduation.
• Max 2 allowed.
• Regular grading applies.
• Registration involves department + Academic Office + offline payment.
• Fees: ₹2000 (General/OBC/EWS), ₹1000 (SC/ST).
• Runs May–July (Summers)

2.9. Guided Study Courses

• For Category I students.
• Max 1 per semester, 4 total.
• Requires approvals (FacAd/Project Guide + DUGC + UGAPEC).
• Can't overlap with URA.
• May count toward Minor/Honors.

2.10. Summer Courses

• For backlogs; max 24 credits (usually 4 courses).
• Attendance ≥80% required.
• Fees: ₹9000/course.
• Registration: Internal ASC + payment via External ASC.

2.11. NPTEL/SWAYAM Courses

• Max 2 electives (12 credits) via NPTEL.
• Process: Approval → Register on SWAYAM → Pay ₹1000 → Submit certificate → ASC entry

2.12. Seminars

• Usually a 3-credit course under faculty supervision.
• Involves literature review, report writing, oral presentation.

2.13. IR Language Courses

• Offered by the IR office (e.g., Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese).
• No credits/grades.
• For students & staff.

3. Why Should One Take Up a Minor

• Minor courses allow you to officially explore a department other than yours while at the same time getting credit for it. It adds value to your major degree and can be a gateway to get opportunities in the field you have completed your minor in.
• Your minor degree can give you sufficient knowledge to enable you to take part in interdisciplinary research and even pursue your higher studies in such fields.
• Though a minor degree can be pursued simply out of genuine and deep interest in a particular department without any specific end goal in view, for the general majority, you should select it in such a way that it either suits your major degree in a research-oriented interdisciplinary manner or in a generic way to any engineer or scientist.
• You should also look at how all the minor courses fit in with each other for a more holistic approach; some departments draw up a suggested schedule of when each minor course must be taken to reap the full benefits out of the curriculum.
• Minor courses don't count in your CPI, so you should select a minor based on your interest.

4. Why Should One Take Up Honors

• Honor courses are either advanced-level courses in your department or are courses designed to give you more exposure to different areas in your department. It is like a specialization in your own discipline.
• Honors research topics are varied and negotiable — if you are really interested in a topic and want to learn more about it, you'll be encouraged and supported.
• From a potential employer's perspective, whatever your department, it appears laudable to have demonstrated the ability to achieve a complex and demanding goal and have in-depth knowledge in your department.
• It helps you prepare you for higher studies or to take a job in a particular specialized area so that you can compete with, say, an M.Tech who has specialized in the same area; there are also higher chances that your profile will get noticed by universities for their MS/Ph.D. programs.

5. Tagging Rules

Every course you do in the institute falls under one of the categories of courses as described earlier. Tags are given to courses to classify them. This facility allows students to do additional courses and finally make select courses count towards "Core CPI" (the CPI of prescribed curriculum credits)

Tags of courses:

1. Core Course - C
2. Department Elective - D
3. Interdisciplinary STEM Elective - SE
4. Interdisciplinary HASMED Elective - HE
5. Minor Course - M
6. Additional Learning Courses - T
7. Honors Course - O
8. Honors Elective - E

An approved change of tag will result in fresh calculation of SPI/ CPI from the semester. The tag change has been made effective due to the fact that additional learning course(s) do NOT constitute the core SPI/ CPI of a student.