# Sikkim Manipal University not evaluated by WES



## rahulverma1803 (Nov 11, 2015)

Dear Friends,

I am a graduate from Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (which comes under Sikkim Manipal University - UGC approved).
I was doing some research prior to my application for Canada PR via Express Entry Program.
On the WES website, I found this note:

WES does NOT evaluate academic records from Sikkim Manipal University.

Although, this does not mean that my academic evaluation from other agencies (like ICAS) will be negative, I'm a bit skeptical of investing money on the evaluation before a degree of comfort in doing so.

I wish to know if there is any way of knowing whether SMU graduates receive positive evaluation from ICAS or not? Will ICAS reveal such information if I try to submit a query?

Please advise.

Regards,
Rahul Verma


----------



## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

If you are unwilling to spend time or money sending in your transcripts to ICAS but still want to know if they'll accept them, your only option is to contact ICAS directly.

I should think that in an effort to save time and effort, they would tell you whether or not they will evaluate your transcripts... after all, an email is easier for ICAS to respond to than having to open up, look at and then re-package and return to sender an academic bundle that they don't evaluate.


----------



## rahulverma1803 (Nov 11, 2015)

Thank you for your valuable inputs.
I have sent an e-mail to ICAS with the details. I hope they can revert soon.
I'll share their reply here as soon as I receive it.


----------



## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

It isn't considered a legitimate university. Even courts in India have been debating whether or not it is legitimate. If they are debating the issue, why would WES accept its degrees as being legitimate?


----------



## rahulverma1803 (Nov 11, 2015)

colchar said:


> It isn't considered a legitimate university. Even courts in India have been debating whether or not it is legitimate. If they are debating the issue, why would WES accept its degrees as being legitimate?


I'm not sure regarding the legitimacy of the University being contested. As far as I know, the university is very reputed and was UGC approved long back. The university also provides Distance Learning courses, which might have caused some confusion here. The 4-Year B.Tech. program is at par with many good universities.

It would be nice if you could provide the source of your information, so that we can review as well.
I would also try to contact the university directly and get as much information regarding this as possible for me. I'll post it here, so that other people can also make use of the information.

By the way, I received a reply from ICAS. PFB the same:

"Thank you for your enquiry.

We will review a qualification awarded by SMU, provided that SMU was UGC-recognized at the time of your admission. Additionally, if study was completed through distance education, the program must have been DEC-recognized at the time of your admission. It is your responsibility to determine whether your qualification meets our requirements.

Please contact us if you require additional information or clarification.

ICAS of Canada".

From this reply, I can infer that my evaluation could be done by ICAS.
Please correct me if I missed anything.
The inputs I receive here are invaluable.

I'll update if I receive any info from any other source.

Regards.


----------



## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

rahulverma1803 said:


> I'm not sure regarding the legitimacy of the University being contested.


I figured it out in less than a minute, surely you can too.




> As far as I know, the university is very reputed and was UGC approved long back.



An Indian court ruled on the university in June. It protected the degrees of students who had earned them. The Supreme Court then refused to hear any further motions on the issue. If I can find that out from here in Canada surely you can find that out in India.

Just because the Indian court protected those degrees does not mean that Canada will recognize them, nor should it.

And it couldn't have been approved a long time ago as the university was only founded in 1995. Twenty years is not a long time in academia.





> The university also provides Distance Learning courses, which might have caused some confusion here.



We have distance education here in Canada too, it is unlikely to cause any confusion whatsoever.





> The 4-Year B.Tech. program is at par with many good universities.



Then why did a court have to rule on it in June of this year? And why was the school ordered to shut down all campuses outside of Sikkim in 2012?




> It would be nice if you could provide the source of your information, so that we can review as well.



Why are you leaving it up to me? Shouldn't you look into this yourself? I found plenty of information, including the entire text of the court's judgement. Should you not be able to do the same?





> I would also try to contact the university directly and get as much information regarding this as possible for me.



Do you think they are going to be honest?


----------



## rahulverma1803 (Nov 11, 2015)

colchar said:


> I figured it out in less than a minute, surely you can too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes, I could figure it out too, didn't hear anything like that so I asked. What I meant was regarding the Institute, whether the SMIT (which comes under SMU) was also impacted. That's why I said that there could be possibility of other campuses outside Sikkim which offers Distance Learning courses only.

Doesn't matter from Canada or India, surely we are both going to use the Internet for information.
From what I gather, the campus outside of Sikkim offer only Distance Education, which are being contested. Hence, the statement regarding "confusion".
The legitimacy of main Institute in Sikkim, SMIT, which offers full time 4-year B.Tech. courses, is not being contested (I need to find out more about this before we could conclude either way).
Wikipedia is sometimes very misleading and not trusted sources of information. I'm getting in touch with some people who might know more about this than we do,

20 years was "long back" in the sense which I used the word.

I'm not sure about why the campus outside of Sikkim are being closed, as I'm not aware of the Distance Learning courses SMU offers. But the full time courses in Sikkim are good enough.

Why would you assume that I'm leaving it up to to you if all I did was just request for your source?
I didn't realize that it would not be the right thing to ask for, and I apologize if it caused any offense.

I am in contact with some trusted sources as well as some senior faculties of the Institute.
I will post any further information I receive on this.

Regards.


----------



## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

rahulverma1803 said:


> Wikipedia is sometimes very misleading and not trusted sources of information.



What makes you think I used Wikipedia? I told you that I found a lot of info, including the entirety of the court's ruling.


----------

