Chennai: With campus placements hovering between 60% and 70% even in the state’s top colleges, the Tamil Nadu higher education department plans to involve professors and heads of departments (HoDs) in state universities and govt colleges in efforts to improve placements.They will receive training in identifying industry requirements, helping students build their CVs during their course, facilitating industry-related projects and preparing students in core skills.Around 150 professors and HoDs will undergo training in the first phase on Nov 24 and 25.“We are looking to improve campus placements on two fronts — training final-year students to prepare their CVs, conducting mock interviews and aptitude tests, and improving their skills to enhance their job prospects,” higher education secretary Dheeraj Kumar said.“For skilling students, we are asking HoDs to establish tie-ups with three to four industries, seek their feedback on the curriculum, and facilitate internships and placement opportunities for students. We have also asked HoDs to identify six skills relevant to their degree programmes,” he said.Industry experts will train professors on industry expectations.“In the first phase, training will be conducted for professors from 13 state universities, government engineering colleges and government autonomous arts and science colleges. Five professors from each college will undergo two days of hands-on training by experts. Based on the feedback, the training will be improved in subsequent phases,” said M P Vijayakumar, vice-chairman, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education.Institutions such as Anna University are also exploring new ways to improve campus placements.“We have selected electronics and communication engineering as an example and are trying to bring in more core industries this year. Our target is to place 95% of students in this department,” said V Kumaresan, registrar (in-charge), Anna University.The university has so far placed around 25% of its eligible students this year, which is similar to last year. The university had placed 72% of its total eligible undergraduate students in the 2025-26 academic year.
