UGC sets rules for pvt varsities to start off-campus centres

 UGC sets rules for pvt varsities to start off-campus centres

TNN | Mar 7, 2024, 05.16 AM IST

Ahmedabad: The University Grants Commission recently allowed private universities to establish their off-campus centres and announced rules for the same. The country’s private universities were not allowed to open off-campus centres so far in other states. Sources said that while this decision gives better alternatives to students, it may also result in further weakening of 16 public universities in the state.

In a meeting held on March 5, UGC decided to allow state’s private universities to open off-campus centres in any state in the country if they met the following criteria: A minimum of five years of establishment and operations and accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). However, it will not be required to have an A or a B grade in NAAC rankings.

The private university that wants to establish off-campus centres will have to meet the minimum staff, infrastructure and financial requirements set by the commission. The universities will have to provide approvals from the statutory and regulatory bodies.

The universities must present land lease documents to show they have sufficient land to establish their off-campus centres. The lease period should be a minimum of 30 years.

The universities will have to assure they will provide infrastructure, faculty and courses being offered at the main campus to the students in their off-campus centres. The universities will have to pay Rs 10 lakh as establishment fees to UGC. The commission will have the right to carry out inspections and take punitive measures against the university in cases of irregularities and complaints. The UGC may also order closure of a university’s off-campus centre if it breaches any of the regulations and in such case the university will have to facilitate shifting students to their main campus. The university will be allowed to take over an already operational college or institute in a state after procuring NOC from the university it is currently affiliated to.

Academic experts said that this decision may prove beneficial for students as they will get more options to choose from. However, it also means that the 16 government-run universities in the state will face more competition. More students may shift to these centres, leaving a large number of approved seats in the public universities vacant every year.

Now, final year UG students can pursue 4th year to bag honours degree

Now, final year UG students can pursue 4th year to bag honours degree

ByNiraj Pandit, Mumbai

Mar 05, 2024 07:56 AM IST

UGC allows third-year UG students to extend for honours or research degree. They must choose a college with a PG center and complete a bridge course for transition.

In a significant step, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced that all the third- or final year undergraduate (UG) students enrolled under choice-based credit system (CBCS) can extend another year to bag an honours or research degree.

However, these students will have to pick a college with a postgraduate centre to pursue the fourth year and will also have to sign up for a bridge course, which will be decided by the respective university, to streamline their transition, an UGC circular said.

The initiative will benefit 91 autonomous colleges across Maharashtra, who have decided to implement the four-year UG programme under the New Education Policy (NEP) from the current academic year.

M Jagadesh Kumar, UGC chairman, said, “Students currently enrolled in and actively pursuing a UG programme under CBCS are eligible for a four-year programme. The respective university may offer bridge courses, which could be either through online or offline, to facilitate their smooth transition into the extended programme.”

This provision, Kumar said, is essential to ensure existing students can fully avail the benefits of the four-year UG programme. “Over 200 universities have successfully implemented the four-year UG programme, leveraging their robust PG programme and research facilities. Consequently, these universities are encouraged to motivate enrolled students to extend their studies to the fourth year.”

Shailendra Devlankar, director of higher education, said, “Presently, postgraduate departments at all universities in the state have CBCS. But this decision will benefit the 91 autonomous colleges who are implementing NEP from the current academic year. From the next academic year, the state government is set to implement NEP in all the colleges; so CBCS will eventually be introduced, and students will get the benefits under NEP.”

Major reforms in NAAC accreditation

Major reforms in NAAC accreditation

The reforms have been recommended by the Ministry of Education Committee headed by Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman ISRO and Chairperson, Standing Committee IIT Council

BY TELANGANA TODAY

PUBLISHED DATE - 27 JANUARY 2024, 08:25 PM

Hyderabad: Doing away with its present system, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) undertook major reforms in the accreditation process introducing Binary Accreditation and Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation for the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the country.

As for the binary accreditation, the Council will be declaring whether the HEI is accredited or unaccredited without awarding a score and grade as is being done now. As part of the Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation, the HEIs will be categorized under leveled accreditation from Level 1 to 5.

This, according to NAAC, is to encourage accredited institutions to raise their bar from ‘Level 1’ to ‘Level 4’ as Institutions of National Excellence, and then to ‘Level-5’ i.e.

Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-Disciplinary Research and Education.

These reforms have been recommended by the Ministry of Education Committee headed by Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman ISRO and Chairperson, Standing Committee IIT Council.

The metrics for both the Binary and Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation will focus on processes, outcomes and impact across different attributes of HEIs instead of mere input-centric.

Further, the One Nation One Data Platform has been proposed as part of the reform to ensure integrity and transparency in handling institutional data.

The reforms will be implemented in two stages with Binary accreditation coming into force in the next four months and no new applications will be accepted as per the present methodology thereafter.

Institutions that have already applied and are applying in the next four months will have the option to either go by the present process or by the new methodology of binary accreditation. The Maturity-based Graded levels will be implemented by December 2024.

UGC delists Meghalaya Techno Global University, details here

UGC delists Meghalaya Techno Global University, details here

TOI Education | Jan 12, 2024, 03.10 PM IST

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has removed the name of Techno Global University, Meghalaya from the list of recognised universities. It is speculated that the the decision of UGC is based on the state education department's recommendation to remove the university as it does not exist.

Techno Global University (TGU) was established as a state private university and included in the UGC's list in January 2013, according to the UGC. The government of Meghalaya had set up the university to provide various courses, spanning physical sciences, life sciences, technology, medical science, management, humanities, and more. These courses were sponsored by Techno India, Kolkata, West Bengal.

However, in a turn of events, the government of Meghalaya, through a letter dated 27.09.2022, recommended the removal of TGU from the UGC list, citing its non-existence. The UGC notice explained that TGU, as per its website, had not initiated any academic activities since its inception and had never issued any certificates, degrees, or marksheets. The university also clarified that it had not authorized any person or institution to act on its behalf.

Upon checking the official website of the TGU Meghalaya (technoglobaluniversity.com), a statement appears on the page, stating "Techno Global University shillong, has never started any academic activity since inception. We have never issued any marksheet, certificate and degree to any person. We have also never authorised any person or institution to act on behalf of us."

In response to these developments, the UGC subsequently removed the name of Techno Global University, Shillong, Meghalaya, from its list of recognized universities. The state government, in 2019, had enacted an amendment act, specifying that decisions affecting the university's closure, degree cancellations, admission stoppage, or any matter concerning the State Government's interests would be made by the Visitor after consulting with the State Government.

'Propaganda' cry as University Grants Commission asks varsities to use 'Beti Bachao' logo

'Propaganda' cry as University Grants Commission asks varsities to use 'Beti Bachao' logo

There is a continuous effort to interfere with the autonomy of educational institutions, said Maya John, a member of the Academic Council of Delhi University
Basant Kumar Mohanty New Delhi Published 12.01.24, 05:23 AM

Higher education regulator UGC has asked all universities and colleges to install the Narendra Modi government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) logo on their premises and also use it on their website and stationery items.

The University Grants Commission had earlier asked higher educational institutions to set up selfie points with cutouts of Prime Minister Modi.

After being prodded by the ministry of women and child development (MWCD), the UGC has written to the vice-chancellors of all universities and principals of all colleges to use the BBBP logos to create awareness on valuing the girl child. The ministry is running the BBBP scheme to create awareness against gender bias.

“In this regard, MWCD proposed to create awareness on the valuing of girl child and also enclosed the logo and tagline of BBBP. The Higher Educational Institutions are requested to use BBBP logo on the website, portals, stationery items, events and prominent places in the premises of the HEIs. It will convey the commitment of ensuring the rights of girl child and empowerment of women,” said the letter issued by Manish Joshi, the UGC secretary.

“In addition, the details of the activities conducted may also be uploaded along with photos/ videos on the University Activity Monitoring Portal (UAMP) at https://uamo.uec.ac.in/,” the letter said.

Two academics criticised the UGC for dictating to educational institutions what they should do about awareness activities. An official in the ministry of education (MoE) defended the UGC action, saying such awareness activities had greater educational value for society.

Maya John, a member of the Academic Council (AC) of Delhi University (DU), described the UGC letter as a diktat for creating political propaganda for the government. Such activities divert the institution’s focus from critical areas like teaching and research, she said.

“It has become a pattern that the government and the UGC are regularly nudging the educational institutions to conduct activities like awareness on G20 and the Swachhata campaign. These are purely political propaganda,” she said.

There is a continuous effort to interfere with the autonomy of educational institutions, John said.

“The institutions suffer in this process as their focus gets concentrated on holding events. The priority shifts from teaching and research to non-academic activities. The worst thing is the expectation of compliance,” John said.

Such events cost money and involve human resources. The public universities invariably comply with the requests, she said.

A senior academic who did not wish to be identified said that the UGC’s mandate according to the UGC Act was to ensure maintenance of academic standards by universities.

“The UGC is deviating from its core mandate and doing things beyond its domain. The way vice-chancellors are being appointed on the basis of ideology and other non-academic considerations, they do not oppose the government’s diktats passed through the UGC,” he said.

He said the universities should be left to decide on such matters.

A former vice-chancellor of a state university said the diktats should be challenged in court through PILs.

“The UGC is doing this deliberately. This should be challenged in court to stop the UGC and the government from interfering in the affairs of educational institutions over non-academic activities. The UGC should rather suggest how to improve the quality of education, which is on the decline,” he said.

Last month, the UGC had asked the universities and colleges to set up selfie points with cutouts of the Prime Minister. Institutions have been complying with the suggestion.

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Experience Cannot Substitute Duration Of Service Required By UGC Norms: Kerala High Court

Experience Cannot Substitute Duration Of Service Required By UGC Norms: Kerala High Court

Navya Benny

31 Aug 2022 7:18 AM

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that when the UGC norms mandate 8 years of continuous service in the post of 'Reader' in order to be eligible for promotion as 'Professor', then the experience gained by a person in a post which had been gained by him pursuant to an appointment which had hitherto been declared as 'illegal' by the Court would not be sufficient to act as substitute in order to make the person eligible.

The Division Bench comprising of Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar and Justice Mary Joseph, in the review petition before it, observed that when there are norms stipulating the qualifications which have been laid down by the UGC and which are unambiguous, the Court could not substitute the same with its own interpretation to benefit a person.

"Experience cannot substitute duration of service prescribed by the norms", it was observed.

The Revision Petitioner in the instant case, was initially appointed as Junior Lecturer in Hindi at N.S.S. Hindu College, Mattannur on 03.08.1970, whereafter he was promoted as Lecturer, and later, as Selection Grade Lecturer(Senior Scale). It is the petitioner's case that he joined the instant University on 01.11.1994, and was relieved from there after 2 years and 11 months. Thereafter, he rejoined the University on 17.11.1997 as Reader and relieved on 30.04.2005 since there had been a challenge against all the appointments made by the then Vice Chancellor of the University, which had been upheld by another Division Bench of the Kerala High Court.

It was contended by the Petitioner that since he had a total service period of 34 years, while the UGC Norms mandated only 8 years of service for a Reader to be promoted as Professor, hence, the petitioner was also entitled to his promotion. He further cited the Government of Kerala Order dated 19.05.1999, whereby the government had accorded sanction for treating the period of service of all teachers who had been thrown out of service of the University pursuant to the Division Bench decision, as valid. It was on this basis that the Petitioner had filed the Writ Petition in 2008.

The respondents to the Writ Petition before the Single Judge, on the other hand, contended that the petitioner had joined service as Professor in Hindi on November 1st, 1994, but the said appointment had been set aside by the Division Bench, and thereupon, the period of service from November 1st, 1994 till 30th September 1997 was treated as 'service on deputation' and not regular service. Taken this way, it was contended that the petitioner had been in regular service as Reader for only 7 years, 5 months and 15 days, and hence, was ineligible for the promotion. When the University had sought Government clarification, the latter also held that the petitioner was ineligible.

The Single Judge had regarded the petitioner's experience as a crucial factor in counting the number of years and allowed the writ on observing that the petitioner had 2.5 years of experience as Professor, which decision was set aside by the Division Bench in the Writ Appeal.

In the instant review petition, it was contended by the counsel for the revision petitioner, Advocate Madhavankutty, that the petitioner had rendered service for 8 years and 10 months as as Selection Grade Lecturer at N.S.S. College, and relied upon a circular issued on 13th March 2003, whereby it had been stipulated that past service rendered as Associate Professor/Reader in any other recognized could be reckoned for promotion to post of Professor. It was argued that although the same, and a clarification Circular in this regard issued on 27th May 2003 had been withdrawn by the Government vide Circular dated 23rd September 2003, it could only be stated to have prospective effect.

In the instant review petition, the Court could not find favour with the argument raised by the petitioner, and found that the Division Bench had already dealt with the arguments raised, and had accordingly, found that the

"... period of service rendered by the petitioner in view of the illegal appointment gained colour as 'service on deputation' rather than regular service".

In this regard, finding that the petitioner did not have the requisite eight continuous years of service, the review petition was dismissed.

The respondents in the instant case were represented by the Standing Counsel for Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Dinesh Mathew J. Muricken, and Senior Government Pleader, V. Binitha.

Case Title: Dr. C.S. Rajan v. The Registrar, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit & Ors.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 466

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