UGC speaks, says final-year exams are must
By Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : On Monday July 6, the UGC broke its silence and said that the final-year undergraduate and postgraduate exams are necessary and that the students will have to appear in exams to get their degrees.

The UGC did, however, allow leeway in the July schedule and the mode of exam saying that the exams can be held by September-end and that the universities were free to decide whether to conduct tests online or offline.

Students who are unable to appear for these examinations will be given the opportunity to appear for special examinations which will be conducted later, according to an official statement.

“The terminal semester/final year examinations [are to] be conducted by universities/institutions by the end of September 2020 in offline (pen and paper)/online/blended (online + offline) mode as per feasibility and suitability,” said the fresh guidelines.

“In case a student of terminal semester/final year is unable to appear in the examination conducted by the University for whatever the reason may be, he/she may be given opportunity to appear in special examinations for such courses/papers, which may be conducted by the university as and when feasible, so that the student is not put to any inconvenience/disadvantage. The above provision shall be applicable only for the current academic session 2019-20 as a one-time measure.”

The Home Ministry, it may be recalled, earlier in the day gave its approval to hold the examinations in a letter to the MHRD and advised that the final year exams must be “compulsorily conducted” as per UGC guidelines.

In April, a UGC committee headed by Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Haryana R.C. Kuhad had recommended that final year examinations could be held in July, while intermediate semester students could be graded based on internal assessment or examinations where possible.

But hopes of degrees being granted this year without exams had risen after a public appeal from HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to the commission last Wednesday.

Alluding to the rising Covid-19 cases, Pokhriyal had requested the regulator to “reconsider the guidelines” keeping in mind the “health and safety (of) students, teachers and staff”.

However a revised report that the Kuhad committee submitted on Monday again endorsed exams for final semester students while recommending they be held in September.

He said the commission discussed the revised report and decided on exams, which the universities can hold entirely offline, entirely online or through a mix of offline and online papers.

A UGC member who refused to be named, said that since the UGC is responsible for academic regulation and policy for the whole country, it will write to State Governors, who are Chancellors of State Universities, as well as State Chief Secretaries and Education Ministers to ask that they comply with the fresh guidelines.

The UGC also held discussions on a revised academic calendar. It plans to recommend that admissions be completed by November and the new academic session be started by December 1, according to the UGC member.

State reports

According to reports from the states the ones being ruled by non-NDA governments have cancelled their university examinations — Punjab, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal — while some private ones have switched to online examinations.

The Central universities, however, were still waiting for the UGC directive.

Tamil Nadu, which makes the most of noise on education, has already set up its own panel to study the situation.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on July 4 announced the cancellation of university and college examinations in the state and added that the exams that are currently being conducted online by some universities will continue uninterrupted. In his weekly #AskCaptain Facebook Live session, he said that the university and college students will be promoted on the basis of their previous year’s results.

However, he added that the students who want to improve their performance will have the option to take a fresh examination later, once the COVID-19 crisis is over.

Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told reporters that the MHRD had sent a communication to all States asking them to postpone all exams till further notice, and the State has done so. The Ministry however did not confirm this.

Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan said the state is waiting for instructions from the MHRD and the UGC. “After we receive some instructions from them, the state government will make a decision,” he said.

On June 24, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said he had advised UGC to review its earlier guidelines. “The foundation for revisited guidelines shall be health and safety of students, teachers and staff,” he tweeted.

UGC advisory on new academic calendar
By Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : The University Grants Commission on April 29 issued an advisory to all the universities and deemed universities on examinations, suggesting a new academic calendar in view of the nation-wide lockdown following pandemic Covid-19.

The new academic session for freshers may begin in universities from September and for already enrolled students in August in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the UGC guidelines suggested.

Detailing the guidelines the commission suggested that the exams for final semester students be conducted in July.

The guidelines suggest a six-month extension for the submission of thesis/dissertations by research scholars and added that the universities are also permitted to alter, add, modify or amend these guidelines to suit the local situations and preparedness of the Universities.

The advisory has come on the recommendations of an expert committee headed by the vice-chancellor of the Central University of Haryana R.C. Kuhad.

Other members of the committee were Prof. A. C. Pandey, Director, Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi; Prof. Aditya Shastri, Vice-Chancellor, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, Rajasthan; Prof. Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Prof. Upinder Dhar, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, M.P; Dr. Surender Singh, Joint Secretary, UG C and Dr. Vikas Gupta, Joint Secretary, UGC (Member Co-ordinator). The Expert Committee also co-opted Prof. V. K. Jain, Vice Chancellor, Tezpur University, Assam; Prof. G. D. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee University, Bilaspur, Chhatisgarh; Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad, Telangana; Prof. Rajesh Kumar Malik, Dean, School of Law, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh and Prof. Sanjiv Kumar, Dean Academics, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh.

Apart from Dr. Kuhad’s panel, another panel headed by Indira Gandhi National Open University Vice-Chancellor Nageshwar Rao also submitted its report on improving online education in the midst of the lockdown.

States told to appoint Ombudsmen for varsities
By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : The University Grants Commission (UGC) has told all the state governments to appoint a ombudsman for their respective states, specifying norms and procedures that are akin to the appointment of a university vice-chancellor.

The UGC letter, dated May 7, 2019 encloses a copy the UGC (Redress of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2019, notified in an official gazette on May 6. The new Regulations supersede UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012.

The need for the new regulations was being felt since long as the states and Central universities had been citing various reasons for non-compliance of the Regulations 2012.

This prompted the UGC to review the situation and invite suggestions for  a revised set of Regulations. The deadline for entertaining suggestions closed on December 31, 2018. On May 6, this year UGC (Redress of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2019, were notified in an official gazette.

According to the new regulations for the Central universities and deemed universities, the Ombudsmen will be appointed by the central government in the respective regions.

The higher education regulator has also dropped the provision which stipulated that either a retired judge, not below the rank of a district judge, or a professor with a minimum 10 years experience can be appointed as Ombudsman. Under the revised regulations, the Ombudsman shall be “a person of eminence” in academics or research, who had been a "vice-chancellor of a university."

Complaints of the students seeking admission in any university and college will also be heard. Under the revised rules, it is mandatory for the institutions to come up with a web portal for accepting students complaints within three months from the date of the notification of the revised regulations.

Institutions will also have to publish their prospectus and other key details like fee on their websites. Failure of the institutions to comply with the regulations will attract tough actions from the UGC which may lead to withdrawal of recognition in the worst case.

Under the revised regulations, each of the colleges will have to constitute a five member Collegiate Student Grievance Redressal Committee comprising three senior faculty member and a students representative with Principal being its chairperson.

UGC approves norms for online courses

By Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : On May 24 the University Grants Commission (UGC) gave a formal approval to online education from this academic session allowing select institutions to offer Certificate, Diploma and Degree Programmes online.

Any institution will be able to apply for online courses if it has been in existence for at least five years and is accredited by NAAC, with a minimum score of 3.26 out of 4, said a Press Information Bureau press note.

The UGC at its May 24 meeting approved the UGC (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018 -- a move described as a "landmark reform" in the field of Higher Education.

Now institutions can offer Certificate, Diploma and Degree Programmes in full-fledged online mode in disciplines in which it has already been offering the same or similar Programmes /Courses at graduate level in regular mode (of classroom teaching) or in Open and Distance Learning mode and from which at least one batch has graduated and approved by the statutory councils. Besides, the institution should have been in the top-100 in overall category in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for at least two years in the previous three years.

Online Programmes requiring Practical/ Laboratory Courses as a curricular requirement shall not be permitted. The exams will be conducted in proctored mode and in conformity with any norms for such examinations stipulated by the commission.

The online learning shall have a minimum of four quadrants: video lectures, e-content, self-assessment and discussion forum to clarify doubts.

However, NAAC and NIRF conditions shall not be applicable to existing government Open Universities till NAAC or similar accreditation system or NIRF are made available.

Aadhaar and Passport shall be used to authenticate the Indian and foreign students respectively for all online interactions including teaching-learning and examinations.

The learners’ engagement will be monitored via participation in asynchronous / synchronous discussions, assignment activity and programme involvement. The analytics of Learning Management System shall be used for ensuring the learner’s participation at least for 2 hours every fortnight.

Overall Regulations provide enabling provisions for maintaining sanctity of admissions, teaching-learning, examination, authenticity of the learner and mandatory disclosure of Programme-wise information such as duration, start & end dates, fee, number of students, name of students with identifier, results, on HEI website/public domain.

These regulations will be made applicable from the academic session 2018-19. This initiative is a big step towards attaining the targeted GER of 30% by the year 2020.

Backgrounder

The Draft Regulation states, “Institutions may design, develop and deliver ‘Online Programmes’ leading to the award of a Degree or Diploma via the Internet, once recognized for the same.”

UGC Secretary Jaspal S. Sandhu, had invited feedback from all the stake holders on ‘University Grants Commission (Online Education) Regulations, 2017’. The deadline to submit the feedback was August 18, 2017.

Key points of UGC (Online Education) Regulations

As per the regulations, the Higher Education Institutions applying for offering online programmes should have been in existence as a University for at least five years. It should be a NAAC Accredited Institution with a valid minimum score of 3.25 on 4 point scale.

Further as per the draft regulation, the institution would be allowed to offer online programmes in only those disciplines in which it has already been offering the same or similar programmes in regular mode (classroom teaching) from which at least one batch has been graduated.

The programmes may be designed for conventional learners, as well as working professionals and other individuals aspiring to acquire knowledge and associated academic credentials.

The entire program delivery process shall be conducted online via a suitably designed online technology platform.

The institutions are required to prepare a Program Project Report (PPR) before applying to introduce any online program duly approved by its academic council.

As per the Draft Regulations, ‘online programme’ means the recognized course(s) of studies leading to award of a degree or diploma by approved institutions under these regulations imparting online learning instruction by such institutions through learning management system using e-tutorials, web resources, multimedia technology interface, web-based applications and e-learning materials designed towards providing flexible learning opportunities by overcoming separation of teacher and learner.

Institutions will be able to offer online degrees in all fields, except engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture and physiotherapy.

UGC allows autonomy to 62 institutions

NEW DELHI : On March 20 the University Grants Commission (UGC) approved full autonomy for 62 higher educational institutions, including JNU, BHU, AMU, TERI and University of Hyderabad, says a PTI report.

The decision was taken at a UGC meeting where five Central universities, 21 state universities, 26 private universities besides 10 other colleges were granted autonomy under the Autonomous Colleges Regulation.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the decision at a press conference in New Delhi in the afternoon.

Giving details of the decision Javadekar said that the sixty Higher Educational Institutions which have been granted autonomy includes 52 Universities namely 5 Central universities, 21 state universities, 24 deemed universities, and 2 private universities.

He explained that these universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centers, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs. They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty, enroll foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes.

Besides, eight colleges have also been granted autonomy, the HRD Minister said. The eight autonomous collages will be free to set their own syllabus, hold examinations, carry out evaluation as well as declare results. In this case, only the degree will be awarded by the respective university.

The Minister also said that a show cause notice will be given to three deemed universities which are lacking in quality.

The central universities which have been granted autonomy include : Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), University of Hyderabad and the English and Foreign Languages University, Telangana.

The state universities which have been granted the autonomous status are Jadavpur University, Andhra University, Algappa University, National University of Law, Utkal University, Kurukshetra University, Osmania University, Guru Nanak Dev University, University of Jammu, University of Mysore, Anna University, Panjab University and University of Madras, among others.

OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat and Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University, Gujarat are among the private institutions selected by the UGC for the autonomous status.

The 10 colleges which have been granted autonomy will have full freedom but not degree-awarding powers, Javadekar said.

The following is the list of Institutions granted autonomy by UGC :

CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES

STATE UNIVERSITIES

DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITIES (Category I)

DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITIES (Category II)

PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

LIST OF COLLEGES CONFERRED AUTONOMOUS STATUS

UGC seeks applications for 'eminence' status
By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : From September 13 the University Grants Commission started entertaining applications from institutions of higher learning seeking "status of eminence".

The UGC will give each institution 90 days to apply for the status, which will give them the freedom to decide their own curriculum, fee structure and admit foreigners up to 30 per cent of the total student strength.

Higher education secretary K.K. Sharma and officiating UGC chairperson V.S. Chauhan said 20 institutions - 10 government and 10 private - would be chosen for the maiden status by March 2018.

With the status of eminence, a government institution can get grants of up to Rs 1,000 crore with the condition that it has to raise at least 25 per cent of the cost for proposed infrastructure development over the next five years.

Officials said the government institutions ranked among the top 50 by the HRD ministry in their respective categories such as engineering, general universities or management, would be eligible to apply for the status.

The institutions will have to present a report on how they plan to achieve excellence over the next 15 years.

There is, however, no eligibility criteria for private institutions. Even sponsoring groups planning to set up new institutes can apply for the status with their prospective plans.

The private institutions will not get any central grants.

Officials said an empowered group of experts would be constituted by the UGC with approval from the appointments committee of the cabinet to scrutinising the proposals and recommend institutions.

The UGC has already notified the UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017, for private institutions and UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017, for public ones.

Unlike other institutions, the 20 with the status of eminence would be able to decide their free structure, particularly for foreign students.

The IITs currently charge Rs 2 lakh annually for B.Tech courses for domestic students and Rs 6 lakh for foreigners. The new status will allow them to increase their fee with provision of loan and scholarships.

The "institutions of excellence" will also have the freedom to decide their curriculum, unlike those that are guided by a UGC model.

Open varsities allowed M.Phil, Ph.D programme
By Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU) mounting pressure on the University Grants Commission has borne fruit. The UGC has allowed open universities to run M.Phil and Ph.D programme in non-technical subjects. 

This was disclosed by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on August 30 after a meeting with the vice-chancellors of all the open universities here.

"The open universities have been allowed to offer research programmes. But they have to follow the minimum norms," he told reporters after the meeting.

The open universities have been specifically told that the relief will hold good only for those universities that meet all the quality requirements for these programmes, such as holding entrance tests and enforcing course work before beginning the thesis.

The relief comes after seven years as the open universities were barred from running M.Phil and Ph.D programme vide Regulation 5 of the UGC Regulation 2009 notified on July 17, 2009.

With the change in stand, mostly because of persistent defiance by the IGNOU and brewing revolt by others, the UGC recently wrote to all the 15 open universities allowing them to offer research (M.Phil and Ph.D) programmes. They are, however, barred from offering technical programmes such as B.Tech, M.Tech and engineering Ph.Ds.

In July this year when the UGC revised its Regulations 2009 it retained the bar clause and hence the open universities continued to be barred from running research courses.

The universities are established either by and Act of Parliament or a state legislature and have the autonomy to frame their own courseware and award degrees. The restrictions imposed on them, they feel are unlawful.

At today's meeting, the vice-chancellors gave vent to their feeling and told the minister about the difficulties they had been facing from the University Grants Commission, which began regulating open universities since 2013.

Earlier, the open universities were monitored by the Distance Education Council, created under the IGNOU Act. But in 2012, the government brought the council under the commission through an executive order.

Subsequently, the council was renamed the Distance Education Bureau which, functioning under the commission, came up with its own regulations in 2014 asking the open universities to seek its approval for every course every year.

Towards this, each of the 15 universities had to furnish an affidavit every year saying it did not offer any online or research courses.

Even after the ban was imposed in 2009, some of the open universities like IGNOU had continued to offer research programmes, citing the acts under which they had been established. But the 2014 regulations of the Distance Education Bureau forced them to scrap their M.Phil and Ph.D programmes.

"We have decided to resume M.Phil and Ph.D programmes from next year," IGNOU vice-chancellor Ravindra Kumar said.

Today's meeting also decided to allow 20 per cent of every course in any distance education programme to be taught online, enabling the students to pursue this part of the course at a different university if they want.

Universities teaching regular courses are already allowed to offer up to 20 per cent of the course content online, with the same concession to inter-varsity student mobility.

No engg, tech courses in distance mode
NEW DELHI : The University Grants Commission (UGC) has banned universities and institutes from offering diploma and post graduate courses in engineering and technology through distance learning mode until further orders.

In its notification dated March 11, the regulator has warned that it would take action against institutions violating the ban.

The Commission, in the process of finalising regulations for open and distant learning mode, has also said it will not give retrospective approval to distant learning programmes by institutes "at this stage".

The institutions have been barred from offering BE and B.Tech through distant education mode following a ban in 2009-10 by the former distance education council on the orders of the Human Resource Development Ministry.

Referring to the government's previous decision, the Commission, in its notice, directed universities and higher educational institutions not to offer degrees in engineering and technology programmes.

"No university/institution deemed to be university/institution should offer diploma, bachelors and masters level programme in engineering and technology other than MBA and MCA till the finalisation of the UGC (open and distance learning) regulations, 2014 or notification of relevant regulations by an independent regulatory authority established by the central government, whichever is earlier," the commission said in its public notice.

"UGC has also decided not to consider any request for ex-post facto approval for the ODL programmes offered by any university or other higher educational institutions at this stage," it added.

The notification did not mention names of the institutions that offer such courses.

"The UGC has been issuing guidelines and notifications from time to time to regulate courses being offered, but it does not have legal backing to enforce its guidelines, particularly over two thirds of the universities and colleges which are not under the grant list of the higher education regulator," UGC member M M Ansari said when contacted.

He also wondered why the Commission has to issue a notification when it did not have a comprehensive list of institutions violating the ban.

"Issuing such notifications without identifying the institutions has no meaning," he said adding that there were many private universities, deemed to be universities and state universities offering such programmes in distance learning mode but the UGC did not have the authority to stop them.

UGC makes affiliation rules tough for tech colleges

NEW DELHI : The technical education institutions in the country will now have to face relatively tougher rules for university affiliation.

This follows the Supreme Court decision in Association of Management of Private Colleges vs All India Council for Technical Education & others delivered on April 25, 2013.

According to the new affiliation rules -- UGC Regulations 2014 -- finalized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently both the old and the new engineering colleges would have to produce complete information about building and staff on the affidavit to be considered for an affiliation.

Called as the UGC [Affiliation of colleges offering technical education by universities] Regulations, 2014 the new rules make it mandatory for the new colleges to deposit Rs 1 crore for 10 years in the university account and Rs 30 lakh as ‘security fund’.

The UGC [Affiliation of colleges offering technical education by universities] Regulations, 2014 would be effective from the 2014-15 academic session.

The universities would have to ensure compulsory accreditation from the NSC and its programmes from NBA to the colleges, according to the UGC Regulations 2014 to be notified soon.

According to the UGC, the university has to be most cautious and vigilant while giving affiliation. A new college can be given affiliation with a condition that it has committed to give related application for NBA evaluation within six months.

Old colleges should also submit application for accreditation from the NASE or the NBA within six months to six years. The Commission said that a university should have to submit a compliance report every year to it regarding all affiliated colleges. The report would be uploaded on the website of the university. The UGC will take action against universities for non-compliance of its rules.

The Vivekananda Technical University has asked all the institutions, which have applied for affiliation for the year 2014-15, to submit their reports regarding building, infrastructure and human resources by April 4 compulsorily.

The affiliation fee has also been fixed for the colleges. The fee for minority institutions will be Rs 2 lakh and for other institutions Rs 3 lakh. For extension of affiliation, the fee will be Rs 75,000 for minority institutions and for other institutions Rs 1 lakh. The late fee will be Rs 2 lakh.

Technical and engineering colleges have to deposit Rs 1 crore fund for affiliation, whereas, for pharmacy, architecture and MCA, the amount would Rs 50 lakh each. Besides, the engineering colleges have to deposit Rs 30 lakh as security fund, whereas, it would be Rs 15 lakh each for others.

The University Executive Council will take decision regarding affiliation. The new rules have caused a flutter among the operators of old and new colleges. Many old colleges neither have sufficient building, nor staff. Now, as all information has to be given in the affidavit, the danger of action is looming large on giving wrong information.

Accreditation must for higher edu institutions

By Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : All higher educational institutions in the country, except technical education one, will now have to get accredited under law.

The law, called the UGC (Mandatory Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions) Regulations 2012, were notified in the official gazette on February 19, and come into force with immediate effect.

The UGC Regulations 2012 say that all higher education institutions who fail to comply with the assessment and accreditation clause will be barred from financial aid granted by the UGC or the Ministry of Human Resource Development but says nothing of the private institutions who do not take or aspire to take any financial aid from the government. Nor do the Regulations say anything about institutions like the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) who blatantly defy the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The Regulation require that all higher education institutions (expect technical education colleges governed by the AICTE) apply for accreditation within a period of six months to the accreditation agencies namely the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, the National Board of Accreditation, and the National Accreditation Board currently recognised by the UGC.

The Regulations say that all institutions which have been in existence for six years or from where two batches of students have passed out (whichever is earlier) will need to seek accreditation within this stipulated time. Those that haven’t yet completed these criteria must apply within six months of completing six years of operation or passing out of two batches apply for accreditation.

The Regulations, says the notification, seeks to ensure that students can make informed choices about academic courses, institutions can raise quality and seek international recognition for which benchmarking is necessary. Hitherto, accreditation was voluntary in India and less than 10 per cent of all institutions are accredited.

The regulations will be applicable to all 44 Central universities,; about 300 state universities, over 100 deemed universities and over 33,000 colleges of which 6,000 are UGC funded.