According to the latest circular released by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the institutes aiming to have ‘deemed to be university’ tag should have at least 20 years of existence. This change comes in a move to ‘ensure quality education’ and the UGC has thus made changes in the eligibility criteria to get the above-mentioned tag. 20 years of existence is not just the only criterion, but the institute should also have at least 3.26 CGPA for three consecutive cycles (for technical institutes two-third of eligible technical programmes) accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
According to the new circular released by UGC:
- The institutes should be amongst top 50 ranks in any specific category or among top 100 ranks in the overall ranking of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).
- The ratio of teacher-student shall not be less than 1:20 with a strength of not less than 100 teachers and a minimum of 2,000 students.
- The institute should have at least five postgraduate departments in existence for at least three years with research programmes.
To attain the 'deemed to be university' status, institutes will now have to submit a detailed project report (DPR) containing 15 years’ strategic vision plans and five-year rolling implementation plan to the UGC.
Under the new UGC rules, once the status is granted, the commission will monitor the academic outcomes of the institutes on a yearly basis. The outcome of graduate students should not be lesser than 50 per cent and the teacher-student ration should not drop below 1:20. After attaining the status, institutes will have to participate in NIRF ranking, provide a choice-based credit system (CBCS) to students, according to the UGC.
Setting up a selection committee would be mandatory for the institutes which will ensure that the guidelines are being followed. It is also mentioned in the new rule, that the institutes which perform well under the ‘deemed-to-be-tag’ would be allowed to set up off-shore centres as well.
