IQ level of vice-chancellors to be tested for selection
University Grants Commission changes regulations for appointment of V-Cs, which mandated a person with a minimum of 10 years of experience be appointed as the V-C of the state university. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: With aim to recognise and increase society oriented research output from state government universities, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to select three varsities in the country and confer university of excellence (UE) status and award '150 crore to develop the institution.
“There are 15 universities in the country, including University of Madras and Madurai Kamaraj University which have already been conferred with the University with Potential of Excellence (UPE) status. Now we are in the process of selecting another 15 for the UPE status. We have received 31 applications for it, including Bharathidasan and Bharathiar universities from Tamil Nadu,” UGC vice-chairman Prof. H. Devaraj said after delivering the convocation address at University of Madras on Friday.
Pointing out that the commission would select top three universities from the 15 old UPE institutions, Prof.Devaraj said that the commission would take its final decision based on several parameters like number of doctorates, society oriented research, number of qualified faculty and vacant faculty posts, among others.
“We will also check the IQ levels of the vice-chancellors before conferring the University of Excellence status,” he said.
The UGC vice-chairman said that the commission has introduced Basic-Science Research (BSR) faculty fellowship meant for active senior faculty nearing superannuation, with proven track record, to enable continuance of their productive research career in varsities for a longer period.
Prof. Devaraj commended TN government’s effort in increasing the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 38 per cent. A total of 400 graduands received their degrees during the convocation ceremony on Friday.
( Source : dc correspondent )
Next Story
