Chicago varsity troubles hit Telangana University deal

Hyderabad: The memorandum of understanding signed by the Telangana University, Nizamabad, with the Chicago State University last year has turned out to be a failure. The signing of the MoU was hailed as a big step towards development of the university by Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha who had visited the CSU before the signing of the MoU. The MoU was to allow students from three departments of TU — mathematics, statistics and computer science —  to pursue their Masters in the CSU without having to appear for the Toefl or the GRE.

According to sources in the university, the MoU is proving to be of no use to students of statistics and mathematics departments due to incompatibility in course curriculum of the two universities in these subjects. CSU had awarded a doctorate to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu last December. It declared a financial emergency in February this year. As per reports in the US media, it faces closure due to cutting down of funds by the Illinois state government.

Another problem, according to Telangana University officials, was that most students studying in the university are from socially backward and financially weak backgrounds who cannot benefit from the MoU. Students have to pay the tuition fees and for their stay out of their own pockets, which comes to about Rs 20 lakh. It is thus not surprising that even though computer science students in TU face no curriculum issues and can apply for CSU, only two or three students have expressed interest.

A senior member of the Telangana State Federation of University Teachers Association said, “More than signing such MoUs, it will be useful for Telangana University if the state government appoints a permanent vice-chancellor, fills the 62 vacant faculty positions and increase block grant.” Of the three departments that are part of the MoU, the mathematics department does not have a permanent faculty, statistics has just one and the computer science  department, two.