Will explore idea of setting up offshore campuses: JU Pro V-C

A day after receiving the tag of “autonomous institution” from the University Grants Commission (UGC), Jadavpur University is now exploring opportunities to set up “offshore” campuses. Speaking to The Indian Express, pro vice-chancellor P K Ghosh said, “We can also explore the possibility of opening an offshore campus. That is also another issue and many private universities are trying that. Being Jadavpur University, there is no reason why we should not try it. Now, we have received that scope to do so. A lot of our students are abroad and they can also help us
with this. There are alumni associations in Singapore and Dubai. So we can explore this opportunity.”

The UGC had, on Tuesday, granted autonomy to 60 higher education institutions, giving them different degrees of freedom in academic and administrative decision-making. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Hyderabad Central University, Jadavpur University, Panjab University, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Symbiosis International in Pune and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) are among the 60 autonomous institutions.

The move comes in wake of the UGC’s new regulation on ‘Categorisation of Universities for Grant of Graded Autonomy’, which aims to provide greater autonomy to institutions under three categories based on their National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation score.

“This is a great recognition and only a few universities have received it… There are some UGC regulations to start different courses. Now, that has been withdrawn with this recognition. Now we can offer any courses without taking permission from UGC,” Ghosh added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “I have heard that Jadavpur University has achieved the number one position in the list of 21 state universities based on NAAC ranking. I am proud of that.”
News Source (Indian Express)