UGC sets up committee to look into off-campus centres

The UGC has set up a committee to look into all aspects of off-campus centres established by some institutions deemed to be universities without its prior approval or that of the HRD ministry.
The committee would comprise UGC members Prof H Devaraj, Prof Mohammad Miyan, Prof Sanjay Govind Dhande and Dr K N Shanti apart from a Member Convener, as per the minutes of a meeting held last month.
Several leading institutions, which are deemed universities had set up off campus centres without prior approvals, for which they have been issued notices by the UGC.
(REOPENS DEL 93)
In another significant decision, the UGC has also decided that in the research dimension of API scores, writing policy documents of Centre, State and local bodies has also been included.

Referring to another issue related to API, Oberoi said that the UGC shall maintain a 'List of Journals' for calculating these scores.

Inclusions in this list will be made on the basis of a Standing Committee recommendations furnished by Universities. The Standing Committee will make its recommendations within 60 days when such a list is furnished by a University, Oberoi said.
The Standing Committee will also be able to recommend journals suo motu, he said. The prime concern in this regard is quality, he said.
When asked whether he was confident that the teachers' agitations would end now as these changes had been made, Oberoi responded by saying that he felt most demands had been met.

The Higher Education secretary also said that another decision taken in the UGC meeting has been that an 'External Peer Review' will be taken into account by Selection Committees, while considering a second term for a Principal of a college.
Oberoi was also asked by reporters regarding UGC practice related to reservation for OBCs to which he said that DoPT guidelines and norms are followed.