St. Xavier's, Jai Hind and Ruia Colleges May Soon Get University Status
- The state government has asked about 50 autonomous colleges of the state to submit their proposals.
- The autonomy will provide the colleges with the freedom to raise their own funds and hire new faculty apart from collaborating with foreign universities.
St. Xavier's College, Ruia College and Jai Hind College may soon attain university status. The status will help them to confer degrees and can function as separate entities.
Maharashtra government has asked about 50 autonomous colleges of the state to submit their proposals seeking varsity status. Once the same is granted to these colleges, they will have more freedom to design their own courses, raise funds and participate in global ranking systems.
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The email asking for proposals was sent to colleges last week by the RUSA cell of the state. Colleges have been working on the same to identify their requirements such as infrastructure, fee structure, land requirement and others.
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The university status to these colleges will be granted by the University Grants Commission. However, RUSA will facilitate the process for the same. RUSA Director, Meeta Rajiv Lochan stated that usually, colleges have a misconception regarding autonomy as they always relate it to losing funds and grants from the government.
The fact is that the government continues to provide funds to these colleges but the colleges get the freedom to start new programmes and courses of their choice. Not only this, autonomy will also provide them the freedom to raise their own funds and to hire new faculty apart from collaborating with foreign universities. Colleges need to see the bigger picture of the benefits as this will promote quality teaching and help improve their international ranking.