Autonomy of varsities to depend on accreditation scores

The grant of financial and academic autonomy,  with respect to the regulatory controls of the UGC, awarded to the top 52 universities would depend on the  maintenance of quality and standards with high accreditation scores and grades.

The  University Grants Commission (UGC)  had accorded greater autonomy to these 52 universities on Tuesday under two different categories,  allowing  them to take most of their academic and financial decisions  on their own and letting them implement  the decisions to achieve excellence without prior approval of the UGC.

"If a university fails to maintain status in a category and moves down to a lower category, it shall not be entitled to enjoy any privileges already accorded to it from the day of such downgrading," the UGC regulations for grant of graded autonomy said.

A university, which  has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a score of 3.51 and above or has figured among the top 500 world universities in an international rating, is entitled for grant of greater autonomy in their functioning under category-I institutions.

The universities, which have been accredited by the NAAC with a score of 3.26 and above, upto 3.50, will be granted greater autonomy under category-II of the institutions.

Rest of the universities will automatically be placed under category-III institutions and face the UGC's control and "close monitoring" till they improve their quality and get the NAAC scores required for grant of graded autonomy.

If a university regains its higher status after losing it, the privileges of that higher category (category I or II) "shall be restored" from the day the status is changed.

In such cases, it will be "incumbent"  upon the university concerned to intimate the UGC about its changed status "within thirty days" from the date of the getting new accreditation scores and NAAC grading, the UGC's graded autonomy regulations provide.

The accreditation status awarded by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is valid for a period of five to seven years depending on the results of the quality assessment of a higher education institution by the Council.

Any university,  whether government-run or private, is eligible to apply for grant of greater autonomy under the scheme, provided they have secured the prescribed minimum accreditation scores from NAAC.

The UGC will accept the applications for grant of greater autonomy to higher education institutions "at least twice a year," an official said.