Jagjivan Ram Study Centre okayed

 The meet also okayed the proposals to establish Babu Jagjivan Ram Study, Research and Extension Centre and Sri Jagadguru Panchacharya Veerashaiva Study Chair.

Apprehensions

As the Academic Council members expressed apprehensions regarding the response from the students for MA political science course at Sahyadri College, the meeting decided to withdraw the permission in case of inadequate applications for admission. Vice Chancellor Prof B S Sherigar who presented a proposal in this regard said that Sahyadri Arts and Commerce College has qualified faculty members and necessary infrastructure to begin MA in political science.

Bifurcation

Sharing his views, Prof Javed questioned the rationale behind offering the course at Sahyadri Arts and Science College which is near the campus. Further the bifurcation of Kuvempu University and establishment of  Davangere University will restrict the catchment area of Kuvempu University. PG course in Political Science introduced in Channagiri has evoked poor response and the admission has not touched 2 digits in the second batch also.

Decline

Prof Javed revealed that the number of applications for admission to PG course in political science in the main campus is declining each year. In the year 2004-05, 500 students had applied for admission to MA political science which came down to 270 in 2005-06 and 180 students had applied for the course in the year 2008-09. Considering the sharp decline in the demand for the course, beginning another PG centre which enjoys proximity with the main campus sounds irrational, he said.

Prof Sadanand who endorsed the view also expressed dissatisfaction against the way in which PG courses are managed in first grade colleges. First grade college in Bhadravati had also urged for beginning PG in political science. If permission is accorded for Sahyadri Arts and Commerce College, the plea of FGC in Bhadravati should also be considered, he stated.

Access

VC said that with the intention to increase the access to higher learning, norms related to according permission for beginning PG courses and increasing intake in the existing centres have been liberalised. Allying apprehensions regarding poor response for PG course in the main campus, he suggested the faculty members to improve the quality of the course to attract the students.

Autonomy

Sahyadri Arts and Commerce College has been awarded ‘A’ grade by the NAAC and the institute will get autonomous status shortly. The college is coming up in a positive way and the infrastructure is also under upgradation. PG departments and research activities will strengthen the institute’s claim for autonomous status, VC said.

The meet gave approval for establishment of Babu Jagajeevanram Study, Research and Extension Centre and Sri Jagadguru Panchacharya Veerashaiva Study Chair. The centres will engage in study, research and publication activities.

A proposal was submitted to establish Babu Jagjivan Ram Centre offering Rs 2 crore seed money. Kuvempu University will urge the State Government to allocate Rs 5 crore in the budget of the year 2009-10 for the centre. Similarly Rs 50 lakh will be invested as seed money for Sri Jagadguru Panchacharya Veerashaiva Study Chair.

The meet scrutinised the proposal regarding introduced changes in MPhil and PhD programmes. The meet univocally opposed the proposal to accord permission for LLB students to re-appear for internal exams.

The meet approved to institute Talaneri Eramma Subbaiah Gowda memorial Rajani and T S Hoovaiah Gowda gold medal and L Venkatachala Rao gold medal. Registrar Evaluation Kunjappa was present in the meet.