SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Higher education has an important role to play not only for Academic pursuit and augmenting knowledge but also towards national development. University management has a crucial role to play in order to enable the system to discharge this role. We have deliberated upon several aspects of the management of Universities in our report, with particular reference to challenges which the National Policy on Education [1986] and the Programme of Action in this regard, have posed for the university system. In the following paragraphs, we have given a summary of our major recommendations. WE FEEL THAT IN ORDER TO APPRECIATE THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY US, IT WOULD BE DESIRABLE TO GO THROUGH THE TEXT OF THE REPORT. The major recommendations, no doubt, reflect the spirit of our observations and recommendations made in the text.
The main emphasis has been to provide a sound scientific framework for governance of Universities which will make them efficient, result- oriented and averse to politicisation.
GENERAL 1. Universities are the centres of excellence as also of regional / national development. In the light of current changes and challenges as also the National Policy on Education, Universities must come centre stage. The objective of the Universities and their modes of funding should be reviewed and redefined accordingly.
2. The students, teachers, administrators and the society's representatives must be invovled in setting the new goals and objectives of the Universities.
3. In deciding the Management pattern of Universities it should be recognised that the academic administration is very different from that in vogue in the governmental or in the corporate system and it should be based on the principle of, participation, decentralization, autonomy and accountability.
4. The managerial patterns of a University System must necessarily have an in-built flexibility to adapt itself quickly to the changing needs of the country and the region it serves and to carry out innovations and experiments. Any effort, therefore, to bring the
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structures of all universities within the framework of a single pattern of university Act will prove to be an impediment in this process. Legisiations therefore, should, while laying down the broad pattern of university management, leave the details to be framed by each university throgh Statutes and Ordinances.
APPROCHES AND PRINCIPLES [Chapter 6]
AUTONOMY 5. University Autonomy should be considered an essential pre- requisite for ensuring academic excellence and development. The Acts of the Universities should be so designed as to strengthen the autonomous character and prevent external interference.
6. Due to statutory and financial restrictions the present system of University administration, is non-conducive to achieve the goals of excellence. The university system therefore, calls for all-round restructuring to make the constituents of the system more autonomous.
PARTICIPATION 7. Elections to various university bodies should be kept at a bare minimum and the selection principle should be nomination based on seniority and rotation or on the basis of criteria laid down by the University concerned.
8. The nomination of student representatives to university Bodies should be based on their excellence in curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and there should be no election for this purpose.
9. More women should be inducted in the planning and management bodies of the departments faculties / university. Towards this goal conventions and traditions should be established
10. Ministers or Members of Legislature or Office bearers of political parties should not hold any office in the University System.
11. Members of the staff [teaching as well as non-teaching of the University or a College should not be permitted to contest election to the Parliament, State
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Legislature or any local boby, unless they go on extraordinary leave with effect from the date of filing of nomination. Nor should they hold office in any political party or Organisation.
12. The political parties should work out for themselves and adhere to a Code of Conduct ensuring that the student community is left completely free to engage itself in study and research.
DECENTRALISATION 13. Decentralisation of the system is a must for the smooth and effective administration of university affairs. More powers should be delegated to the Deans / Heads so as to make the Faculties / Departments powerful instruments for the advancement of knowledge. Various Committees should be formed at the level of Faculties / Departments with adequate powers of decision-making to deal with matters of admission, research, budget etc. so that fewer items need go to the Academic/Executive Council .
14. The University departments may be grouped into a number of fully autonomous Institutes through suitable groupings of the existing faculties, with the Central Registry performing essentially a coordinating and unifying role. An Institute must have full administrative, academic and financial autonomy. Each Institute should have a Board of Management and its own Academic Council.
15. The Faculties Departments should be empowered to resolve grievances of non-teaching staff, including matters relating to their leave, service conditions, job specifications etc., though the general policies should be centrally formulated by the University.
16. Universities should be gradually divested of the responsibility of regulating courses, conducting examinations, and awarding degrees for students enrolled through the system of affiliating colleges, and left to concentrate on postgraduate education and research programmes.
17. The move initiated towards granting academic autonomy to colleges should be further accelerated and the objective of making all colleges autonomous should be realised within a specific time-frame.
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18. Every university having colleges affiliated to it should have a Collegiate Council presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of the University and it should be the final authority on all matters connected with the collegiate wing of the University.
19. Universities with a larger number of affiliated Institutions should establish regional centres or sub-campuses for colleges. Each sub-campus should be autonomous within the broad guidelines laid down by the University and should be responsible for formulating courses, conducting examinations, exercising supervision and control over colleges.
[For more recommendations please see Chapter 14]
ACCOUNTABILITY 20. Accountability should be maintained at all levels. Accountability of the teachers through the Heads of Departments / Dean / Directors should be to the Vice-Chancellor and the various university bodies. The University through the Vice-Chancellor should be accountable to the society. everyone in the university community should realise that autonomy and academic freedom do not free them from being accountable.
21. Performance appraisal should be made at the levels of the individual Faculty member, College / Department and at the larger level of the university system itself on the basis of sound quantifiable norms. The details of these should be worked out carefully by the teachers themselves through academic bodies. The appraisal which is essentially geared to the professional development of the teachers, should be linked up with a suitable scheme of incentives and disincentives, without which the appraisal would become a mere academic exercise.
22. Performance of an academic institution, [say a department faculty/College/university] should be evaluated atleast after every three years, by Autonomous bodies comprising of experts.
23. 'Performance audit', must be instituted within institutions to apprise them of short-comings and possibilities for improvement.
[For further recommendation please see chapter 16].
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PLANNING, MONITORING AND CO-ORDINATION 24. There is a considerable lack of consciousness In the Universities about the need for and importance of planning. It is essential that universities should establish a planning process emphasizing its relationship with the development plans at the State and National levels as also the goals and objectives of the University.
25. There should be a statutory provision for:-
[a] Long range perspective planning as also short range planning;
[b] Continuous monitoring and evaluation in the University System through a Planning and Monitoring Board, to be established as a statutory body in every university. It may consist of members drawn from the faculty, the State Government, the State Council for Higher Education, Colleges etc.
28. State Councils for Higher' Education should be constituted by the Acts of the State Legislatures in every State to plan, monitor and coordinate the functioning of universities and other institutions of higher education within the state. However, the role and functioning of such a body should not infringe upon the autonomy of the universities. The composition of the Council should be predominantly academic with a provision for a nominee of the University Grant* Commission on it. The Council should have a full-time Chairman. The Chairman must be an eminent educationist with considerable working experience in higher education and research and preferably with the experience of having served as Vice-Chancellor. His terms of office should be three years extendable by another term upto the age of 65 years. The terms of reference, functions, composition etc., of the Council should follow an all-India pattern. The Council must be a body to assist and facilitate the universities and affiliated colleges in their functioning and should not degenerate into an additional hurdle to be overcome or a more grant transmitting agency. It should promote an effective co-ordination with the UGC. The Committee of the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities in the State should perform this role as for as possible till such time the council is set up.
27. The Government of India may circulate a Model Bill on State Council of Higher Education to all State Governments indicating the composition, functions, powers and other issues connected with the State Councils for the purpose of uniformity.
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28. The Acts of the Central Universities should provide for a Council of Central Universities for coordination of academic programmes, and other matters between the central universities. The Council may, Inter-alia, include the Chairman, UGC, Vice-Chairman, UGC, all the Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities, some Professors, eta, and the decisions of the Council should be final and be implemented by the concerned Universities.
FUNDS 29. The existing practice of provision of a block grant Annual maintenance grant by the State / Central Government [UGC] should continue for meeting recurring items of expenditure including salary, maintenance and contingent expenditure. This block grant should be reviewed every three years. In addition, there should be a regular annual increase of 10% of the non-salary component. Increases in salary and allowances and other components should be automatically borne by the State Governments/UGC. The State Government should also make a matching contribution to the developmental expenditure provided by the UGC. An experiment should be made to replace block grants /annual maintenance grants by Endowment Funds, the interest / income from which should gradually replace the existing "Block Grant". The level of the Endowment Grant should be reviewed every five years. The institutions should manage their finances from the earning out of the endowment funds.
30. By and large, the universities are dependent mostly on governmental funding for promoting research. Attempts should be made to mobilise resources from industry and trade and developmental agencies for undertaking research which would be useful for the funding organisations.
31. The Corporate Sector (both Private and Public) should be encouraged to come forward to support higher education. Establishment of irrevocable endowments for special chairs, research activities etc., could form part of such support. The tax exemption policy of the Government should be liberalised to make donations for higher education institutions at par with donations for scientific research and made 100% tax exempt.
32. The Block Grants for the State Universities shoud be fixed by the State Councils of Higher Education. In determining the Block Grant the funds raised by the Universities through their own efforts, should not be deducted.
UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER SYSTEMS [Chapter 7]
UNIVERSITY - GOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIP 33. The Governments should normally perform the role of a partner in the promotion of higher education and not that of exercising control.
34. The universities should have complete autonomy in administrative and academic matters. They should also have financial autonomy as per guidelines formulated by the UGC/State Councils of Higher Education and agreed upon by the Universities and the Governments.
35. The Statute making powers should rest with the universities. However, the Statutes would need the assent of the Visitor on the advice of the UGC / State Council of Higher Education, If any of their provisions are at variance with the Act and Statutes or if they involve sizeable recurring additional financial commitments not acceptable to the funding agency.
36. The Powers of affiliation / dis-affiliation of Colleges should rest with the University. The Government's approval for grant purposes should follow, affiliation given by the University and not vice-versa. The University should however, seek the opinion of the Government before granting affiliation.
37. The provisions of University legislations, which Inhibit the universities In the exercise of their academic Judgement on matters like affiliation, appointment of key functionaries likes Registrar, Finance Officer, etc., should be withdrawn.
38. The Appointment of all executive officers like Registrar, Finance officer etc. should vest with the University and not with the Chancellor/ State Governments.
ROLE OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 39. The Central Government should come forward with a Core Central legislation with a few broad provisions ensuring that the State Governments conform to the determination of standards in Institutions of Higher Education, viz.,
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[a] The Central Government should make a statutory stipulation requiring the incorporation of the provision in the Acts of all Universities that it should be obligatory for them to follow and adhere to the regulations issued by the University Grants Commission from time to time.
[b] No now university be established without the prior concurrence of the University Grants Commission. They should be established only on the basis of general norms evolved with reference to the special needs, size of population, size of an existing University etc.
[c] New legislations [including amendments to existing ones] in respect of State Universities should be referred to the University Grants Commission prior to their enactment.
UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION 40. UGC should have greater involvement in the devlopment of higher education in the country. However, its role should be more of an advisory and persuasive nature and it should not interfere in the autonomy of the universities.
41. The UGC should be the advisory agency for the Visitor in the matters of university education particularly regarding aspects relating to coordination and standards.
42 In view of the increased responsibilites envisaged in our recommendations for the UGC and also because Higher Education is now in the concurrent list, the UGC Act needs to be reviewed. It should be provided that consultation between the UGC and State level machinery is obligatory and that there should be very effective co- ordination and collabration between the UGC and the State Councils of Higher Education.
43. At least 4-5 Regional Offices of the UGC be established for ensuring decentralised functioning of the UGC with a view to promoting effective implementation and monitoring of the UGC's Programmes throughout the University System in the Country. it should also be considered whether some of the schemes it in now operating could be transferred to Collegiate Councils.
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UNIVERSITY - INDUSTRY / NATIONAL LABORATORIES INTER-FACE 44. For development of higher education and research in universities, it is necessary and important that we take the full advantage of the special facilities and resources available in institutions concerned with advanced work and research outside the universities, i.e. National Laboratories, other research organisations etc. The movement of persons, organised on the basis of a deliberate policy, between universities, National Laboratories, Industry and Government scientific departments would be of utmost value and benefit to all concerned.
45. Research Scientists and Scholars from the National Laboratories / Institutes be nominated on the bodies / authorities of the Universities particularly on the Academic Councils, Planning Boards, Faculties, Boards of Studies, and the Boards of Research and Extension.
46. Research laboratories or institutes be recongised by the Universities as centres of research. The National Research Laboratories may be given the status of institutions recognised as "Deemed to be Universities", if they are undertaking some teaching/ training programmes.