Chennai: The Syndicate of the University of Madras has decided to transfer faculty members of regular department to Institute of Distance Education (IDE) to get the University Grants Commission’s approval for conducting distance education programmes.
The UGC has denied approval for 50 UG, PG programmes offered in distance mode at the university citing the shortage of faculty members. If not corrected the decision may incur a heavy loss to the university which will run into several crores of rupees.
To discuss the issue, the university has convened the syndicate meeting on Thursday. “The syndicate has decided to transfer junior faculty members from five or six departments to IDE to improve the staff strength. It will help us to get the approval for the courses which are in demand,” said P.Duraisamy, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras. He said over 94 per cent of students are admitted in 12 subjects. By this transfer, the university hopes to get approval for 30 programmes.
As of now, there is no clarity in getting approval for MBA and MCA courses. “AICTE has no separate approval process for MBA and MCA courses. So, if the UGC denies permission, then a majority of the students across the country will be affected,” he observed.
The university has also sought permission from National Council for Teacher Education to start BEd and MEd programmes in distance mode.
The admission process for distance education programmes is yet to be commenced. “The admission has increased by 7 per cent at IDE last year despite restricting the admissions within the jurisdiction. We expect more students this year” Mr.Duraisamy said
