Central University of Kerala plans ‘new-generation programmes’, focus on research: VC

NEW DELHI: The Central University of Kerala (CUK) has just inaugurated a new administrative block and is gearing up for new interdisciplinary courses with a focus on science, maths, management, economics, computer science and engineering. Amruth G Kumar, dean, academics, during an interview spoke about the new courses, implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, admission through Common University Entrance Test (CUET UG) and more. Edited excerpts from the conversation:

Q. Last year the university launched a four-year BA Honours programme in international relations. How is it going? What other NEP recommendations have you implemented?

A. The programme is going well. We have had a good turnout of around 40 students who have been admitted.

Under the NEP 2020, we have revised all our courses as all postgraduate programmes should have a minimum of 80 credits. Accordingly, we have revised the syllabus of all the graduate and postgraduate programmes. Further, we have converted our curriculum into an outcome-based one. We have introduced online MOOC courses and credit transfers, and joined the academic bank of credits. Multiple entry and exit options were also introduced.

Further, internships for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes have been added, which was an important suggestion of NEP 2020.

We have introduced four-year integrated teacher education programmes (ITEP) including BSc-BEd, BA-BEd, BSc-BEd, and BCom-BEd.

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Q. What challenges are you facing while admitting students through the CUET?

A. Admission process is going well. Although we admit students through the CUET list, the major challenge is that after we admit students, many leave once they get into a university in their own state. This creates vacancies that we have to fill with waitlisted candidates. This is an important issue. Another problem is getting candidates for reserved category seats.

Q. What actions have been taken up by the CUK to create an inclusive environment for students in reference to student suicides on campus?

A. Our campus did not have any incident of student suicide due to inclusivity. Our campus is quite inclusive. We have all the statutory setups like internal complaints committee (ICC), anti-discrimination committee and others mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the central government. We are trying to provide a supportive environment to all the students, including food requirements, which is a concern for many. Every course starts with an orientation programme where all the information about the programme is communicated. We also have counsellors. We ensure that the marginalised sections are attended to.

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Q. There have been allegations of sexual harassment against an English teacher on campus. What has been done on that front?

A. The university has appropriate mechanisms for addressing such issues.

Q. How is CUK ensuring diverse voices are heard on campus?

A. Every course is the responsibility of one concerned teacher and completion of that course, conducting the examination and producing the details of the marks and evaluation is the onus of that specific teacher.

Strat Blurb The university never interferes in the classroom or instructional matters of the teacher. Classrooms are democratically designed and conducted, where students’ voices are aired freely. So there is 100% academic freedom for the students and teachers on campus.

Q. In 2022, the university secured an A grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). What initiatives is the university taking to improve the grade?

A. A major initiative we are undertaking is improving the H-Index and citation index of the university through publication of the teachers’ research, and attracting more projects. We are also providing support to teachers to bring in more funded projects to the campus. Another thing we have been trying to improve is to have more functional memoranda of understanding (MoU). Patents are another area which is also getting improved considerably. We are sure that in the next assessment we will be steering up.

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Q. Which new departments and courses have been introduced in the last few years and are there more in the pipeline?

A. We opened a new yoga department three years ago and MBA tourism management and commerce. From the 2023-24 academic year onwards we started five integrated programmes. We have submitted proposals to start integrated interdisciplinary programmes to the ministry. These will be new-generation programmes with a combination of science, maths, management economics, computer science, and board of studies (BoS) has been approved for engineering programmes as well. Depending on the approval, the new courses will be rolled out.

Q. How have placements been, considering the economic slowdown? How many students have been placed?

A. We have an exclusive placement cell for providing placements to students and we are conducting continuous programmes to encourage students to continuously apply and empower students to become professionals. Our placement is divided into two parts: job [in industry] and placement in another higher education institute. In both these areas, we are functioning very well. A good number of students are diverted into employment and similarly good numbers are moving into higher education, including PhD and post-doctoral programmes, both nationally
and internationally.

Q. What research and academic collaborations have been forged by the university?

A. Our teachers and researchers are collaborating with various international laboratories. Further, we have an incubation mission set up in our campus to tap in the talents of students.

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Q. There have been cuts in the higher education budget. How is CUK coping?

A. The amount that is allocated is sufficient to meet our ends. For salaries, it is given through the central bank and the recurring amount is through UGC. We don’t think the amount allotted is short for us. Our university is newly constructed; we shifted from the old campus. The major struggle we had was over infrastructure. So, the focus now is on that area. We have constructed a new administrative building recently. Our new research and academic programmes will be started soon, subject to availability of the space on campus.

Further, we also have two campuses in Thiruvalla and Trivandrum. The Thiruvalla campus has the department of law and Trivandrum campus runs Integrated BA IR Programmes offered by the department of international relations.