Autonomous colleges should introduce innovative courses and teaching and learning methodologies instead of blindly following the affiliating university, said Madras University Vice Chancellor P. Duraiswamy.
“Autonomy allows teachers the freedom to design courses and evaluate the students and make teachers accountable,” he said, inaugurating a seminar on the role of autonomy and quality assurance in higher education at the M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women here on Monday. Mr. Duraiswamy said quality could be maintained by conducting academic audit on the performance of different departments of the college. If public-funded institutions were given financial and administrative autonomy, they would perform better and remain competitive, he said.
Vels University advisor (research and development) S. Sivasubramanian said though autonomous colleges had the freedom to develop their own curriculum, very few took advantage of it.
He urged teachers to make classroom sessions interactive by using videos and encouraging students to give lectures. “Autonomy is a reflection of professionalism and integrity. It is about confidence, which is a result of thorough domain knowledge,” he said.
‘UGC norms not met’
Madras University’s Dean of Academic Affairs S. Gurusamy said the University Grants Commission had laid the norms for autonomy but colleges had fallen short of the UGC’s expectations. He suggested that colleges treat students as customers and include industry representatives in the board of studies to bridge the gap between the academia and the industry. He urged colleges to conduct academic audits and follow the norms laid down by the affiliating university.
The theme of the two-day conference was ‘Autonomy from the perspective of administrators’. With many ranking agencies rating institutions, there was a need to understand how to approach innovation and improve the teaching methodology, said Lalitha Balakrishnan, principal, M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women.
