Mahatma Gandhi University lost the prestigious Rs. 5 crore maiden Chancellor’s award for the best varsity in the State to Kerala University by a whisker.
The university emerged second in the overall point tally by overtaking nine others that figured in the race for the inaugural award instituted by Governor P. Sathasivam, who is the Chancellor of the varsities in the State. The Hindu has learnt from people associated with the selection process that Mahatma Gandhi university missed the coveted title by two points to Kerala University.
‘A’ grade
The ‘A’ grade won by the Kerala University in the re-accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council gave it the edge over Mahatma Gandhi university, which is presently accredited with ‘B plus’ grade by NAAC.
The next cycle of re-accreditation is due in January next year.
Mahatma Gandhi University is learnt to have given Kerala University a tough fight in various rounds of the evaluation process.
The varsity could manage to outsmart other contestants in sections like ‘academics’ and ‘teaching and pedagogy methods’.
The selection committee is also learnt to have taken note of the ‘student profiles’ and ‘other achievements’ of the varsity. MGU had highlighted its eighth rank in the h-index (a measure to assess the quality of research in science) citation category among the universities in the country and various research projects while presenting its credentials for the Chancellor’s award.
Senior officials pointed out that the varsity has to scale up its performance in the coming months by ensuring timely declaration of examination results and stepping up the academic governance initiatives.
