No directors for stand-alone colleges offering MBA: study

There are around 12 such colleges under University of Madras

A majority of the stand-alone colleges that run MBA and MCA courses under the University of Madras have no directors as per the regulations of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms.

The finding was revealed in the interim report of a study conducted by the university, following the notice issued by the High Court to regulate the eligibility criteria of faculty, said G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-chancellor, University of Madras. There are around 12 stand-alone colleges that run MBA courses and nine that offer MCA courses under the university.

The director would be in charge of the placement activities, admissions, management of staff and examinations, said N. Raja Hussain, director, University Students Advisory Bureau.

Besides the stand-alone colleges, there are, at least, 24 arts and science colleges that have MBA and MCA courses in addition to their regular courses. These affiliated institutions should appoint a director who has an MBA, Ph. D and 10 years of experience as per the AICTE norms. The study reveals that around 75 per cent of the colleges have not appointed them, he said.

Prior to certain regulations brought about by AICTE 10 years ago, most arts and science colleges had MBA and MCA as departments. “It was made mandatory for these courses to be run under a separate institution with a director who would be equivalent to the principal. But since we started these courses prior to this rule, we have appointed a director for the departments,” says, K. Nirmala Prasad, Principal, MOP Vaishnav College for Women.

A questionnaire format had been sent to the affiliated colleges of the University of Madras seeking information about their staff.

Unless the colleges employ faculty who meet the requisite University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, they will not be allowed to admit students for the coming academic year, said Mr. Thiruvasagam.

Besides the violation of norms by some colleges that have MBA and MCA courses, certain arts and science colleges have also been found to have breached the prerequisite for staff qualification.

Around 70 per cent of colleges do not have adequate and qualified teaching staff and their qualification is not as per the latest stipulations of the UGC. We have sent an intimation to the colleges to appoint the faculty before June 30, said Mr. Thiruvasagam.

The qualifications of physical education trainers and the librarians in colleges were also verified in the study. According to Mr. Thiruvasagam, around 80 per cent colleges do not have trained and eligible physical education instructors and less than 25 per cent colleges have qualified librarians which is mandatory.

“There will be no flexibility or compromise on the appointment of qualified staff, since the parents and students place faith in the University when they secure admissions in these colleges,” said Mr. Thiruvasagam.

The university is awaiting reports from around 20 per cent colleges. If colleges further delayed, they would be short of time for the appointment of the faculty, he said. The government colleges and some aided-colleges do not face this problem since the appointment of faculty is through the Teacher Recruitment Board, he said.