While welcoming the Ministry of Human Resource Development's (MHRD) attempt to streamline the functioning of deemed universities, SASTRA University has expressed “serious concerns” with regard to the assessment of the university by the Tandon Committee.
In a letter to the MHRD Minister, Vice-Chancellor R.Sethuraman has said: “It is very apparent .. the Committee members have unfortunately gone into the task of reviewing the functioning of certain Deemed Universities (including SASTRA) with prejudice,” he adds, and calls on the Minister to look into the “aberrations of the Tandon Committee” and perform a proper evaluation and grading of the university.
The university had been regularly sending students to prestigious universities including MIT and Harvard. It introduced the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), the Accelerated Course Registration System (ACRS) which shortens course work to 3 1/2 years to help students take up internships in research labs.
With a number of such details, Prof. Sethuraman said it was “surprising and shocking” that the Committee had given an “F” grade under the head “how the status of deemed university became a stimulus for better performance.”
The letter lists the innovative programmes provided by the university and the collaborative programmes undertaken with industry/government support.
It has also listed various research activities and programmes and describes the admission process and questions the “C” and “B” grades awarded on these heads and the “C” grade awarded for governance structure.
