A deemed-to-be-university from Mysuru – JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (formerly JSS University) – has been ranked 401-500 by United Kingdom’s The Times Higher Education (THE) which announced the World University Rankings for 2019. More than 1,258 institutes of higher learning across the globe, including 49 from India, were assessed for the ranking.
Among the institutions from India, the JSS Academy has been ranked among the top five universities. With an overall score of 37.1-41.6, the Academy has been ranked along with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Bombay and Roorkee, which also got the same score (37.1-41.6).
From Karnataka, four universities have secured the ranking. Besides JSS Academy, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (231-300 ranking); the University of Mysore (1000+ ranking) and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (1,000+) are the others. The JSS Academy applied for THE ranking for the first time.
Around 5,500 students are currently pursuing an education at the academy that offers 147 academic programmes in four constituent colleges – JSS Medical College, JSS Dental College and JSS College of Pharmacy (all in Mysuru) and JSS Pharmacy College in Ooty.
Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, B. Suresh, Vice-Chancellor, JSS Academy, said the rankings have proved that Indian universities were no less than foreign ones. “It is a matter for pride that a young university like ours, which was founded in 2008, has found a place in world university rankings,” he said, and added that Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister, congratulated the academy via a tweet.
JSS Mahavidyapeeta Executive Secretary C.G. Betsurmath; secretaries Manjunath, Shivakumaraswamy; Registrar Manjunath; and heads of the university and Mahavidyapeeta were present.
Last year, the academy was awarded QS 4-Star rating for excellence by QS Quacquarelli Symonds from the UK. It was the first institution in the State and first among the health science-based institutions in the country to receive the recognition.
Dr. Suresh said the MHRD, as part of National Institutional Ranking Framework, had ranked JSS Academy at 35th position among 233 universities in 2016; 45th among 724 universities in 2017; and 37th among 957 universities in 2018. In 2017, the JSS Academy was rated as a four-star institution with a score of 711 out of 1,000 by the Government of Karnataka and it was first among the young universities in the State to get the status, the V-C explained. “We are first among the universities in Asia Pacific to get international certification to Pharm D programme from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), United States. Such recognitions brought success to the university besides encouraging us to strive more and realise our dream,” said Dr. Suresh.
Dr. Betsurmath said, “The rankings have urged us to achieve more in the years ahead and bring it among the top 100 universities in the world. It has been achieved earlier than expected.” Mr Manjunath said the academy was realising its dreams with a focussed approach to teaching and research.
15 Open Distance Learning courses soon at JSS
JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, a deemed-to-be university, will soon be launching Open Distance Learning (ODL) and at least 15 courses, including 12 post-graduate (PG) and three undergraduate (UG), will be offered.
JSS Academy’s Vice-Chancellor B. Suresh and JSS Mahavidyapeeta Executive Secretary C.G. Betsurmath told presspersons here on Friday that the ODL courses were awaiting approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The V-C said the ODL courses had been chosen keeping in mind working professionals. They would be skill and practical-based.
Dr. Betsurmath said the work on the academy’s mega campus at Varuna, on the outskirts of the city, will begin soon as the structural design plan was ready and a formal approval for it was awaited from authorities.
It is going to be a 100-acre campus, with state-of-the-art infrastructure, he said, and added that the departments of Yoga, Sports Medicine, and Nutrition and Dietetics would be launched.
