University of Mysore (UoM), is ranked 36th among 774 universities in the National Survey conducted by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), said vice-chancellor (in-charge) Dayananda Mane on Tuesday. He added that vacancies in teaching posts came in the way of it getting a higher rank.
“It is difficult to meet the MHRD’s parameters with just 30% of permanent posts in the university. In some departments, there is one permanent faculty and the rest are guest faculties. In this scenario, how is it possible to maintain quality,” asked the V-C.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he urged the State government to give autonomy to universities to make appointments to teaching posts, as this was vital to get better rankings.
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University of Mysore was the only conventional public university in the State to figure in the NIRF ranking 2017. The university stands at the 57th position (in the overall ranking category) of higher education institutions in the country. A total of 2,995 institutions took part in the process.
The university had not taken part in the previous survey.
Lingaraja Gandhi, Director, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Board (PMEB), who was the nodal officer for providing data for ranking surveys for 2017, said the data had been provided for the State, national and international rankings.
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He said ranking of universities and institutions is a new practice in the higher education system and an extension of the NAAC system. “It increases competition among institutions and helps in knowing their strengths and weaknesses, Prof. Gandhi said.
Five main parameters
Out of the five main parameters, the university had fared well in Graduation Outcome with a score of 93.17% (the university stands 4th in India) and also had fared well in Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) and Teaching and Learning Resources (TLR) with the scores of 53.51% and 41.59% respectively. The weak points are in the areas of Research and Professional Practice with 20.10% and Perception 3.44%, he said.
The university officials were hoping to bridge the gap in student-teacher ratio that also boosts research outcomes, Prof. Gandhi said, and added that paucity of teaching staff needs to be addressed on priority.
Top ten
The university hopes to figure in top ten Indian universities in the rankings next year. Despite dwindling funds from the State and the Centre, the university plans to go forward in the post-centenary era to new heights. Strengthening of research, alumni network, documentation of academic and employers’ reputation, increased industry-university collaborations, foreign collaborations and consultancy services are the priority areas.
This year, the university is the only centre of higher learning going for the 4th cycle of NAAC assessment.
Rajanna, Registrar, and Somashekar, Registrar (Evaluation), were present.