The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Three universities to be interlinked

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 27, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Three universities to be interlinked

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 26. "E-governance" would get top priority at the University of Madras, announced its Vice-Chancellor, S.P. Thyagarajan, at the annual meeting of the Senate held on Saturday.

The members approved the financial estimate and the annual report on the occasion. By April 15, the four campuses of the University would be able to communicate academically and administratively, thanks to an online networking programme, Dr. Thyagarajan said. A sum of Rs.100 lakhs was allocated to automate the examination wing, the finance wing and distance education.

Expanding the connectivity to affiliated colleges was also on the cards, he said.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Thyagarajan said the University of Mumbai, the University of Calcutta and the Madras University would be interlinked to facilitate joint collaborations in several areas. He said a draft MoU was approved by the Syndicates of the universities.

He later told presspersons that Rs. 6 crores had been allocated to modernise distance education facilities. "We will make textbooks learner-friendly so that students are able to learn on their own," he said, adding that there was also a provision to give students instructional material in CD and electronic formats.

Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT is heading a committee on assessing the prospect of incorporating wireless technologies for distance education.

Incentives

"A university is not a brick and mortar institution alone," he said, highlighting the performance-oriented incentives that would be offered to researchers and teaching staff.

Prof. Jhunjhunwala said credits would be given for awards, publication of books, research publications, paper awards and generating research grants. For instance, he said, a Nobel Prize or a Bharat Ratna would carry 20 credits, an international award would get five and a national patent would get two credits. Each credit would be awarded Rs. 5,000.

"Of the credits earned by the faculty members of each department, 10 per cent of the award would be given as a cash incentive and the rest would go to strengthen the infrastructure of the department," said Dr. Thyagarajan. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council had appreciated this talent promotion scheme, he added.

"A similar programme for students will also be designed shortly," he said.

He said the State Government has sanctioned Rs. 1.10 crores to upgrade the facilities at the Centenary auditorium. The women's hostel at Chepauk would be expanded and a medical centre to provide emergency care would be opened at a cost of Rs. 3.5 lakhs.

On the occasion, 21 new graduate, post-graduate and diploma courses were initiated in the distance education scheme. The courses include M.A. in Modern Arabic, M.A. in Sociology, M.Sc. in Physics, M.Sc. in Chemistry, M.Sc. in Botany and M.Sc. in Zoology. A Post-graduate diploma in Public Relations, a diploma in Manuscriptology and Editing, a diploma in Rainwater Harvesting, a diploma in Tourism and Travel Management and a diploma course in Yoga were also introduced in the scheme.

The University is also introducing an M.A. course in bharathanatyam for those with around 10 years of experience in the field.

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