'There is a need to revamp the CUET'

In February, just 14 years after establishment, the Central University of Himachal Pradesh CUHP), Dharamshala, became one of the eight central universities to be granted graded autonomy by the University Grants Commission UGC). Vice-chancellor Sat Prakash Bansal spoke to Sanjay about the new status, the Common University Entrance Test CUET), implementation of the National Education Policy NEP) 2020, and CUHP’s campuses. Edited excerpts from the conversation

Q. What factors helped CUHP earn category-II autonomy?

A. I was founder-VC of Maharaja Agrasen University (MAU), Solan; VC of Indira Gandhi University, Rewari, with additional charge of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Sonipat; and VC of Himachal Pradesh Technical University, Hamirpur. I joined CUHP as vice-chancellor in July 2021 with additional charge of Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, with nearly 500 affiliated colleges.

Using the expertise and experiences from my past stints, I vowed to provide Central University of Himachal Pradesh its own identity. I believe that it must be different from others. I worked on three things – management, re-orientation and quality of higher education.

We provided CUHP its own identity by improving infrastructure and heavily focusing on research to establish the university’s identity at a global level. Since I joined, our faculties have got research projects worth Rs 9 crore.

CUHP received an A+ grade with CGPA of 3.42 from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). This means we were very close to the CGPA range of 3.51-4 and A++. These factors helped us.

Q. How will CUHP’s functioning improve with the new status?

A. The UGC provides graded autonomy in category I to A++ institutes and category II to A+ institutes. As we have been granted graded autonomy within category II, we will now have a free hand in collaborations with foreign universities and colleges as part of NEP’s provision of internationalisation of education.