Vice-Chancellor University of Kashmir Prof Talat Ahmad on Tuesday chaired the 54th meeting of the varsity’s Academic Council.In his opening remarks, Prof Talat, while appreciating the faculty members and students over resumption of offline classes, highlighted the need for continuous assessment and evaluation of teaching and research programmes to align them with the National Education Policy-2020 which calls for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches. “NEP 2020 is going to be a game-changer in education sector. Since this university is both old and prestigious, we need to see how we can implement this policy at the UG and PG levels in a smooth manner and also offer mentorship to other institutions in the region,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor informed the members of Academic Council about the proposal to establish a dedicated ‘NEP Implementation Cell’ in the University to make suggestions for implementation of NEP 2020 vis-a-vis choosing of options and implementing the Instituional Development Plan etc.Emphasising that the University’s march towards academic excellence must continue, Prof Talat stressed on timely completion of degrees, punctuality of all teachers in offline classes and timely holding of examinations to bring about greater efficiency in the university’s functioning. Following the VC’s remarks, Dean Academic Affairs Prof Farooq A Masoodi put the agenda of the meeting open for debate and discussion.
After thorough deliberations, the members took a slew of unanimous decisions on various academic matters, including the proposed implementation of the NEP 2020 about which it was resolved that the requisite modalities shall be worked out in a time-bound manner.The members also had a thorough discussion on proposed introduction of some new PG programmes. The Vice-Chancellor asserted that such proposals can be considered only after necessary infrastructure and faculty are earmarked for the same so that no issues crop up at a later stage. He also endorsed the viewpoints that the University carries out an academic audit, through a commitee of experts, of various programmes being offered at present to assess the requirement, if any, for their review.
KU Registrar Dr Nisar A Mir said the University is the process of undertaking consolidation of human resource and infrastructure for its optimal use in accordance with the university perspective plan valid for next few decades. At the end of the meeting, Prof Farooq Masoodi assured that necessary approvals of other competent bodies, wherever necessary, shall be sought at the earliest to enable early implementation of the AC decisions/resolutions.Dean Colleges Prof GM Sangmi delivered a vote of thanks.The meeting was attended by deans of faculties, heads of departments, directors/coordinators of various centres/satellite campuses and and select college principals who gave their valuable feedback on several consideration matters.
