University of Mumbai invited new proposals for colleges

The University of Mumbai has invited proposals for new colleges and divisions in an extensive and detailed perspective plan for the year 2016-17 that was released on Thursday. According to officials, the plan for the first time in many years has chalked out the norms and criteria for new colleges and divisions which in the past had been ambiguous as a result of which the allocation of institutions and additional intake capacity was skewed. The perspective plan okayed by the State Council for Higher Education has also proposed bifurcation of the university in smaller parts for better management and administration.

According to the plan that was put up on the university website, a panel of 23 members headed by the director of the Board of University and College Development mulled over various issues including the magnitude of the area of operation of the university and concluded that while there was a need for the university to accommodate more institutions there needed to be a proper administrative machinery in place to avoid massive workload that affected not only the staff but also impacted the student fraternity.

“There was a system in place but it was never streamlined and hence the university grew manifold by giving affiliation to new colleges and sanctioning additional divisions without confirming the capacity of the applying institutions,” said a member of the panel.