DU releases new admission process via common seat allocation system

The academic council (AC) of the Delhi University will meet on Wednesday to deliberate on the recommendations of the standing committee, which has framed the various guidelines to be followed for admitting students to undergraduate courses based on the results of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)

The academic council (AC) of the Delhi University will meet on Wednesday to deliberate on the recommendations of the standing committee, which has framed the various guidelines to be followed for admitting students to undergraduate courses based on the results of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

DU releases new admission process via common seat allocation system (HT Photo)

As per the minutes of the meeting accessed by HT, the standing committee deliberated upon various matters regarding undergraduate admissions including the application form fee and allocation and admission policies for various courses including admission to seats under sports and extra-curricular activity (ECA) quotas.

It proposed that admission to all undergraduate programmes be conducted through the centralised portal for admission in accordance with rules and guidelines stated in the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS 2022).

According to the guidelines, admission through the CSAS will take place in three phases. In the first phase, students will fill out the CSAS application form, and in the second phase, they will select programmes and colleges. Seat allocation and admission will take place in the third and final phase of the process on the basis of the merit list. If two or more candidates have the same CUET merit score, the candidate with a higher percentage of aggregate marks (for the best three subjects of Class 12) will be given preference. If the score is still tied, then the older candidate will be given preference.

The entire process will take place through a centralised CSAS portal. Students will have to make a one-time non-refundable payment towards the CSAS-2022 application fee. Students applying under the ECA and/or sports supernumerary quota will have to pay an additional fee. For admission through the sports quota, 50% weightage will be given to the CUET score whereas the remaining 50% will be given to the performance-based test.

The committee proposed that 30% of weightage be given to sports certificates while 20% be given on the basis of proficiency and fitness.

For admissions under the ECA supernumerary quota, a candidate’s Combined ECA Merit (CEM) score--the sum of 25% of the highest programme-specific CUET percentage and 75% of the highest ECA score-- will be considered. Admission through the ECA quota for the academic year 2022-23 will take place for 14 ECA categories, such as creative writing, fine arts, and theatre among others.

While outlining various aspects of the admission process and course syllabi, the committee also authorised the vice-chancellor (VC) to make amendments. “The standing committee has unanimously authorised the vice-chancellor to make any amendments, depending upon operational requirements, in any of the items deliberated upon and recommended by the committee for smooth conduct of the admission process,” the minutes said.

However, members of statutory bodies and university teachers criticised the committee’s move to grant blanket authorisation to the VC to notify modifications in syllabi and courses. AC member Naveen Gaur said that the AC was mandated to deliberate on the academic aspects but its job was being outsourced to the VC by the standing committee.

“It is unfortunate that as per the agenda, the standing committee has recommended that VC should be authorised to do practically anything with the courses. What is the purpose of the statutory bodies in such a situation? The DU Act clearly outlines the role of the academic council. It is wrong for the statutory bodies to surrender the work they do to others,” Gaur said.

He also said that the varsity had shared the supplementary agenda at the last minute.--parts of the supplementary agenda were shared with teachers as late as Tuesday evening.

The standing committee will present its representation on Wednesday which will be discussed by the AC. Once approved by the AC, the proposals will be sent to the executive council (EC) for approval and subsequent implementation.