In a first for Bihar, CUSB in UGC’s Category 1 list
For the CUSB, which was set up in 2009 and received the highest ‘A++’ rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in June 2023, it is another feather in the cap in a state where state universities are mostly unaccredited and struggling with late sessions and poor performance.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday granted Category-1 status to the Central University of Bihar (CUSB), a first for a university in the state.
For the CUSB, which was set up in 2009 and received the highest ‘A++’ rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in June 2023, it is another feather in the cap in a state where state universities are mostly unaccredited and struggling with late sessions and poor performance.
To be sure, there are 56 central universities, of which less than 10 are in UGC’s Category-1 currently.
“After examining the CUSB at its 577th meeting on February 13, 2024, the Commission has approved Category-I University status to it in accordance with the provisions of the UGC (Categorisation of Universities (only) for grant of Graded Autonomy) Regulations, 2018,” says the letter from UGC secretary Manish R Joshi to vice chancellor KN Singh.
The VC said it was a big step forward for a young university like the CUSB and it would open new avenues and opportunities for it to grow into the most sought after destination for higher education in the country in the years to come, as Category-1 universities have academic autonomy.
“It is also a very big thing for a state like Bihar, which witnesses very high migration of students to other states for quality education,” said Singh, who is only the third VC of the university and assumed charge in 2021.
The Category -1 status means that the CUSB will be automatically deemed to be under section 12B of the UGC Act, 1956, without requiring inspections and makes it eligible for research grants. It will not require approval for starting new course, programme, school or centre in disciplines that form a part of its existing academic framework.
It will be eligible for benefits as stipulated under clause 4 of the regulations, which include opening off-campus centres or constituent units within its geographical jurisdiction with its own resources, start skill courses, open research parks, incubation centres, admit foreign students or hire foreign faculty from globally top 500 ranked institutions, engage in academic collaboration with foreign institutions etc.
Last year, NAAC A++ ranking had put CUSB on the list of elite institutions like the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
CUSB was the only central university among the 16 set up in 2009 to get NAAC A++.
The objective behind the categorisation of universities is to reward high-quality institutions and motivate others. It is also seen as an attempt to make universities generate resources with the help of greater autonomy.