HYDERABAD: The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Institutes of Eminence (IoE) category for higher education institutions saw applications from Indian School of Business (ISB), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Osmania University (OU) battling it out with top ranking varsities and colleges including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), in race for the tag.
Professor Sanjay Kallapur, deputy dean - Faculty Review & FPM, academic Director - IEMS at ISB, feels the institution is already a brand internationally and the IoE status is an attempt to make inroads within India. OU registrar Gopal Reddy said that given its legacy and size in terms of volume of students, faculty, departments and its affiliated colleges, the varsity stood “a fair chance” of making it to IoE.
An official from UoH, meanwhile, said they will not be able to respond on the issue before selections are made by MHRD/UGC.
As per the programme 20 institutes, 10 private and 10 public, would be short listed.These would get the autonomy to admit foreign students, recruit foreign faculty, fix their fees, offer different courses without getting the approval of UGC. They would also get financial autonomy in the form of Rs 1,000 crores for five years (Rs 200 crore annually). Each applicant has had to deposit `1 crore while applying for IoE.
The applications for IoE closed on Dec 12.