DHE draws up operation plan for VD, DD universities in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: The Higher Education department will engage eminent retired academicians as officers on special duty (OSDs) in the newly created Vikram Dev and Dharanidhar universities. Principals of the erstwhile autonomous colleges will act as in-charge registrars till new vice-chancellors (VCs) are appointed.
This was decided at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the chief secretary recently. The OSDs will have to submit development plans for smooth transition of the colleges into universities. The universities will start functioning from June 1 this year and prior to that, appointment of VCs and other staff will be completed, official sources said.
Both will make under-graduate courses will be a part of the universities’ curriculum, the existing teaching and non-teaching staff will be immediately deployed in the respective institutions. The department will provide requisite funding to both universities to hire guest faculty and place non-teaching staff on contract for immediate functionality of the institutions. “We will draw a plan on the required number of faculty members for both the universities as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) plan and create necessary posts for them subsequently,” said an official of the department.
Similarly, OFS officers will be selected by the department for posting as comptroller of finance at both universities whereas examination controllers of the respective colleges will continue to be deployed as controllers of examinations. As far as infrastructure is concerned, the two institutions will function from their current spaces. However, for Vikram Dev University, additional space will be acquired. The department has asked Koraput collector to discuss with the Water Resources department to take over unused buildings and land meant for irrigation projects located near the institution for expansion of the university, the official added.
For Dharanidhar university, the department felt the space available from the merger of the second campus of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo (MSCBD) university is sufficient. As both campuses are eight km apart, the department has decided to send a committee to visit Dharanidhar university and examine the space utilisation issue. The committee will prepare a master plan for both universities.