University of Mumbai
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Autonomous colleges
As in 2021
Mumbai:
The 185-year-old Wilson College at Chowpatty was granted autonomy by University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday, taking the total count of autonomous colleges affiliated to Mumbai University (MU) to 46. The state now has 122 autonomous colleges, of which the most, around 38%, are from MU. The number of autonomous colleges under MU rose two-fold in over two years. Maharashtra is second in the country, after Tamil Nadu, to have the most autonomous institutes. With flexibility in assessment and curriculum, simplified process and the new National Education Policy (NEP) pushing for more autonomy, more colleges are opting for it.
Many prominent colleges in the city, including St Xavier’s, Jai Hind, Ruia, Podar, NM, Mithibai, SIES, Sophia, already have autonomy.
After autonomy, Wilson College will consider offering BSc courses in artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning and cyber security, said director (education), TA Shiware. Courses in medical operation technology with Saifee Hospital, fashion journalism and film direction are also on the anvil.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2010-15: Sharp rise of revaluation cases
The Times of India, Oct 07 2015
Hemali Chhapia
Students seeking revaluation rise; MU's rechecking revenue up 2.5 times in 5 yrs
Mumbai University has seen over a two-and-a half times increase in reve nue from students applying for revaluation of their an swer scripts in the last five years, implying, in the deep est irony , that the less credi bility MU has, the more mon ey it makes. The university charges Rs 400 to process a re valuation application. The trend is a pointer that students' scores and expecta tions do not match. Data pro cured through an RTI query by professor Uday Gamare shows that between 2010 and 2014, fee earned from reval uation increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5.6 crore. Interest ingly, this is the period when the revaluation scam rocked the varsity .
For most students, their doubts are not unfounded One in four revaluation appli cants in 2012 and early-2013 went on to clear the exam raising serious doubts about the quality of assessment.RTI data shows that in 2012, 14,586 of the 68,653 candidates who applied for revaluation were declared to have passed.Similarly , in the first half of 2013, of the 43,256 students who applied for revaluation, 10,509 cleared the exam. The situation was similar even for basic totalling of marks. In 2012, of the 912 who applied for re-totalling, 546 (close to 60%) passed. In 2013, of the 525 who demanded that their marks be counted again, 286 cleared the exam.
2017: Digi-locker facility
The university’s verification staff has been provided with a secure and dedicated login ID.
The University of Mumbai has thrown open its digital locker facility for students and alumni after a year-long pilot project. The first alumni digital locker was created for the university's old boy Mukesh Ambani. The locker holds documents safe and in digital format, relinquishing the need for physical papers.
The Digital Locker system, developed by an IIT, Madras-incubated company, was handed over to the university as part of the R&D and technology transfer plan for powering universities to go digital.
The technology will support requirements of the government's digital locker programme, academic repository, embassy/foreign qualification recognition plans and private digital locker service providers, said vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh. Using the digital locker facility, students and alumni can send digital credentials for job applications or higher studies requirements. The facility will also comply with the UGC's new requirements of adding Aadhaar number, photographs and other details of the student on certificates and marksheets.
As part of the programme, verification of degrees, marksheets and other documents will go digital. The online process aims to reduce processing time by more than 80%, added Deshmukh.
The university's verification staff has been provided with a secure and dedicated login ID. Higher officials will review reports of turnaround time, cases of fake degrees and long pending cases.
Details of fake degrees detected will be uploaded on the university's website automatically as required by the state information commissioner, said a university official. The programme is in line with the government's efforts to set up a National Academic Repository and Digital Locker Service. The university is taking up key initiatives to turn itself into a centre of excellence with a focus on digital initiatives, added Deshmukh.
