The Karnataka State Open University in Mysuru, the State’s sole open university, is hoping to see a rise in admissions in the July cycle with the university getting A-plus grade accreditation from the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC).
Interestingly, the KSOU, which was once derecognised by the UGC, now happens to be the only university in the State to get A-plus grade and second among 16 open universities in the country to get the recognition.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Vice-Chancellor Sharanappa V. Halse said the KSOU sought the NAAC accreditation for the first time and it secured A-plus grade in its first attempt though A-double plus grade was expected since it fulfilled all the mandatory parameters.
He said the KSOU will largely benefit from the NAAC grade as the regulatory authorities like the UGC would be flexible in approving new courses, and the university can approach the State government for grants. As of now, KSOU is self-funded and was running based on the admission revenue. The admissions can rise because of NAAC grading, he opined.
The VC said the KSOU has sought UGC nod for launching 51 new programmes from the current academic year and added that new-age courses including data science, bioinformatics, and cyber security will be launched soon.
“We are aiming to take admissions to over 2 lakh in the next four years by redefining our curriculum, launching online courses and incorporation of new-age technologies for adding new dimensions to distance learning. In this connection, we are launching a learning management system,” he said, while listing out the initiatives introduced after he took over as the VC.
Prof. Halse disclosed his plans of increasing the number of regional centres from 17 to 23 immediately and developing one each in every district to expand the reach of KSOU and for the convenience of students, especially from North and Hyderabad Karnataka regions.
Dual Degree programme
Students can now take up dual degree programmes at KSOU. They can either take up two ODL courses at a time or one distance education course and another regular course from the conventional university. This is the UGC’s new approach for making learning interdisciplinary.
₹100 cr. grant
The VC said he was planning to seek a ₹100-crore grant from the State government for introducing various initiatives and infrastructure development. Digital initiatives, regional centres, and wi-fi networks are in the offing.
Appeal to State govt.
Prof. Halse said some private universities were running ODL programmes much against the guidelines of the UGC. “This is a threat to KSOU which has got exclusive rights for running ODL programmes. I am planning to inform the Department of Higher Education to protect the interests of the KSOU.” .
He said the online courses being introduced by various conventional universities could also pose a threat to the KSOU. Nevertheless, the KSOU is doing all its best in redefining its approach and giving a tough competition to private and other universities, he added.
Registrar K.L.N Murthy, Registrar (Evaluation), Praveen, Finance Officer Khader Pasha and other officials were present.
