JAMMU, MARCH 21: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti has congratulated the Jammu University (JU) for making it to the top 60 academic institutions in the country which were granted autonomous status by the HRD Ministry yesterday.

She said her Government, ever since it came to power, has accorded top priority to the consolidation of educational infrastructure in the State coupled with a much more liberalised regime at the institutes of higher learning with focus on linking quality with autonomy.

“This reflects the struggle for excellence by the teachers, administration and students of the University equally”, the Chief Minister said while hoping that the University would compete with the best in the country in coming days and years. She said her Government, ever since it came to power, has accorded top priority to the consolidation of educational infrastructure in the State coupled with a much more liberalised regime at the institutes of higher learning with focus on linking quality with autonomy.

Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the Pro Chancellor of the University, hoped that after attaining such a feat the University would be able to attract more specialized talent and resources, start new job driven courses and enter into academic collaborations so that it emerges as a hub of knowledge and academia in the State and the region.

University Grants Commission (UGC) had recently sought information from Universities with regard to NAAC grading, ranking under National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and information about the teaching departments, affiliated colleges, distance education and off site campuses.

UGC has released a list of sixty two higher educational institutes comprising of central universities, state universities, private universities and eight colleges to which it has granted full autonomy, based on the standard of excellence maintained by these institutions.

The University of Jammu is among the 12 state universities of the country and the only University of the State which has been recognized by the UGC under its new initiative of granting graded autonomy.

This recognition will provide freedom to the University to start new courses, set up new departments, admit foreign students, appoint foreign faculty and establish off campus centre and research parks, without having to approach the University Grants Commission.  Further, the University shall also be able to get into academic collaborations with the universities, world over. It will also have autonomy to attract and retain the best faculty by offering a higher incentive package, over and above the sanctioned faculty strength.  Its Directorate of Distance Education will now not need to apply separately for recognition from the Distance Education Bureau and will have the choice to offer new courses.

It is pertinent to mention that the journey of Quality Assurance and Assessment & Accreditation of the University of Jammu began in 2002, when the University was graded as a Four Star University, as per the system of accreditation prevalent at that time. A Centre for Quality assurance was established in the University of Jammu in 2005 to further institutionalize the process of quality assurance. University of Jammu submitted itself for reaccreditation and reassessment (Cycle II) in 2009 and obtained an A grade with a CGPA 3.17.

After its reaccreditation in 2009, the University of Jammu further demonstrated its commitment to quality and excellence by upgrading the Centre for Quality Assurance into a Directorate of Internal Quality Assurance. The University was graded A+ [CGPA 3.51] by NAAC in its third cycle in 2016.

The University of Jammu also volunteered to participate in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) introduced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in 2016 and 2017 and was ranked 64^th and 63^rd respectively, thus figuring in the list of top hundred universities of the country for two consecutive times.

University also took the decision of going in for multiple accreditations. The Directorate of Distance Education was recognized by DEC in 2011. Academic Staff College, now known as Human Resource Development Centre was ranked 18^th by NAAC in 2012. The School of Biotechnology was awarded an A grade by the DBT, Govt. of India. The programmes of Law Department and The Law School have also been recognized by the Bar Council of India. Though NCTE is not applicable to J&K, yet University of Jammu redesigned and offered its programmes of Teacher Education as per the requirements of NCTE. The Business School attained A++ rank as per the 18^th Annual Ranking of B-Schools in India by Business India in 2016.It wasalso rated 5^th in terms of Return of Investment in 2017 in a survey conducted by Business Today and has recently attained 5^th rank in North-Zone and 21^strank across all the B-Schools in India under the Government Institute Category in a survey conducted by HANSA Research.