Utkal University

Established in 1943, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar is the 17th oldest University of India and the Mother University of the state of Odisha. It caters to the learning needs of about 1.5 crore people belonging to nine districts of the state. It is a teaching, research-cum-affiliating university offering 27 full-fledged regular Post-Graduate Departments and 17 Self Financing programmes within the campus and has 371 affiliated colleges covering faculties of Humanities and the Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Commerce and Management, Pedagogical Science (Education), Medicine including Ayurveda, Homeopathy and also Law. It has produced a large number of distinguished alumni belonging to all walks of life: Medicine, Law, Civil Services, Literature, Science, Politics and Journalism. The University aims to be a centre of excellence in higher education with a focus on innovative teaching, learning, research, consultancy and extension activities and contribute to building of a creative, enlightened and productive civil society. The affirmative actions on each aspect of this mission statement are described below:

Criteria-I: Curriculum aspect

In keeping with international standards, the University has introduced CBCS (Choice Based Credit System) for all the courses offered in the campus and for courses offered through Autonomous It is poised to convert the B.A, B.Com and B.Sc programmes to CBCS in its affiliated colleges w.e.f. 2016-17 to the CBCS mode. The syllabi define the learning goals and are unitized. Post-Graduate courses offered in the campus cover 27 regular subjects and 17 Self-Financing PG courses. The University also offers 2 Integrated PG programmes, namely, Integrated MBA and Integrated MCA and one PG Diploma course on Remote Sensing and GIS. The University’s Distance Education Unit offers 24 courses including 3 continuing education programmes like PGDBIM, MCA and MBA in the face-to-face mode. Its Law Colleges offer 3 courses. In all, it offers 68 courses in the campus.
The University adheres to model UGC curriculum both at UG and PG level allowing for 20% modification to serve local needs and keeping in view specialization of available For professional courses, it follows the guidelines of regulatory bodies like AICTE, MCI, Bar Council of India and NCTE, etc.
During the last five years, the University has introduced the following courses: Masters in Public Health, Masters in Polymer Science, Sc in Nursing, Masters of Philosophy in Applied Psychiatry and Bachelor of Education for the mentally challenged in affiliated colleges. Need-based revision and updating the Syllabi and the curriculum structure including UG, PG, Self-Financing courses and most of the professional courses is a regular practice. Skill components have been incorporated into the syllabi. Presently, a massive exercise has been undertaken for skill definition and training in all the 27 Post Graduate Departments.
To enhance flexibility, the University allows choice of free electives and credit gathering from outside the Department. Electives are offered both at UG and PG level. Value addition through Yoga, Sports, Cultural and Extension activities is achieved. It has introduced NCC as an elective which is unique in the country. The course fees for Self Financing Programmes range from Rs. 2,500/- to Rs. 20,000/- per semester depending on cost and
Inter-disciplinary content has been introduced in all most all subjects offered in the campus at PG Students are free to gather credit from allied subjects.
The University collects feedback from all the stakeholders and suggestions for improvement are given due importance for
The University promotes autonomy and there are now 15 Autonomous Colleges. It conducts academic audit for its own Departments and Autonomous Colleges. The Post Graduate Departments, Constituent Colleges and Directorate of Distance and Continuing Education enjoy a reasonably fair degree of autonomy within the system for academic and administrative

Criteria-II: Teaching-Learning and Evaluation

Merit and inclusiveness are the hallmarks of our admission policy. Admission into Post- Graduate courses offered in the campus is based on career and entrance test. For M.Phil and Pre-Ph.D students, personal interview is conducted The State Government reservation policy for admission is followed at all levels. UGC guideline is followed for admission to the Ph.D programme. The entire admission process at the University has been computerized. The Govt. of Odisha has introduced a centralized online process for admission into 3year degree programmes offered through affiliated colleges and professional courses. MCA and MBA admission is based on Odisha Joint Entrance Test (OJEE).
The distribution of student of the University is as follows: SC-16.25%, ST-22.50%, PH-3% and General- 25% including OBC/SEBC. The Male Female ratio is 42:58.
The University meets the remedial needs through mentoring, and funds have been received from UGC on remedial coaching head. It extends the usual facility for the physically It has a special software for the visually impaired students.
An Academic Calendar, a Teaching Plan and a Teaching progress monitoring system, etc. have been put in On an average, teaching days always exceed 200 days.
Being a traditional university, lecture method here dominates the teaching of traditional Facilities like LCD projector and internet connectivity are available in all the Departments. Project and research components have been introduced in all departments. Seminars, assignments and quizzes have been integrated with the teaching-learning- evaluation process.
The University has invited 205 distinguished academics to deliver talks during 2011-15. Open education resources are accessed through INFLIBNET and National Knowledge
The quality of University teachers have been ensured through adoption of UGC- prescribed API score system for recruitment and Out of 140 regular permanent teachers as on 19.11.2015, 128 hold Ph.D Degrees, 11 hold M.Phil / M.Tech Degrees and one holds a Master Degree. On an average, each teacher has guided 3 Ph.D and 9-10 M.Phil scholars. A number of teachers have obtained PG, M.Phil and Ph.D degrees from Central Universities/institutions of national importance. The University does not promote a culture of inbreeding.
The University conducts timely examinations and publishes results for 3-year Degree and the PG programmes on time. As a result, it is now possible to adhere to the academic However, a few examinations sometimes get delayed, but without disrupting the academic calander.
The D programme has been conducted as per the 2009 UGC-Guidelines and subsequent up-to-date directives.
The Sc, D. Litt, And LLD guidelines have been revised.
During the last five years, memebers various faculties have published 1,733 papers in national journals, 231 papers in international journal and 68 papers in conference proceedings, taking the average number of papers per member of to faculty to 14+. Besides, teachers have published 59 books and 188 chapters in books. Out of the 27 PG Teaching Departments, 5 publish Annual Research Journals. The DDCE has been publishing a journal for the last nine years regularly and has published more than 100
As many as 49 Teachers serve in editorial boards of journals, and 52 serve as referees and reviewers in a large number of
The University has generated Rs. 39.84 lakhs from industrial consultancy from power aluminum, steel and coal

Criteria-III: Research, Consultancy and Extension

Recognizing that research, consultancy and extension are essential components of higher education, the University has constituted a research committee as well as an R&D committee to address all the issues related to Faculty members of the Departments are encouraged to get projects from various funding agencies. The projects are generally individual as well as Departmental, in which faculty members are involved individually as well as collectively at the National and International levels. Both curiosity driven and mission-mode research are being carried out. Interdisciplinary research among faculty members is actively encouraged. Several Seminars, Conferences, Symposia, workshops, Refresher courses and Orientation programmes have been organized during last five years. Eminent researchers are regularly invited by the Departments for delivering lectures on frontier areas of research and interaction with the students. This has immensely enriched the academic life of the University, and students have also got motivated to pursue higher studies.
The University has a two tier system, Subject Research Committee and University Research Committee, for monitoring its doctoral and post-doctoral research programmes.
Most of the PG teaching Departments are recognized under UGC-SAP programme and receive funds. The University is recognized under DST-PURSE programme and three Departments namely, Physics, Botany and Geology are recognized under DST-FIST
Apart from this, research work is also carried out under individual projects funded by National agencies such as UGC, DST, DAE, DBT, ICSSR, ICHR etc. The research output is regularly published in reputed peer-reviewed
There has been a substantial improvement of research facilities in terms of laboratories, equipment, computers, internet connectivity, library e-journals over the last five years. Every Department has computers and internet facilities for the faculty members and Science Departments have research and teaching laboratories with a number of sophisticated equipment. The State Govt. has already sanctioned Funds for the civil construction of a Centralized Instrumentation Centre. CPWD has been given the responsibility of the construction and State Government will also provide additional grants for procuring equipments in the second phase. Bhubaneswar being the knowledge hub, the University has entered into formal and informal collaboration with nearby national institutions like CIPET, ILS, IOP, NISER, IIT, OUAT, IMMT etc. and the equipment available there are also used by the researchers of the University. Faculty members regularly take part in the seminars, symposia, workshop held in the above institutions. Students are also encouraged to attend the public lectures by eminent scholars, delivered at the above institutions.
Outcomes of research work carried at various Departments are regularly published in the leading peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and books. The average impact factor for the papers from Science Departments is in between 2-3 and some Departments have a citation index of more than 400. Faculty members get invited as Visiting Scientists and Visiting Professors by leading National and International Institutions and
Members of faculty have also received the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship, Max Planck Institute Fellowship, CERN Fellowship, EMINTE Fellowship etc. They serve in National advisory bodies and they have chaired sessions in prestigious National and International Interdisciplinary research work is very much encouraged and collaboration with other national and International Institutes is promoted. Faculty members have received recognition as UGC research awardees, ICTP associateship, IUCAA associateship, Samanta Chandra Sekhar awardees, Young Scientist award, Best research paper award, Sahitya Academy award etc. Faculty members have been on various important committees of the State and the Country. They have rendered their services gratis as expert consultants.

Faculty members and students of various Departments have been involved in relief work during natural Alumni meetings and popular lectures are organized.
Financial help to the students of disadvantaged sections is provided by the
Faculty and students take active part in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan along with the NSS volunteers, Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation and CRPF
We encouraged and guide school children during their visit to our science laboratories and departmental museums. Some faculty members also visit local schools and interact with the Debate, Essay and GK competitions among students are organized.
Faculty members are involved in collaborative research with various national and International Institutions. The collaborations have resulted in significant joint research publications in leading peer-reviewed
Though research, consultancy and extension activities occupy a central place in the academic vision of the University, a continuous effort is made to integrate the outcomes into the learning-teaching In addition, efforts are being made to open multidisciplinary centers of excellence in the university to work on national and international thrust areas. Similarly, attempts at raising the present levels of consultancy and extension activities to a higher level through the setting up entrepreneurship training centers, centers of excellence in sociological sciences and business incubation centers are being made.

Criteria-IV: Infrastructure & Learning Resources

The University spreads over 397.806 acres of Lush Green campus area. Out of 40 blocks of buildings, 26 blocks are designated for teaching (PG Departments, two Law Colleges and one Distance Education Unit). Other blocks include Administrative Block, Health Centre, Banks, Post Office, Guest House, Auditorium, Gymnasium, Indoor Stadium, UGC-HRD Centre, Computer Centre, Canteen and Students Union Office. There are 12 hostels with accommodation for 2307 women and 2297 men and 603 residential quarters inside the Campus.
The University during last five years has undertaken massive renovation and repair of aging buildings. It is also adding new buildings to house a Digital Library, Central Instrumentation Facility and Annex Building for the
The University has a Central Computer Facility with a fairly adequate IT infrastructure for academic There is an E-Library resource centre both for faculty and students. Besides, it has two computer centers dedicated to processing the examination results. It has not outsourced any aspect of the tabulation and examination management system.
The library building has six floors spreading over 30,000 sq. ft. floor space. It has 2,51,663 books and it is managed by 46 employees. It has a rich collection of 5,800 palm- leaf manuscripts and 236 journals. It remains open for 12 hours on working days and for 6 and a half hours on holidays. As a part of INFLIBNET, it has provided access to about 20 online journals. The library has been automated (stock, accession, search, bar coding ) and issue-return process is online. The University has spent Rs. 59,11,816 on Books and Journals during the last four years. Besides the Central Library, each PG department has a rich Seminar Library which remains open 24 x 7 in several departments and managed by the students.
The University has a health center of its own with 3 full-time doctors, 6 observatory beds, an ambulance and 5,342 sq. ft. floor space. The annual non-salary budget is more than 11, 000,00.

Criteria-V: Teaching-Learning and Evaluation

The University has student-mentoring system, where each student is assigned to a teacher for academic and career-related counselling. The student prepares for his/her seminar, project and other activities in consultation with the teacher. The progress of students is monitored through seminars, surprise tests, mid-term examinations, result in semester examinations, debates, their interest in research activities and competitive
The University provides usual assistance to SC, ST, differently abled, minority communities and wards of mining/bidi/construction labourers. The state and central government assistance is now directly transferred to the students’ savings All women, SC, ST and differently abled students enjoy complete tuition fee waiver. Differently abled students are provided free lodging and boarding facilities.
There is an active placement cell functioning in the University which facilitated placement of 516 students during last five years in campus selection. Further, more than 50% of the students have found employment and 30% of the students have taken up research as a career during the same period. The placement cell also seeks to improve the employability of
There is a centralized Alumni Association in the Besides, almost all Departments have their own alumni associations. They meet at least once a year. They help in the placement and contribute financially for the betterment of the departments. A few batch wise associations are also active.
The School for women’s studies of the University, created and managed with UGC assistance has been working for empowerment of women. There is also a Centre for Ambedkar studies, which works for empowerment of dalits and the
On an average, 46% Post-Graduates take up research as a career and about 50% opt for employment. During last 5 years, 14% joined the civil service, 550 qualified in NET/GATE etc. and 779 were placed through UPSC and OPSC. Besides, 892 students are placed in various corporate, banks, NGOs and MNCs through placement services offered by the university.
During the last five years, the number of Ph. D awarded are as follows: 2010-11: 193, 2011-12: 230, 2012-13: 219 and 2013-14:
A new initiative in redefining employable skills at the PG level was undertaken through skill-based workshops held in all Departments. This will certainly help in improving the employability of the
Organisation of normal and special camps through the NSS units is a regular Blood donation camps, cleaning camps, plantation programmes, leadership camps and awareness campaigns are organized by the NSS. It has adopted seven villages which are regularly visited by the volunteers for various activities.
The University has an active sports and culture It has organized three inter- university events on behalf of AIAU. The University has adequate sporting facilities including indoor and outdoor stadia. 735 students have represented Odisha in various games and sports at national levels during the last five years. Eight students have represented India in various fields.

Criteria-VI: Governance, Leadership and Management

Sensitive, effective and empathetic governance is the element essential for a world class The Utkal University was established in 1943, fulfilling the aspiration of Odia-speaking people after the formation of Odisha as a province in 1936. It was hoped that the University would create an intelligentsia which would lead the state to economic progress, remove poverty and ignorance and utilize its rich natural resources.
The University has fairly succeeded in achieving the dreams, aspirations and objectives of the founders. Originally starting as an affiliating University with just three colleges, in spite of reduced territorial jurisdiction, it now offers 142 courses in faculties such as Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, Medicine, Law, Education and Commerce and Management in the campus and in the affiliated colleges. It has 27 PG Departments, 3 constituent colleges, 17 Self Financing courses in the campus and has 371 affiliated
The University is administered as per the provisions of act and statute with the Vice Chancellor as the Chief Executive The University is administered through numerous bodies and committees of experts and professionals. The University is student-centric and teachers-driven.
The University has identified areas of weakness and improvement and has chalked out a prospective plan for reform and changes, academic, administrative and
The University is developing a robust feedback mechanism for the collection and analysis of feedback and for taking corrective
The University is beset with severe financial constraints, outdated financial rules and is unable to enhance the students’ tution
There is an urgent need to make every aspect of governance technology-enabled.
Leadership development must become part of the governance mechanism in the

Criteria-VII: Innovation and Best Practices

The University has conducted green audit and power audit. It has planted 19,000 trees during 2011-15 and carried out cleaning drives regularly. It has developed a pond in a low lying area for harvesting rain water and recharging ground
The twenty-first century is the century of innovations. The Utkal University has recently introduced the following new ideas:
Allowing students of one PG Department to gather credit from another Department during the third
Introduction of online form fill up, issuance of University Registration Number, Hall Ticket, Provisional certificates and Mark sheet for the 3-year Degree Examinations benefiting more than 1.5 lakh students is a landmark achievement. Introduction of QR code on the mark-sheet and provisional certificate has also made verification easy. This needs to be extended to all
Introduction of CBCS for PG courses and autonomous colleges w.e.f 2013-14 and 2015-16
Introduction of new curriculum structure and syllabus as per UGC modern curriculum. Updating the 3-year degree and PG course has improved our
Massive plantation exercise and cleaning exercise has created a better learning
Electronic transfer of funds and escrow account for Self financing courses has benefited the
Automation of the library has positive
Renovation of ageing building, the administrative block, old arts block and the hostels have created an environment more conducive to
Introduction of NCC as an elective at the 3-year Degree Ours is the first University in India to do so.
Promotion of autonomy for 15
Many students volunteer to teach the children of the under privileged sections of the society free of
A roof-top garden has been developed by the students of Physics and the plants are taken care of by the

The Best practices introduced by the university are as follows:

Publication of the results of the examinations for three year degree courses by 30^th April for the last two It has enabled our students to seek admission in the top Universities of India and enabled us to commence the PG academic session by July. We have also been able to complete the academic calendar including publication of results by June-July every year for the PG Departments.
Clean, green, well maintained physical infrastructure and increased ICT application in teaching, learning and administrative
Introduction at CBCS at PG level (2013) and Autonomous College (2015) and Affiliated Colleges (2016) along with the new curriculum in tune with UGC model curriculum is a giant step in quality
Alumni members of the Departments financially support the needy students and help in enriching the infrastructure of the
Seminar library in the Departments are managed by the students even on
Field trips are organized to interact with the vulnerable sections of the society and efforts are made to help them improve the quality of their
There is a reading group in the department of English known as “ARIEL” (Ardent Readers and Interpreters of English Literature) which meets on a monthly
Members of the School of Women Studies are engaged in socio-economic development of women and children of the slum
Gender sensitization programme is a common feature in our course
As interns in the central library, students are trained in Manuscript collection and preservation

ଉତ୍କଳ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ, ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର, ଓଡ଼ିଶା