Baramulla: A three-member team from the University Grants Commission (UGC) which was tasked with recommending autonomous status for Government Degree College (GDC) Boys Baramulla concluded its two-day visit on Saturday.
The team arrived at the college on Friday to conduct the inspection of the institution and submit its recommendations to UGC for granting autonomous status to the college, which is one of the oldest and historical academic institutions in the Valley.
The three member team was headed by Prof. Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar as its chairman while Principal Fergusson College Pune Dr. Ravindrasinh G. Pardeshi and under secretary UGC Vasudev Talreja were the members of the team.
The inspection team was accompanied by Director Colleges J&K Prof Yasmeen Ashai and Dean Academic Affairs (DAA) Cluster University Srinagar Prof Mushtaq Ahmad Lone who was nominated by the Higher Education Department (HED) to accompany the team.
Notably, Prof Lone was Principal GDC Baramulla before his appointment as DAA Cluster University Srinagar a few months ago.
The UGC inspection team visited the whole college campus to inspect the facilities available at the college besides holding interaction with the teaching and non teaching staff of the college. The team also interacted with the students and the alumni of the college to seek their feedback.
“The inspection team was happy and satisfied with the facilities in the colleges and impressed with the historical importance of the institution,” a college professor told Greater Kashmir.
The team also visited all the teaching departments of the college and inspected the library and laboratory facilities available for the students.
“The team will finalise its report today and the findings will be shared with the Director Colleges J&K after which the committee recommendation will be submitted to UGC,” the college professor said.
GDC Boys Baramulla is one of the oldest colleges in J&K which was founded by the Catholic Missionaries at Baramulla, by Father Ignatius Brower and Rev. Father Simmons in 1905 as an English medium school.
It was upgraded to High School in 1913 and then gradually upgraded to the status of Intermediate College in 1938 and eventually to Degree College in 1943.
The College was accredited ‘A Grade College’ by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) last year and has been granted the status of College with Potential Excellence (CPE) by the UGC in 2015. Being CPE, the College gets special grants from UGC.
“The UGC team was satisfied after inspecting all the departments and holding interaction with the staff, students and alumni of the college. We are hopeful that the College will be granted autonomous status by UGC,” Prof Mushtaq Lone told Greater Kashmir.