The Academic Council meeting, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain on Tuesday, deliberated in detail on various issues pertaining to academic and research activities in the university and steps to further improve the overall performance and productivity. The Vice-Chancellor informed the house about the newly constituted Project Monitoring Unit which has been mandated to work for further improvement in the academic and research ecosystem of the university. Prof. Jain said that the unit will work to resolve issues that have the potential of adversely affecting the teaching-learning activities. He informed that the initiative will start with Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, and gradually its scope of functioning will be expanded. The Vice-Chancellor underlined that all the bodies and members of the university must work in coherence to ensure a smooth campus life for students, paving the way for their holistic development. 

The Academic Council has approved the proposals to institute 14 new merit-cum-means scholarships and one Gold Medal. The university receives donations from various persons and organizations to start scholarships under its PRATIDANA initiative, proposals for which are placed for approval before the Academic Council, the university’s apex policy making body on academic matters.  The council approved the Akshaibar & Jogeshwari Giri Gold Medal to be presented to a second Year MBA student securing highest CGPA. This will come into effect from the academic session 2023-24. Besides, proposals to start various other scholarships were also approved by the council. These are: 

• Mahamana Malaviya Biotechnology Scholarship for the 2nd Year M.Sc. Biotechnology student at the School of Biotechnology (from academic session 2024-25), 

• Biswanath & Meera Bhattacharya Scholarship for a 2nd year student of M.A. Sanskrit in Faculty of Arts (from academic session 2025-26), 

• Jhingan Sahu Memorial Scholarship for a 1st year student of MFA (Textile Design) in Faculty of Visual Arts (from academic session 2024-25), 

• Two C N R Rao Scholarships for the students of final year students of BPA (Vocal Music and Instrumental Music each) in the Faculty of Performing Arts (from academic session 2025-26),

• Uday Pratap Scholarship for a 2nd year student of M.Sc. (Agriculture) – Mycology and Plant Pathology in the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (from academic session 2025-26), 

• J N Gupta and Savitri Devi Scholarship for a 2nd Year Student of M.Sc. (Physics), Institute of Science (from academic session 2024-25),

• Ramswaroop Jamnadevi Maheshwari Scholarship for a 1st Year student of MBA in the Institute of  Management Studies (from academic session 2024-25)

• Five SGVP Swaminarayan Scholarships for students of Faculty of SVDV (effective from academic session 2023-24). 

A proposal to set up a merit-cum-means scholarship for Central Hindu Girls School has also been approved. The Awadh Raj Kumar Scholarship for a class 9 student will be effective from the academic session 2024-25. 

The Academic Council also accepted the proposals to add new programs and courses to the various affiliated colleges of the university. The Arya Mahila PG College has been permitted to teach Statistics, Mathematics, and Geography as minor courses. Similarly, the Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya has been allowed to teach Statistics and Mathematics as minor courses. The Vasanta College for Women, Rajghat, has been granted nod to start the UG Diploma course in Computer Application. 

The Academic Council also gave its nod to the new guidelines for admission to full time and part time Diploma Courses, in order to ensure that the courses are availed by those who actually need them for professional and academic growth and the university’s facilities are not misused. As per the new guidelines, full-time Diploma Courses will have a minimum academic requirement and well-defined credits and fixed number of hours of the course. In case of Part Time Diploma or Certificate Courses, only regular UG & PG students of the university and its affiliated colleges will be allowed to enroll in such programs. 

The Academic Council also approved the nomination of ten distinguished academicians as its external members. These include Prof. M. M. Chaturvedi (University of Delhi), Prof. Prithvish Nag (Director, SHEPA), Prof. Manisha Proyam (NIEPA, Delhi), Prof. Suman Sharma (Principal, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi), Prof. Dhananjay Singh (JNU), Prof. Neera Agnimitra (University of Delhi), Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi (Vice-Chancellor, Central Sanskrit University), Prof. Panchanan Mohanty (Nalanda University), Prof. Anup Thakar (Director, Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda), and Prof. B. R. Mittal (PGI, Chandigarh). 

Controller of Examinations, Prof. N K Mishra briefed the house regarding the progress of the admission process for undergraduate and postgraduate programs. He said that all measures are being taken in order to ensure that the interest of students is not compromised. Additional Controller of Examinations Prof. G. P. Singh said that the university is in the process of finalizing the Ph.D. admission results which will be released very soon. Prof. Maya Shankar Singh and Prof. D. S. Pandey made presentations on various agenda items of the meeting. Registrar Prof. Arun Kumar Singh conducted the proceedings of the Academic Council. He delivered the vote of thanks at the conclusion of the meeting.