CUJ approves major academic reforms at Syndicate Meet

Jammu, July 04: The Cluster University of Jammu (CLUJ) Friday held its fourth Syndicate meeting that was chaired by Prof. K. S. Chandrasekar, Vice Chancellor of the University which approved major academic reforms.A statement issued here said that the meeting was graced by senior officials including Santmanu, Additional Chief Secretary, Santhosh D. Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance and Prof. Kavita Shah, Vice Chancellor of Siddharth University, Uttar Pradesh. Also in attendance were Dr. Geetanjali Andotra, Dr. Rajinder Singh, and Dr. Romesh Gupta—Principals of the constituent colleges—alongside the University Deans including Dr. Chander Shekhar, Dr. Mohd. Zubair, and Dr. Monicka Sharma. From the Cluster University of Srinagar, Dr. Munir Ahmed Mir, Dr. G. M. Lone, Dr. Nighat Nasreen, and Dr. Raif Ahmad Khan were present, while Dr. R. K. Mittal, Vice Chancellor of BBA University, Lucknow, joined virtually.The Registrar Ankur Mahajan, presented the agenda items for deliberation and approval. Prof. Chandrasekar opened the meeting by outlining major developments since the last Syndicate session. These included securing AICTE and NCTE approvals for new programmes, conducting a successful mega job fair, revising the postgraduate curriculum and finalising the UG 7th and 8th semester syllabi. The Syndicate ratified several key decisions taken by the Vice Chancellor, including the adoption of the revised reservation rules of J&K for UG, PG and Ph.D. admissions.A landmark resolution approved the evaluation of all end-semester examination scripts through a coding system, to be assessed by eligible evaluators from a panel approved by the Controller of Examinations. Furthermore, a one-time exemption was granted to students with less than 50 per cent credit shortfall to enable admission into the 5th semester of UG General, Honours, and PG Integrated programmes. The Syndicate discussed and endorsed the adoption of the NET examination as the entrance test for Ph.D. admissions. Approvals were also given for new academic offerings, including MPA, PG Diploma, Diploma and Certificate courses in Dogri Translation, M.Sc. Geography, and one-year PG programmes. Eligible college faculty were recognised as Ph.D. supervisors, and collaboration with other institutions was sanctioned to implement the fourth year of the FYUGP, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Prof. Chandrasekar highlighted that NEP 2020 has been effectively implemented at CLUJ, providing students with research opportunities and project work in the 4th year Honours Degree. Dual degree programmes were also approved, to commence from the academic session 2025–26. The Syndicate deliberated extensively on granting mercy chances to students from the batches of 2017, 2018, and 2019, and approved the same. It was further resolved to explore the introduction of new academic programmes including M.Sc. (Entrepreneurship) in collaboration with EDII Ahmedabad, B.Sc. (Nursing), English as a minor, and Statistics as a major, minor, and multidisciplinary subject at GGM Science College. To strengthen extension, outreach, and consultancy activities, the Vice Chancellor was authorised to co-opt senior faculty members from affiliated colleges into various university positions. Additionally, the reintroduction of CLUJET from the academic session 2026–27 was approved. Prof. Chandrasekar expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the members of both the Syndicate and the Finance Committee for their valuable input and unwavering support in driving the University’s growth and reforms forward.