The final version of the University Grants Commission's "Guidelines for Transforming Higher Education Institutions into Multidisciplinary Institutions" is expected to be made public today, allowing fixed institutions to become large multidisciplinary universities and autonomous degree-awarding HEIs, including dual degrees.
According to the recommendations, the goals are to "strengthen institutional infrastructure required for interdisciplinary education and research" and "convert single-stream institutions into big multidisciplinary universities and independent degree-awarding HEIs."
The recommendations will assist state governments and universities in creating appropriate rules and policies.
Universities and colleges will be able to work together to offer dual degrees. By providing a multidisciplinary education, university-affiliated colleges can advance to the position of degree-granting autonomous institutions. According to the text, cooperation between two universities for the award of a dual degree benefits students enrolled in an HEI.
It states that in addition to working with other HEIs, HEIs will be required to register in the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC), implement online courses, and run student-induction programmes to inform students about other learning pathways and job options. Universities with 3,000 or more students will be considered multidisciplinary TUs and RUs.