Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: The Utkal University of Culture has decided to switch over to choice-based credit system (CBCS) from 2014-15 academic sessions.

University Grants Commission (UGC) in its 11th plan guidelines had directed the universities to implement CBCS for postgraduate courses in 2011-12 for improving students’ employability. The new system includes introduction of semester system, which means that students have to take tests every six months. CBCS allows students to pursue one choice-based course (CBC) apart from his specialisation course.

“For example, a student of painting can choose linguistics as his allied elective. If the student appears for the examination in allied elective, his score will be reflected in the marksheet,” said a senior faculty in the university.

However, introduction of CBCS would mean more workload for teaching staff. The university is currently managing with 12 faculty members for 22 postgraduate courses in various streams. Faculty crisis has been the biggest hurdle for the college’s growth in the last one decade.

While there are 22 sanctioned faculty posts for the college, 18 have fallen vacant over the years owing to retirements and suspension of a few teachers. The college has around 256 seats for students in Plus Two and close to 128 seats in undergraduate courses. It is affiliated to the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) at Plus Two-level and Utkal University of Culture at degree level. The state government had sanctioned 10 faculty posts for the college in 2012, for which, the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) floated advertisements. But the recruitments were brought to a halt following court cases filed by 17 candidates who wanted the job, on several grounds.