Calcutta University will formally notify on Monday the autonomous status of Behala College, the university’s registrar told The Telegraph on Saturday.

The autonomous status will allow the college to run its academic and administrative affairs independently.

Principal Sharmila Mitra said the college will start postgraduate courses in four subjects — cybersecurity and digital forensic, geo-informatics, applied microbiology and data science and analytics — from August and run the programmes.

The PG courses that the college has been running over the past few years under the control of Calcutta University will also be conducted by the college from this year.

Although Behala College has become autonomous, the degree to be awarded will be counter signed by the university, said a CU official.

The college, however, will be free to run its courses and design its own curriculum.

Last year, the college reached out to Father Felix Raj, former principal of St, Xavier’s College because, in 2006, the Park Street college was the first college to get the autonomous status in Bengal.

Father Felix Raj was the vice-principal of the college then. He was the principal of St Xavier’s College from 2009 to 2017 and is now the vice-chancellor of St Xavier’s University in New Town.

Father Felix Raj addressed the teachers of Behala College on what could be the way forward for an autonomous institution.

Principal Mitra said they were also approaching the autonomous colleges under Ramakrishna Mission, seeking their advice on charting an independent course.

Calcutta University’s syndicate on Wednesday decided that the college would be granted autonomy following the recommendations of the UGC on July 2.

The apex regulatory body had told the university to confer the status within 30 days.

“A notification announcing that the college has been granted autonomy will be issued on Monday,” CU registrar Debasis Das said.

A Behala College official said once the university issues the notification, they will issue newspaper advertisements announcing the college’s status and the new courses that it has to offer.

“After we got the letter of recommendation on July 2, I wrote to the university on July 4 for the status so we could start the postgraduate courses independently from August. The syndicate has completed the procedure,” principal Mitra told this newspaper.

Behala College earned this autonomy after receiving an A++ grade from the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) in March 2023, making it one of only four colleges in Bengal to attain the distinction.

The college applied to the UGC for autonomy in 2024 following the NAAC recommendation. It did not stop there.

In June 2024, the college sought Father Felix Raj’s guidance on how the autonomy path could be charted.

Father Felix Raj told The Telegraph on Saturday: “I have addressed the teachers of the college on the advantages of autonomy.... This is great news that Behala College has become autonomous. Autonomy lets a college become more innovative, think aloud. The students benefit from this approach. It also comes with great responsibility.”

There is definitely an innovative approach in offering PG courses in subjects like geo-informatics and forensic science.

A senior CU official said: “Such courses are bound to attract bright students.”

Principal Mitra said they would also approach Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, and Swami Vivekananda Centenary College (Rahara) for their suggestions.

One key advantage of independent postgraduate admissions would be the timely commencement of classes, said a teacher of Behala College.

“Under the current system, PG classes have consistently started late, leading to a flight of students to private universities,” the teacher said. Last year, the classes started in
October.

Another advantage is that the college could run undergraduate courses, free from the control of the centralised admission portal. Autonomous and the minority institutions are kept outside the ambit of the portal.

“Undergraduate classes in the colleges that are outside the portal have already started. But the government and aided colleges are still receiving the application forms,” said principal Mitra.

The college will be able to hold undergraduate admissions from next year as they received the UGC letter after the admission process had started on June 18.