What are Institutes of Eminence? How are they different from other Institutes or Universities

World University Rankings were released recently and no Indian University managed to grab a place in the Top 200 list. Due to such dismal performance in the world rankings, the Government has proposed that Institutions of Eminence should be set up in India. As part of this proposal the Government initially plans to establish 20 such world class institutes in the country.

The notification for setting up Institutes of Eminence has been released by University Grants commission (UGC) on September, 2017. As part of this notice UGC stated that the lnstitution of Eminence need to get accreditation within five years of the notification. UGC further elaborated on the same by stating: “The lnstitution of Eminence shall continue to be ranked in the National lnstitutional Ranking Framework and, within five years of notification, shall get itself ranked in an lnternational Ranking index of repute. lt should from then on continue to be ranked in the National and lnternational ranking frameworks”. UGC has stated that an enabling regulatory architecture would be provided to 10 public and 10 private institutions so that they become world class teaching and research institutions. This initiative is being undertaken by UGC to offer high quality education to all lndian students irrespective of their financial background.

Objective

Primary objective to establish Institutes of Eminence in India is to set up higher educational institutions that become world class teaching as well as research institutes.

Institutes that can apply to be part of Institutes of Eminence

A total of 10 Government institutes will be selected as lnstitutions of Eminence. These educational institutes need to be a good mix of Central Universities as well as Arts, Management and Technical Institutes. Apart from this, to become an Institute of Eminence, a college/university should be among:

• Top 50 in the National lnstitution Ranking Framework in their category (on the last date of application or in the immediately preceding NIRF ranking).
• Top 500 in internationally recognised rankings like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or QS or SJTU (Shanghai's Jiao Tong University).

It has been shared that Government owned institutes, Institutes of National Importance, Institutes regulated by Professional Regulatory Councils and State Public Universities would continue to function in their existing Acts. However, Deemed Universities that function under the ambit of the Government would be given additional incentives as would be provided under UGC Regulations for lnstitutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities. Thus, institutes that are eligible to apply under Institutes of Eminence are as follows:

• Central Universities
• Government owned and controlled Deemed to be Universities
• lnstitutions of National lmportance such as lndian lnstitutes of Technology, Indian lnstitutes of lnformation Technology, National lnstitutes of Technology and lndian lnstitutes of Science Education and Research
• Government owned standalone lnstitutions working under individual MoAs, such as lndian lnstitutes of Management
• State Universities set up under a law made by Legislative Assembly of a State (Collectively referred as Government lnstitutions of Eminence).

How are Institutes of Eminence different from other Educational Institutes/Universities

Educational institutes which wish to become a part of Institutes of Eminence need to submit a proposal providing their tangible action plan along with milestones and timelines, clearly stating the parameters that they seek to achieve. Further, such institutes need to list the milestones that they would work to achieve in a period of 5 years as well as 15 years. Educational Institutes need to fulfill the below mentioned parameters in a defined time period to be considered as an Institute of Eminence:

S. No.	Parameters for Institutes of Eminence
1.	Preferably be multi-disciplinary. Should have both teaching and research focus of an exceptionally high quality.
2.	Should have adequate proportion of foreign/foreign qualified faculty. The institute should have good mix of national and international academic staff. Foreign/Foreign qualified faculty means: Any faculty of non-lndian citizenship. Or Any lndian citizen who has spent considerable time getting academic qualification /experience in a foreign country. His qualification/experience needs to be at any of the top 500 lnstitutes mentioned in a reputed world ranking.
3.	The faculty-student ratio should be not be less than 1:20 at the time of notification issued declaring an lnstitution as an lnstitution of Eminence and should increase over time so as not to be less than 1 :1 O after five years of this date. The faculty for this purpose includes the regular faculty, adjunct faculty, and long term faculty (for at least three years). Part time faculty shall not be counted for the purpose.
4.	Other than regular courses, institutes should offer inter-disciplinary courses also. The inter-disciplinary courses need to be in spheres of emerging technology as well as areas which are relevant to development of countries like lndia.
5.	Should be a good mix of domestic as well as foreign students.
6.	Should have merit based admission process.
7.	Student who get admission should not be refused admission due to lack of financial ability.
8.	Institutes engaged in scientific research should have laboratory facilities that do cutting-edge scientific research. On the other hand, latest methodology need to be used by faculty in social science and other interdisciplinary areas.
9.	Should have student amenities that are comparable to the ones offered at globally reputed institutions.
10.	Should have a big campus with adequate space for expansion.
11.	Governance structure of the lnstitution should be distinct from the governance structure of the organisation sponsoring/funding the institution.
12.	Should be financially sound, either in terms of recourse to public funding.
13.	Should have teaching and research collaborations with global universities which are ranked in the most reputed global rankings.
14.	Should strive to achieve social impact by engaging in applied research and innovation in issues of concern to developing societies.
15.	A multi-disciplinary institution should have a student enrolment of at least ten thousand students in a period of fifteen years. However, the institutions may project a lower figure as its enrolment target with justification on how that enrolmenl figure would enable it to become a world class university. EEC will examine whether it is feasible for an institution to become world class with the proposed lower figure.
16.	Should encourage faculty to publish regularly in peer-reviewed journals and engage academically with the issues of concern to the society. Should publish research work at the mean rate of at least one publication per faculty member each year in reputed peer-reviewed international journals based on publication made by top '100 global Universities in these journals.
17.	Should have a world-class library with subscriptions to reputed journals in the areas of its course offerings.
18.	Should be accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation council (NAAC) or an alternative version of NAAC which conforms 1o UGC (lnstitutions of Eminence Deemed to be universities) Regulations, 20'17 or its amendments and also be assessed by one reputed international accreditation agency, one whose ratings are a credible and widely accepled global benchmark. The lnstitution may however appeal on accreditation of NAAC or alternative version of NAAC to the Empowered Experts Committee, whose decision shall be final.
19.	Should come in top 500 of any of the world renowned ranking frameworks (such as the Times Higher Education world University Rankings or QS or Shanghai's jiao Tong University) in the first ten years of setting up on being declared as lnstitution of Eminence, and having achieved top 500 rank, should consistently improve its ranking to come in the top 100 eventually over time.

 

Financial Assistance

Institutes of Eminence would be awarded financial assistance amounting to Rs 1000 crore or 50% to 75% of the requirement projected by the institution in the proposal, whichever is less. The financial assistance provided to the institute would depend on the detailed plan proposal of the institute that is assessed and accepted by UGC’s Empowered Expert Committee.

Proposed Incentives for Institutes of Eminence

Institutes would be given the below mentioned privileges and advantages if they are selected as an Institute of Eminence:

1. Would be given freedom to admit foreign students on merit to fill a maximum of 30% of the strength of admitted domestic students.
2. Would be given freedom to charge fees from foreign students without restriction.
3. Would be given freedom to determine the fee of domestic students, subject to the condition that no student who gains admission should be turned away for lack of finance. This should be accompanied with a credible programme of scholarships and loans to ensure that the needy are able to pursue higher studies without any financial problems.  
4. Would be given freedom to offer courses within a programme as well as to offer degrees in newer areas, including inter-disciplinary ones, after approval of its Governing Council and broadly conforming to the minimum prevailing standards which shall be intimated to the Commission or Professional Regulatory Councils.
5. Would be given flexibility to determine course structure with respect to number of credit hours and years to take a degree, after approval of their Governing Council and broadly conforming to the minimum prevailing standards.
6. Would be given flexibility to fix curriculum and syllabus, with no UGC mandated curriculum structure.
7. Would be given freedom to offer online courses as part of their programmes with the restriction that not more than 20% of the programme should be in online mode. However, this 20% restriction would not preclude the institutions from offering certificate courses entirely through online mode.  
8. Would be given freedom to recruit faculty from outside India subject to the limit of 25% of its faculty strength.
9. Would be permitted to hire personnel from industry as faculty who, though being experts in their areas, may not have the requisite higher academic qualifications.
10. Academic collaborations with foreign higher educational institutions ranked in top 5OO in global rankings would be exempt from government approvals, except with institutions from negative list of countries determined by Ministry of External Affairs/Ministry of Home Affairs  
11. Would be given freedom to enter into academic collaborations with other lnstitutions within the country.
12. Would have complete financial autonomy to spend the resources raised and allocated, subject to general restrictions of the Statutes and GFR.
13. Need to follow the pay scales of that category of public institutions to which they belong. However, they may build in an incentive structure to attract talented faculty, with the condition that the incentive structure would have to be paid from their own revenue sources and not from government funds.
14. Would be given freedom to hire foreign faculty/foreign qualified faculty on "tenure/ contract" basis as per the terms & conditions, approved by its governing council.

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