HSNC University, a cluster varsity in south Mumbai, plans to expand its campus by including 5 more colleges
HSNC University, a state public university, which currently comprises HR, KC and Bombay Teachers' Training College in Churchgate and Colaba, is planning to onboard Bandra's RD National, MMK and Thadomal Shahani Engineering College (TSEC) and south Mumbai's KC Law College and KM Kundnani College of Pharmacy soon.
The university has submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to state govt. Once permission is granted, these colleges will cease to be Mumbai University-affiliated institutes.
A govt representative confirmed the receipt of the proposal from the university and said the state is considering it.
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When contacted, HSNC University vice-chancellor Hemlata Bagla confirmed that they have submitted a DPR, a blueprint of the university's roadmap after the inclusion of five new colleges, to govt and are awaiting its nod.
The three constituent colleges of the cluster university had a combined student strength of 8,000, which has now gone to up to 12,000 with the launch of new courses and research centres, said Bagla, adding that with the inclusion of five more colleges, the number is likely to double.
Last year, Dr Homi Bhabha State University (HBSU), which started with four constituent colleges as a cluster, brought the Institute of Forensic Science and Sydenham Institute of Management Studies and Research under its wing.
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HBSU and all its constituents are govt institutes. The Bandra campus of the Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate Board, the sponsoring body of the HSNC University, which houses one arts, science and commerce college (National), one only-commerce college (MMK), and an engineering college (TSEC), are also established colleges, with a total strength of over 15,000.
In fact, RD National College is the first college set up by the board.
Neha Jagtiani, National College principal and also the director of the board's Bandra campus, said the alignment with the varsity will give them a great degree of autonomy to introduce new and emerging courses and also to increase fees to offer better facilities to students. For instance, she said, the college has been trying to start an undergraduate degree in data science for the last two years, but is unable to, as MU is yet to open the course for its non-autonomous colleges.
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"Being part of a smaller university gives us more flexibility for all practical purposes, right from starting new programmes, syllabus revision to introducing contemporary evaluation format that will contribute to the cause of the students' overall efficiencies and align with the requirements of the recruiters," said GT Thampi, TSEC principal.
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