Ganderbal, Oct 12: Central University of Kashmir (CUKashmir), in collaboration with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), on Monday began a two-day national workshop on higher education administration, with participants calling for administrative reforms, digital governance and student-centric institutional systems to support the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.
Academic administrators from 35 institutions across 14 states are participating in the workshop, the first of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir.
Vice-Chancellor of CUK, Prof. A Ravinder Nath, in his presidential address, stressed the need for institutional reforms, strategic planning and responsive administrative systems to strengthen teaching, research and innovation.
He said universities must regularly reassess their administrative structures to keep pace with changing academic needs and contribute to national development.
Prof. Anand Bhalerao, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Rajasthan and chief guest, said university administration needed to evolve alongside changing classrooms, research practices and student expectations.
“The objective is not merely a digitized university administration. It is to redesign the administration so that it becomes an enabler of teaching, research, innovation and student success,” he said.
Prof. Bhalerao called for a shift from hierarchical procedures to greater accountability, fragmented offices to integrated services, and physical files to digital workflows.
“Digital transformation must begin with administrative reforms and not merely with the purchase of software,” he said, stressing the need to simplify procedures, clearly define responsibilities, strengthen data systems and train employees before automating administrative processes.
Sharing the experience of the Central University of Rajasthan, he said data analysis and digital assessment had helped improve institutional performance, examination management and graduate outcomes. The university had also reduced the time taken to declare examination results to five days after completion of the final paper assessment, he said.
AIU Secretary General Dr. Pankaj Mittal, who joined the programme online, said capacity-building initiatives for university administrators were important for implementing reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
She stressed that multidisciplinary education should enable students to choose courses across disciplines rather than remain confined to their respective departments.
She also called for better internship opportunities, multiple entry and exit options and effective implementation of the Academic Bank of Credits.
“The registrars have to be torchbearers for any reform in higher education,” she said, emphasising the need to strengthen administrative capacity, technology-enabled governance and professional development opportunities for administrative personnel.
In his welcome address, CUKashmir Registrar Dr. Nisar Ahmad Mir said the implementation of NEP 2020 had expanded the responsibilities of university administrators, who were required to manage new academic structures, regulatory requirements and technological changes.
He identified access, equity, quality, faculty availability, employability, infrastructure and the digital divide among the major challenges facing higher education.
Dr. Mir called for collaborative solutions to ensure universities remained responsive to the needs of students, society and the economy.
The workshop will feature deliberations on administrative practices, technology-enabled governance, institutional planning, quality assurance, regulatory frameworks and capacity building.
Dean Academic Affairs Prof. Shahid Rasool, deans of schools, Controller of Examinations, Finance Officer and other senior university functionaries were present.
Deputy Registrar Dr. Javid Ahmad Wani conducted the proceedings, while Deputy Registrar Abdul Rashid Bhat proposed the vote of thanks.
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