The UGC has given the HEIs, or host institutions, permission to request a small fee from the visiting universities in exchange for making their cutting-edge resources available to the less fortunate.
Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked the central universities and HEIs to share their infrastructure and resources with one another. This will allow researchers and undergraduate and graduate students at one HEI to use the libraries, laboratories, and other resources of another HEI.
The UGC has given the HEIs, or host institutions, permission to request a small fee from the visiting universities in exchange for making their cutting-edge resources available to the less fortunate. The extra money will aid the host institutions in maintaining their infrastructure and resources.
The UGC has provided recommendations for HEIs to follow in order to make the most use of their resources.
Both the City Model (collaborating within the same city) and the Distant Model allow for the sharing of resources and facilities between HEIs (collaborating institutions distantly located). However, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the subject is required of them.
The City Model allows for peer-to-peer or lab-to-lab resource sharing at the research level. Resources might be shared within departments or at the institutional level for postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, respectively.
The UGC has urged the schools to share the costs of their high-end equipment, such central instrumentation facilities, in exchange for a minimal fee. Through central licencing, the two cooperating institutions may grant users access to electronic books, databases, and online resources. However, the institutions should make sure that this resource sharing does not result in copyright infringements, data privacy breaches, etc.
The participating institution can provide academic resources including access to learning management systems, online lectures, videos, and learning materials as part of the distant learning model.
The UGC urged “all HEIs to adopt adequate measures for the implementation of the UGC guidelines in order to extend the advantage to UG/PG students and researchers.”
