Mangalore Varsity: Student admissions delayed as colleges struggle to complete 'affiliation process'

Mangaluru: Even though the college admission season is here, the UUCMS (Unified University & College Management System) portal of the Department of Higher Education has been inoperable, blocking the process of college affiliation with the university.

Every year the colleges have to complete the affiliation process with Mangalore University. Only after completing the affiliation for the courses, can they admit students for the academic year. However, the technical snags in the state’s UUCMS portal have delayed the affiliation process, affecting student enrollment at colleges.

According to the Karnataka State Universities Act 2000, all colleges under the jurisdiction of a university in the state are required to be affiliated with it every year. In pursuance of this requirement, in April 2023, Mangalore University invited applications for the opening of new colleges, an extension of existing affiliations, continuation of affiliation, permanent affiliation, an increase of intake, change in college name, transfer of management, etc. for the academic year 2023-24.

The colleges are required to complete the process and pay the required fees for these services on the UUCMS. The colleges will have to pay a penalty for missing the deadline.

Earlier, the affiliation process would begin in December and be completed by March. This facilitated the college to begin student enrollments as soon as the PUC results were announced. This year, however, colleges are unable to admit students to courses despite PUC results being announced.

Due to the problems with UUCMS, Mangalore University has extended the deadline several times. As per the original notification, the last date for submitting the affiliation application was May 6. The deadline was pushed to May 10 and then to May 17 due to the UUCMS portal issues. Yet again, the date has been pushed to May 20.

Apparently, the State government has instructed colleges to pay the fees via online mode. However, the colleges are facing issues when paying the fees online on the UUCMS portal.

A college principal highlighted that the colleges are asked to submit a hard copy of the application to the university. “Then, what is the use of submitting the application online? Why create a paper bundle again for a paperless process?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Prof Kishore Kumar C.K., Registrar (Administration), Mangalore University said that the technical issues in the UUCMS portal are expected to be sorted out in the next 2-3 days. Once the issue is sorted out, the affiliation process can be completed within a week. “All efforts are being made to begin the classes for the next academic year from June 16,” he added.