DU asks Stephen’s to withdraw prospectus with 85:15 policy

In a prospectus on its website, the college has said it will give 15 per cent weightage to interviews for admission across categories.

“St Stephen’s College will adopt the CUET as the eligibility criteria with 85 per cent weightage for CUET, and the college’s interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15 per cent,” the prospectus for undergraduate course 2022-23 stated.

Registrar Vikas Gupta wrote to the principal Tuesday saying that DU had communicated the “approved admission policy for the undergraduate programmes” to Stephen’s earlier on two occasions, the latest via a letter on May 9.

“With regard to your college, taking note of the fact that it is a minority institution (for candidates belonging to the Christian community), the university has decided that 50 per cent of the open seats shall be filled solely based on merit of the CUET score. However, the remaining 50 per cent of seats for minority candidates shall be filled based on combined merit of 85 per cent weightage to the CUET score and 15 per cent weightage to the interview to be conducted by the college… In view of the above, you are required to abide by the admission policy as detailed… which is applicable for admission of students in St Stephen’s College for the session 2022-23,” the May 9 letter had said.

On Tuesday, Gupta referenced a news report on Stephen’s going ahead with 15 per cent weightage to interviews for all and said if true, they “must withdraw the Admission Prospectus containing such incongruent policy from the website of your college immediately” and “issue a public notice stating clearly that the approved admission policies of the University shall be applicable for admissions into various courses to be offered by the St Stephen’s College for the UG programmes for the session 2022-23”.

“You may note, any admission done in violation of the admission norms and policies of the university shall not be recognized by the university and will be treated as null and void for all purposes,” Gupta wrote.

“The University of Delhi shall not be responsible for any consequential impact on the life and career of the candidates admitted to your college in violation of the University admission policy. You are advised to take necessary steps in this regard immediately and inform the University accordingly,” he added.

While Stephen’s Principal John Varghese could not be reached for comment, DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said, “They should have followed the directions of the university. They should not have done this, because it will create confusion among students, which is not fair.”