MU to temporarily shut down four PG courses

Mangaluru: Mangalore University (MU) has decided to temporarily suspend four postgraduate (PG) courses at its Konaje campus in Mangalagangothri due to receiving fewer than 10 admissions for the current academic year. The final date for admissions was October 10.
The decision to temporarily shut down these four courses was made by MU's syndicate members.As per the decision, only the second year classes will continue in these four departments, and the first-year PG programme remained non-functional.
PL Dharma, vice-chancellor, said that courses in mass communication and journalism, environmental science, statistics and material sciences will be temporarily closed. "Initially, when the admission criteria for PG courses required 15 students, around eight courses failed to meet the required numbers. After lowering the criteria to 10 students, the number of under-enrolled courses dropped to four. Currently, these four PG courses have received only single-digit admissions. As it is not feasible to start the courses with such low enrolment, we have decided to temporarily suspend them. However, classes for II PG students will continue as usual. If enrolment improves in future, these courses will be reinstated," said Dharma.
On the decreased workload for the faculty of these departments, he said that the faculty will focus on promoting the department, enhancing the syllabus, and engaging in research activities. "Next year, we will re-advertise the courses that have been temporarily suspended this academic year," he added.
Meanwhile, the university has also reduced the number of guest faculty assigned to postgraduate departments. "Guest faculty will now be allocated strictly based on workload," said Dharma. He acknowledged that guest faculty have not been paid for the past three months, and that the university is exploring various ways to reduce expenses. "MU has spent nearly Rs 1.9 crore per month on salaries for contractual employees, including both teaching and non-teaching staff," he added.