Panjab University is one of the 21 state universities to be granted full autonomy by the University Grants Commission - UGC. As per the PU officials, because of the full autonomy varsity will have more freedom to invite and appoint foreign faculty and collaborations with foreign universities. Since the UGC has granted them full autonomy, PU can look for foreign collaborations without any interference from UGC.
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Arun Kumar Grover, PU Vice-Chancellor said that even UBS has planning to form tie-ups with universities in Australia and UK for joint MBA courses. They can do the same independently without facing any intervention from AICTE or UGC . According to him, such foreign collaborations and tie-ups help in improving the ranking of the university and develops the overall quality of education. Even the students get to learn about new development and tend to gain international exposure.
Panjab University is planning to collaborate with the University of Nottingham in the UK - their Ningbo Campus in China with the help of HGIIE Trust in the United Kingdom. However, the university can continue with the Nomenclature Honour School in their degrees and they even need to work on their grants and finances. The main motive of UGC is to grant autonomy and enable universities to become more self-reliant and are able to generate their own funds and maintain their finances.
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There are various other state universities apart from PU who have been granted autonomy by UGC and they are Jammu University, Kurukshetra University , Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar etc.