Page 486 - Compendium of UGC Regulations 1957-2023

Regulations pertaining to Credits, Academic Programmes and Award of Degrees:

also indicating therein whether such a faculty member is on regular basis or visiting or
contract basis;
(vii) the minimum pay and other emoluments payable for each category of faculty and
Officers of the Institute;
(viii) physical and academic infrastructure and other facilities, including that of each of the
Study Centre or Learner Support Centre and in particular the laboratory, library and
Information and Communication Technology facilities to be provided to learners on
being admitted to the institution; and

(ix) broad outline of the syllabus specified by the appropriate statutory body or by institution,
as the case may be, for every course or programme of study.

5. Norms for Empanelment of Academic Counsellors and Counselling Sessions
5.1. Eligibility conditions for appointment of academic counselors: No academic staff in the
Study Centre or Learner Support Centre shall be appointed who does not fulfill the minimum
qualifications as laid down in the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications
for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in the Universities and Colleges
and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulation, 2010 as
modified from time to time. In addition, such academic staff should have familiarity with
the characteristics of Open and Distance Learning mode learners and their needs, difference
between Open and Distance Learning and conventional face – to - face education, awareness
about instructional design, familiarity with the learner centered approach in blended mode
of learning, ability to use different delivery media including online and computer mediated
communication and Information and Communication Technology enabled learning.
5.2. Norms for Contact Programmes: Credit Based System has been followed by Open and
Distance Learning single mode Higher Educational Institutions during the last more than
two decades and it has got standardised for programme delivery especially by the Open
Universities. Such credits depend on the total number of hours that a learner is required to
cover for all activities like participation in Contact Programmes, Working on Assignments,
Library Consultation etc., in completing a course. In this direction, University Grants
Commission has recently issued guidelines for introduction of Choice Based Credit System
(CBCS) which has been made mandatory for all Higher Educational Institutions delivering
education through conventional mode. Accordingly, for Post Graduate programmes in Open
and Distance Learning mode, 16 credits per semester are assigned for a total of four semesters.
In Open and Distance Learning mode Programme delivery, the component of contact with
teachers is comparatively much lower than the conventional or face to face mode which is
complemented by self-learning on the part of the learner. Therefore, one credit in regular or
face to face mode accounts for 15 teaching hours, whereas, in Open and Distance Learning
mode it is 30 study hours of study including face to face contact component. Comparative
credits assigned per semester in Choice Based Credit System for conventional mode and
Open and Distance Learning mode for undergraduate programmes is given below in Table 1.
Table 1. Comparative Credits in Conventional and Open and Distance Learning Modes

Total VI V IV III II I Semester

144 25 26 26 25 22 20 Credits Conventional mode
96 16 16 16 16 16 16 Credits in Open and Distance Learning

It will be desirable to ensure uniformity in distribution of units between the two systems as far as
possible.

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University Grants Commission