Measurement of Output of Science Departments of Central Universities of India

Quantitative research provides a pedestal to any university. Research in a university speaks of the fertile minds and an environment of intellectual interaction in the university scientific literature is expanding very fast. A Central University in India is formed by the Government of India, by an Act of Parliament. The Government of India is responsible for arranging, allocating and distributing financial resources required by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the establishment of Central Universities in India. Currently there are many Central Universities in India. The higher education system in India being one of the largest in the world, the responsibility rests on the Central Government to devise policies with a view to improving the quality of higher education in India. Barring few central universities which are not predominantly having Science Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Mathematics and Statistics have been taken into consideration. The present study attempts to find out the quantum of various types of output of Science faculty of the Central Universities and how these are explained by financial and human resources available with the departments. The various types of outputs of a university science department considered are grouped broadly under three categories and input indicators are grouped under two categories. For the Output Indicators the Broad Categories are: Academic, Research and Others including Administrative whereas Input Indicators are grouped under the categories of Human Resources and Financial Resources.
Evaluation of output in the form of papers published in pear reviewed journals in terms of the journal’s impact factors can be computed easily. Also their clubbing is feasible and one department can be compared with other department within the university and also one can have total impact factor contributed by such research papers of the various Central Universities. A methodology is suggested/evolved through appropriate indicators which find the quantitative measures for other types of Output. As these measures are also have to be combined so that all the outputs are being placed on the same platform for various departments of the same university and these universities can be ranked objectively on the basis of total scientific output, a proper weighting diagram should be obtained to have appropriate indices. The linkage of the clubbed output with the resources available with the universities can also be used objectively so that one may allocate the financial resource to the various universities for getting the more equitable scientific output for much more progress in the scientific departments of the Central Universities.

Possible Objectives of a study
1. To study the research trend in the various science subjects for the various Central Universities.
2. For each of the years under consideration and also for the last decade
2.1 Inter and Intra Ranking of Various Science Departments;
2.1 Ranking of Universities for the overall index;
2.2 Ranking of Universities in respect of papers in peer reviewed journals.
3. Interrelating the output of the Departments/ Universities with the input parameters so that one may use the same in order to allocate the financial resource objectively to the various universities for getting the more equitable scientific output for much more progress in the scientific departments of the Central Universities.
For the purpose of this study, the Science Departments considered are, say Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Mathematics and Statistics.

The following list of Central Universities has been taken from UGC Web Site.
1. Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh
2. Assam University, Assam
3. Tezpur University, Assam
4. University of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
5. Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Andhra Pradesh
6. English and Foreign Languages University, Andhra Pradesh
7. Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
8. University of Delhi, Delhi
9. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
10. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
11. The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Madhya Pradesh
12. Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Maharashtra
13. Mizoram University, Mizoram
14. North Eastern Hill University, Meghalaya
15. Manipur University, Manipur
16. Central Agricultural University, Manipur
17. Nagaland University, Nagaland
18. Pondicherry University, Puducherry
19. Sikkim University, Sikkim
20. Tripura University, Tripura
21. Aligarh Muslim University, U.P
22. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, U.P.
23. Banaras Hindu University, U.P.
24. University of Allahabad, U.P
25. Visva Bharati, West Bengal
26. Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttrakund
27. Central university of Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu
28. Indian Maritime University, Chennai
29. Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan
30. Central University of Punjab, Punjab
31. Central University of Orissa, Orissa
32. Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Madhya Pradesh
33. Central University of Kerala,
34. Central University of Karnataka,
35. Central University of Jharkhand, Jharkhand
36. Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar
37. Central University of Jammu, Jammu
38. Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh
39. Central University of Haryana, Haryana
40. Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Chhatisgarh
41. Central University of Bihar, Bihar
42. Central University of Gujarat, Gujarat

Secondary data review has been carried in order to short list the above list of Central Universities by selecting those who are having one or more of the above mentioned science departments. Faculty in position in the Science Departments of all the listed Central Universities has been obtained. Out of the above list, following 21 central universities are proposed to be covered. The left out universities are those universities who are either not having the proposed science departments exclusively or are in their inception stage having almost no facilities to carry out the mandate of their science departments.

Rajiv Gandhi University
Assam University
Tezpur University
University of Hyderabad
Jamia Millia Islamia
University of Delhi
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya
Mizoram University
North Eastern Hill University
Manipur University
Nagaland University
Pondicherry University
Sikkim University
Tripura University
Aligarh Muslim University
Banaras Hindu University
University of Allahabad
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
Central university of Tamil Nadu
Central University of Rajasthan


Possible Methodology Suggested

In order to access the outputs of the various science departments of the Central Universities and which may correspond to the financial and human resources as inputs, the following list of indicators can be considered. The list also provides the corresponding data source for each and every indicator mentioned. Years of investigations can be from 2001 to 2010. A Questionnaire can be devised to seek the values of indicators directly from the Faculty/Research/Project/Library Staff and also by use of Administrative records of the Departments and/or University.


List of Output/Input Indicators and the Source of Data


S.No. Academic Output Indicators (Source of Data)
1. Number of students passed postgraduate course
1.1 Total number of students enrolled for postgraduate course (From Administrative Records)
1.2 Total Number of students passed (From Administrative Records)

1.3 No passed with more than 75% (From Administrative Records)

1.4 No passed with more than 60% and less than 75%
(From Administrative Records)
1.5 No passed with marks between 50% and 60%
(From Administrative Records)
2. Examination Related Work
2.1 Setting (Number) of Papers in a Year (From Administrative Records)

2.2 Number of Papers checked in a Year (From Administrative Records)

3. External Examiner
3.1 Number of external Ph.D. /D.Sc. Students examined (Census of Faculty)
3.2 Number of external M.Phil. Students examined (Census of Faculty)
3.3 Number of external Postgraduate Students examined for Practical (Census of Faculty)
4. Books published by faculty
4.1
Sale proceeds of the books published during the reference year (Census of Faculty)
4.2 Sale proceeds of the books published till the preceding to the reference year (Census of Faculty)
4.3 Number of times the books published during the current year issued by the library (From Libraries)
4.4 Number of times the books published up to the current year issued by the library (From Libraries)
4.5 Number/ Value of Books sold to the various Libraries (From Publishers)
4.6 Number/ Value of Books sold to the actual users (From Publishers)
5. Workshops organized by the department
5.1 Number of presentations made by the faculty of the department in Workshops (Census of Faculty)
5.2 Total number attended the Workshops (From Administrative Records)
6. Workshops organized by the departments of other universities/institutes
6.1 Number of presentations made by the faculty of the department in Workshops organized by others (Census of Faculty)
6.2 Total number attended the Workshops organized by others (Census of Faculty)
7. Papers Published in peer reviewed journals
7.1 Number of papers published in peer reviewed journals (having Impact factor) by faculty and students either jointly or singly (Census of Faculty/Research Students)
7.2 Impact Factor of various peer reviewed journals (The peer reviewed journals)
8. Patents
8.1 Number of patents filed by faculty and students through departments/ university (From Administrative Records)
8.2 Number approved (From Administrative Records)
8.3 Commercial value of approved patents (From Administrative Records)
8.4 Number filed but not yet approved / registered (From Administrative Records)
9. Seminars organized by the department
9.1 Number of papers presented by the faculty of the department in Seminars (Census of Faculty)
9.2 Total number attended the Seminars (From Administrative Records)
10. Seminars organized by the other universities/institutes
10.1 Number of papers presented by the faculty of the department in Seminars organized by others (Census of Faculty)
10.2 Total number attended the Seminars organized by others (Census of Faculty)
11. Number of students completed PhD/ D.Sc. during the current year (From Administrative Records)
12. Number of Students awarded M.Phil. during the current year (From Administrative Records)
S.No. Administrative and Other Output Indicators (Source of Data)
13. Administrative Work in Number of Hours in a Year (Census of Faculty)
14. Examination Related Work
14.1 Invigilation Work in Number of days in a Year (Census of Faculty)
14.2 Coding/decoding, result preparation etc. work in Number of days in a Year (Census of Faculty)
15. Number of Other technical publications by department (Census of Faculty)
16. Technical projects completed/ ongoing by department
16.1 Number of Technical projects completed during the current year (From Administrative Records)
16.2 Value of Technical projects completed during the current year (From Administrative Records)
16.3 Number of Technical projects on going during the current year (From Administrative Records)
16.4 Value of Technical projects on going during the current year (From Administrative Records)
17. Data Bases Created/ Being Created
17.1 Number of Data Bases Created (From Administrative Records)
17.2 Sale proceeds of these data bases (From Administrative Records)
17.3 Number of Data Bases Being Created (From Administrative Records)
18. Consultancy projects completed/ ongoing by various faculty
18.1 Number of Consultancy projects completed during the current year (Census of Faculty)
18.2 Value of Consultancy projects completed during the current year (Census of Faculty)
18.3 Number of Consultancy projects on going during the current year (Census of Faculty)
18.4 Value of Consultancy projects on going during the current year (Census of Faculty)
19. Number of other articles published in newspapers/magazines/others (Census of Faculty)
S.No. Input Human Resources Indicators (Source of Data)
20. Number of Professors in the department (From Administrative Records)
21. Number of Associate Professors in the department (From Administrative Records)
22. Number of Assistant Professors in the department (From Administrative Records)
23. Number of other faculties in the department (From Administrative Records)
24. Number of other research staff in the department (From Administrative Records)
25. Number of other non-teaching staff supporting
research/ project and consultancy activities in
the department (From Administrative Records)
Input Financial Resources Indicators (Source of Data)
26. Regular Funds for salaries and other heads of account (From Administrative Records)
27. Funds for projects (From Administrative Records)
28. Funds for consultancy (From Administrative Records and/or Faculty Census)
29. Royalties (From Administrative Records and/or Faculty Census)
30. Plan Funds (From Administrative Records)
31. Other Grants including own Resources (From Administrative Records and/or Faculty Census)

Additionally, faculty wise interviews to access their time use and importance to various activities of the Department can also be obtained through the Questionnaire. Satisfaction Level also needs to be ascertained from the Faculty of the Science Departments through the Questionnaire. The Part Questionnaire can also be devised to access the information regarding Importance of various activities as per prominent Policy Makers and management of the Science Departments and /or Universities. This data can be utilized to have weights for clubbing or for constructing various indices –for the various output groups and overall. After the data collection, the data analysis can be carried in order to meet the objectives of the study.