In the heart of the vibrant and culturally rich City of Colombo, a towering institution stands as a testament to the pursuit of knowledge, innovation, and academic excellence. The University of Colombo, often regarded as the
Vice Chancellor, Senior Professor
H. D. Karunaratne
jewel in the crown of Sri Lankan higher education, has carved an indelible mark on the educational landscape, not only within the nation but also on the global stage.
As we delve into the remarkable journey of this prestigious institution, we uncover the pillars of its success: the exceptional faculty, groundbreaking research, and the relentless commitment to nurturing future leaders. This exceptional institution has earned an excellent record in its history this year by being the only university to maintain the ‘A’ grade ranking for two consecutive times in line according to the institutional review conducted by the Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka. The present Vice Chancellor, Senior Professor H. D. Karunaratne, joined us for a discussion marking the latest achievement of the University of Colombo.
Q: Greetings on the achievement of the University of Colombo, Vice Chancellor! What exactly is this achievement?
A: Well, the University of Colombo has earned an ‘A’ grade at the Institutional Review this year. This is important because this is the only time a university has earned this grade twice consecutively. The last review was done back in 2016, and at that time also the University of Colombo earned an ‘A’, and consecutively, for the second time in 2023, the university maintained the same rank in institutional review. This review is done once every five years.
Q: Can you explain what ‘institutional review’ is?
A: Institutional review means a totally independent group of academic intellectuals comes to the university and evaluates all the day-to-day activities done by the university to determine whether those activities are in line with our strategic goals and established standards and norms. Actually, this is a kind of practical evaluation of the operation of the university. And this influences the progress of the university in various aspects.
Q: What is the specialty and importance of this review?
A: This is important, firstly, because it helps us self-evaluate where we are weak. Secondly, it gives us a chance to compare our university with other universities in the country and around the world. Moreover, this reviewing process provides us with a chance to look at where we are compared to global standards and the position we hold in the world rankings. Thirdly, it provides us with a basis to evaluate how well we are doing in certain contexts. As an example, during the last pandemic, the University of Colombo was the only Sri Lankan university that improved its position in the world ranking. So, in conclusion, this institutional review is very important for the management of the university in all aspects.
Q: What are the categories that were concerned with this review process?
A: The university has five main categories of employees. Namely, academics, administrators, instructors and academic support, non-academic staff, and casual and contract workers. The reviewers took a proportional sample of each group and of the students. Then the independent reviewers interviewed all these participants, and through the responses they got in the interviews, the reviewers qualitatively evaluated the institution. This kind of evaluation happens once every five years in Sri Lanka. The last institutional review happened in 2016, and this review was actually supposed to happen in 2021. But due to the pandemic, it was delayed by the University Grants Commission, and therefore it came in 2023.
Q: May I please know, in brief, what the process of reviewing was?
A: As I said previously, this is the only time a university has earned the best ranking consecutively. And the process is that the university has a quality assurance council, which we call the Senate Standing Committee for Quality Assurance. That committee includes representatives from every faculty, institution, and campus. This committee, once every five years, prepares a document called the SER. That SER is the document we have to submit for the institutional review, and it comes under nine criteria. Those nine criteria are standardized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka. This SER is then submitted to the UGC. The UGC has an evaluator committee comprised of eight or nine independent members who are well trained and experienced in the institutional reviewing process. Usually the chair of this committee is a former Vice Chancellor, and this time the Chairman was a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna. Once the SER is submitted to this committee, they go through the report thoroughly and verify the accuracy of the evidence mentioned in those reports. This time the University of Colombo submitted the report one month in advance, and that was also a plus point for the university as the committee got enough time to well examine the SER. And I am very glad to mention here that the University of Colombo has earned the highest score for the ‘Teaching and Learning’ criteria, proving the excellence of the academic culture of the university.
Q: What are the future plans the University of Colombo has to maintain the same excellence for the next five years?
A: That is a very important question. As I told you, in every faculty, school, and campus, we have a quality assurance team, and they prepared the SER. This SER was written by junior academic members under the supervision of senior, experienced members. So, in the next five years, hopefully these junior academic members will be more experienced academics, and they will mentor another set of junior academics to prepare the SER. This is how this circle is going. So, as the Vice Chancellor, I would like to state here that the plan we have is to facilitate our academics with the best rewards we can. And also, we will conduct regular feedback sessions and discussions about our progress. Maintaining the highest standards has always been and will be the plan for the University of Colombo.
Q: In closing, what is your message to the public?
A: My message to the public is that even in a crisis period, the university is progressing. Anyone can manage in normal circumstances, but maintaining the same excellence despite the external crisis is extraordinary. If you are improving while everything is in crisis that is the real challenge. The University of Colombo successfully overcame that challenge. In my opinion, for success, we need challenges, collaboration, cooperation, innovations, and networking. The University of Colombo has achieved all five pillars successfully. So, I would like to welcome the public to have a look at the grace of the University of Colombo and to network with us for more success!
Ayeshika Kaluarachchi University of Colombo
