The University of Delhi lives in its colleges. During the last five years, there has been an attempt to strengthen the umbilical cord between the University and colleges, taking care,    however,

not to stifle their capability to take academic initiatives. One such move was the formal decision taken by the Academic Council and the Executive Council to allow colleges to offer short-time courses, some of which would lead to certification by the University. There are 69 undergraduate colleges in the University, of which 11 are evening colleges. The undergraduate education that the University provides is rated as the best in the country. Some of its colleges are internationally known. The University, during the last five years, has successfully persuaded the Government of Delhi to provide a special grant to restore and repair the buildings of some of the older colleges.

Many colleges were without Principals for some time, and a few among them for several years. In the last five years, as many as 20 Principals of Colleges have been appointed. The governance of colleges is a complex process and involves management of a large body of students, teachers and non-teaching staff. It is recognized that those who have for many years been involved only in academics, when appointed Principals, need skills in a wide spectrum of areas ­ administrative, financial and human resource management as well as in institutional development and perspective planning. With this in view, the University partnered with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, to design a special professional development workshop for Principals. The first workshop, for a batch of 31 Principals was conducted in December 2003 ­ January 2004. This was the first time the University addressed the issue of the professional development of those in management and governance of institutions within the system. It was much appreciated by the College Principals.