Cotton University


Cotton University is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established under The Cotton University Act, 2017 of the Assam Legislative Assembly to merge the Cotton College State University and Cotton College. The university made its way to become one of the top 200 institutions of the country by figuring in the band of 150-200 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework rank list in May, 2020.
Cotton College was established in 1901 by Sir Henry Stedman Cotton, the Chief Commissioner of the erstwhile British province of Assam. It had been the oldest institute of higher education in Assam, and the whole northeast India.
It became the constituent college of Gauhati University in 1948, and then that of the Cotton College State University, when CCSU was established by an Act of the Assam Government in 2011. The Cotton University Act, 2017 was made to resolve the problems between the college and the university.

History

Under public demand, Manick Chandra wrote a letter in 1899 to the British government to open a college in Guwahati, as Assam was the only province without a college and Guwahati was most convenient for the people. In response, Sir Henry Stedman Cotton, K.C.S.I., the then Chief Commissioner of Assam, announced on 3 November 1899 that a college would be opened in Guwahati. The name decided by the public, the Cotton College was inaugurated on 27 May 1901 by Cotton himself. It was affiliated to the Calcutta University. The college was started with five professors, which included Frederick William Sudmerson, the first principal of the college, and 39 students.
The college was the centre of the freedom movement and the literary and cultural movements of the state to build the identity of Assam as a distinct integral component of India. As Gauhati University was established in 1948, the college was affiliated to it and became its constituent college. It was declared as Special Heritage College in 2015.
On 16 October 1992, the college was declared as a center of excellence, an occasion celebrated in a solemn ceremony with Shankar Dayal Sharma, the then President of India. It officially became a post-graduate college.
Cotton College celebrated its centennial with a year-long program from 27 May 2001 to 26 May 2002. Krishan Kant, the then Vice President of India graced the closing ceremony. India Post issued a ₹ 4.00 commemorative postage stamp on 25 May 2002, as part of the centenary celebration.

Cotton College State University

Cotton College State University was created via an Act of the Government of Assam. This act received the assent of the Governor of Assam on 3 September 2011, and was notified via the Assam Gazette on 5 September 2011. The vision of this new University is to be a world-class one, excelling in both teaching and research, developing knowledge and skills with an emphasis on this part of our country, providing broad-based education to students to take on the challenges of tomorrow via modern curricula, learning and assessment methods, upholding the highest ethical standards, and providing a clean, efficient and transparent administration. The Cotton College became its constituent college.
The election to the university's first Academic Council and University Court was held on 22 February 2013 with three and five members, respectively.

Cotton University

There had been conflicts between the university and the college mainly on the custody of properties. The Assam Legislative Assembly made an amendment in 2015 that the university and the college run as separate institutes. The bill called The Cotton University Act, 2017 was passed by the Assam Legislative Assembly on 2 March 2017 to resolve the problems. By this act, the university and the college would be completely merged. Upon enforcement, the university was renamed to Cotton University. By ordinance, the Governor of Assam, Banwarilal Purohit became the Chancellor, who appointed Bhabesh Chandra Goswami as the first Vice Chancellor in July 2017.

Academics

HSSLC

Keeping the tradition of the erstwhile Cotton College, courses leading to Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate is possible in the Arts and Science streams. This qualification is awarded upon successful completion of two years of study followed by relevant examinations under Assam Higher Secondary Educational Council.

Bachelors

,Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Computer Application graduate degrees are offered. The degrees are awarded upon successful completion of three years of study followed by relevant examinations under Cotton University.

Masters

Postgraduate programmes leading to the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master in Computer Application are offered. The degrees are awarded upon successful completion of two years of study followed by relevant examinations under Cotton University. Admission is done through a national level entrance examination.

Doctoral programme

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is offered in all postgraduate departments. Admission is open in June/July. Selection is based on written test and a viva voce. Candidates qualified in National Eligibility Test or State Level Eligibility Test are exempted from written test.

Faculties and Centres

  1. Faculty of Languages, Literature and Linguistics
  2. Faculty of Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences
  3. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  4. Faculty of Earth Sciences
  5. Faculty of Life Sciences
  6. Centre for Womens Studies

    Accreditation

This institution has been accredited with cumulative grade point average of 3.76 on four point and grade A++ on 5 November 2016 by the 18th SC executive committee of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. At the time, the CGPA score was the third highest among colleges in India.

Hostels

  1. Krishna Kanta Handique Post Graduate Boys' Hostel
  2. Swahid Muzammil Haque Boys' Hostel
  3. Rajanikanta Bordoloi Boys' Hostel
  4. Swahid Ranjit Barpujari Boys' Hostel
  5. Anundo Ram Barooah Boys' Hostel
  6. Seetanath Brahma Chaudhury Boys' Hostel
  7. Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan Boys' Hostel
  8. Padmashree Nalini Bala Devi Girls' Hostel
  9. Swahid Kanaklata Girls' Hostel
  10. Dr. Kamala Roy Girls' Hostel

    Notable alumni

The institute had 50 principals from 1901 till 2012.
No.PrincipalTenure
1F.W. Sudmersen1901–1926
2D. Thomson1926–1933
3A.E. Brown1933–1934
4D.E. Roberts1934–1937
5S.C. Roy1937–1940
6B.C. Sengupta1940–1942
7H.N. Sen1942–1943
8Ankushjyoti Kalita1943
9S.N. Sen1943–1944
10R.R. Thomas1945–1946
11S.K. Bhuyan1946
12P.C. Sanyal1946–1947
13S.M. Mahibullah1947
14B.Kalita1993 –
15U.K. Goswami1949
16S.N. Chakravarty1949–1952
17H.C. Bhuyan1952–1954
18U.K. Dutta1954–1958
19H.C. Goswami1958–1963
20H.K. Barpujari1963
21N. Islam1963–1969
22K. Roy1969
23p.c. Goswami1969–1970
24Mada Mitra1970–1972
25Abdul Jalil1972 – 1974
26Manash Kumar Baishya1996 –

S.No.NameTenure
27.A. Sarma1975
28.A. Ali1975–1979
29.A. Latif1979
30.G.C. Deka1979–1986
31.R.K. Das1986–1987
32.K.D. Krori1987–1991
33.A.K. Goswami1991–1993
34.B.C. Choudhury1993–1994
35.M.C. Ghose1994 – 1995, 1995 – 1996
36.T. Mahanta1996 – 1997
37.J. Datta1 January 1998 – 31 January 1998
38.K.C. Paul1 February 1998 – 30 June 1998
39.P. Kakati1 July 1998 – 30 November 1998
40.D.K. Kakati1 December 1998 – 31 May 1999
41.M. Dev Choudhury1 June 1999 – 29 February 2000
42.D.K. Barua1 March 2000 – 7 March 2000, 8 March 2000 – 7 November 2000
43.R. Thakuria8 November 2000 – 31 December 2002
44.J. Medhi1 January 2003 – 31 August 2003
45.U.A. Bharali1 September 2003 – 31 August 2006
46.T. Sircar1 September 2006 – 8 January 2007
47.I.K Bhattacharyya9 January 2007 to 31 October 2011
48.S. Barua1 November 2011 – 30 November 2011
49.Jamuna Sharma Choudhury1 December 2011 – 31 December 2011
50.Prasanta Kumar Bordoloi1 January 2012 – 17 March 2012
51.Nirada Devi18 March 2012 – 2017