History of SJCE Mysore: from 1963 to JSS Science and Technology University

The story of SJCE Mysore history begins in 1963, when Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering opened on the western edge of Mysore under JSS Mahavidyapeetha. Over five decades it grew from three branches into a grant-in-aid, autonomous, World Bank–assisted institution, and in 2016 it became the founding campus of JSS Science and Technology University (JSS STU). This article traces that journey using the college’s own archived pages and published records.

Origins: a 1963 college under JSS Mahavidyapeetha

The college’s own website from 2014 described Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering as “conceived in 1963” and “the dream child” of Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamigalavaru, the 23rd pontiff of Sri Suttur Mutt. It was set up under JSS Mahavidyapeetha, the educational trust that the Mutt had founded in 1954. By 2014 the Mahavidyapeetha described itself as running more than 300 institutions, from schools to medical and engineering colleges, in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and abroad.

Dr. T.M.A. Pai, founder of the Manipal institutions and then chairman of the Academy of Education, Manipal, officially inaugurated the college. For families in Mysore and the surrounding districts, it meant a residential engineering college close to home, at a time when technical education in India was expanding quickly.

The college’s 50-year report lists Dr. M. Siddalingaiah as the first principal, for a short term from June to September 1963. Prof. Kasturi Rangachar followed him. According to the same report, the first academic year began with:

• three degree branches: Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering;
• the supporting Physics and Mathematics departments, plus the library;
• a boys’ hostel, which put residential life at the centre of the college from the start.

Building the departments, 1968–2004

The first batch graduated in 1968. That same year the college added Electronics and Communication Engineering, which the 50-year report describes as the first course of its kind in Karnataka. Over the next four decades SJCE kept adding programmes, and the order in which they arrived mirrors how Indian industry changed.

Year	Milestone
1963	College founded; Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering; boys’ hostel
1968	First graduating batch; Electronics & Communication Engineering introduced
1974	Grant-in-aid status from the Government of Karnataka
1978	Instrumentation Technology degree
1980	Industrial & Production Engineering
1982	Computer Science & Engineering
Late 1980s	Environmental Engineering (an offshoot of Civil) and Polymer Science & Technology
1988	Silver Jubilee; SJCE-STEP and the R&D cell established
1998	VTU formed; SJCE comes under it; NBA accreditation begins
2000	Information Science & Engineering
2002–2004	Biotechnology (2002), girls’ hostel (2003), Construction Technology & Management (2004)
2007–08	Autonomous status
2013–15	Golden Jubilee celebrations
2016–17	JSS Science and Technology University begins functioning

Sources disagree on a few dates. Polymer Science, for example, appears as 1987–88 in the college’s report and as 1992 in some secondary sources. Where that happens we follow the college’s own document. Electronics in the late 1960s, computing in the early 1980s, information science in 2000 and biotechnology in 2002: the sequence tracks how engineering demand in India moved over the period. Current programme lists are published by JSS STU.

Postgraduate study grew alongside the undergraduate branches. The 2014 site listed M.Tech programmes in fields such as Industrial Electronics, Industrial Structures, Environmental Engineering, Maintenance Engineering, Biomedical Signal Processing & Instrumentation, Energy Systems & Management, Polymer Science and Biotechnology. It also listed MBA and MCA programmes and research degrees (M.Sc. (Engg) by research and Ph.D.) in all engineering departments. The same site described an evening B.E. programme for employed diploma holders.

Grant-in-aid, VTU and the move to autonomy

SJCE received grant-in-aid status in 1974, according to the 50-year report. A grant-in-aid institution receives government support for approved posts and follows the state’s rules. In admissions, this showed up as a high share of government-quota seats: the 2014 site said that 95% of seats in aided B.E. courses were filled by the Government of Karnataka through the Karnataka Examinations Authority.

In 1998 the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) was set up. It brought engineering colleges that had been affiliated to several different universities under one technical university, and SJCE joined it as an affiliated college. The 50-year report says the college’s NBA accreditation journey began in the same year.

The bigger change came in 2007–08, when VTU granted SJCE autonomous status. The 50-year report records that the UGC granted autonomy from February 2008, covering 2008–09 to 2013–14, and later extended it to 2019–20. For students, autonomy meant that the college set its own syllabus, ran its own semester-end examinations and published its own results, while VTU still awarded the degree. The 2014 notice board shows how this worked day to day: notices about Continuous Internal Evaluation (CIE), semester-end examinations “(Autonomous)”, makeup exams and supplementary courses. The 2014 site also said SJCE was one of only a small number of Karnataka engineering colleges given autonomy at that time. Our explainer on what autonomous status means covers the topic in more detail.

TEQIP, research and SJCE-STEP

SJCE took part in the World Bank–assisted Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) in its first phase. The 2014 institute profile says it was “selected as Lead Institute” and received a grant of Rs. 20 crore. TEQIP Phase I focused on infrastructure, learning outcomes and graduate employability. The college then won Rs. 12.5 crore under TEQIP Phase II, which was aimed at scaling up postgraduate education and demand-driven R&D. The 2014 TEQIP page said SJCE’s Phase II proposal received the highest marks in the country. That is the college’s own statement, and we report it as such. Our TEQIP explainer describes how the programme worked nationally.

Research and enterprise had started earlier:

• 1988 – R&D cell. The management created a cell that funded proposal preparation, conference travel and publication support for faculty.
• 1988 – SJCE-STEP. A Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park was set up on campus with support from the Department of Science & Technology (Government of India), IDBI and the Government of Karnataka. The 2014 site described it as one of the first three STEPs accredited as “best STEP” among 14 nationally. Read more on our SJCE-STEP page.
• 2000–01 – JSS Research Foundation. Set up by JSS Mahavidyapeetha to offer Ph.D. and M.Sc. (Engg) by research, and affiliated to the University of Mysore from 2001–02.
• Industry-sponsored laboratories. By 2014 the site listed labs associated with Philips, HP, Cisco, Bosch Rexroth, Nokia and Schneider.
• International MoUs. The site named agreements with North Carolina A&T State University and Sonoma State University in the US, and the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand.

The campus and its place in Mysuru

The 2014 site described a “sprawling 117 acres” campus, which it called one of the landmarks of western Mysore. Later publications give different areas for the present university campus, so treat any single acreage as approximate. The campus is in the Manasagangotri area, next to the University of Mysore, and the official address is now given as the JSS Technical Institutions Campus, Mysuru 570006. (The city’s official English name changed from Mysore to Mysuru in 2014.)

The archived amenities list shows campus life at the time: boys’ and girls’ hostels, a 12-hour library with digital library and e-journal access, a central computing facility and CAD centre, a dispensary with a tie-up with JSS Hospital, a co-operative society, a bank with ATM, and Wi-Fi. For sport, the physical education department listed a gymnasium, courts for basketball, volleyball, tennis, kabaddi and kho-kho, and a cricket ground. In 2012 the JSS–KSCA cricket ground opened on campus. The college’s sports page named India fast bowler Javagal Srinath and tennis player Prahlad Srinath among its notable players.

Professional bodies were active as well. The 2014 site listed an IEEE student branch with over 250 members, ISTE and CSI student chapters, the Institution of Engineers student chapter and a Youth Red Cross wing. To see the area around the campus, our About Mysuru guide is a good starting point. Visitors who would like context on the ground can book our independent Mysuru heritage & campus-area walking tour, which covers public areas only.

The Golden Jubilee, 2013–15

The college marked fifty years with a Golden Jubilee year in 2013–14. According to the 50-year report, Dr. Sam Pitroda, then chairman of the National Innovation Council, inaugurated the Golden Jubilee block on 22 March 2014. Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was chief guest at the valedictory function on 31 March 2015. Around the same time the college held its graduation days as an autonomous institution. The 2014 notice board refers to a 4th Graduation Day on 26 October 2013.

The jubilee also gave the college a chance to look back on its record. Its 2014 vision statement ended with an aspiration “to lead the institutions to qualify as a deemed university.” Within a few years that goal was met in another form, as a state private university.

From SJCE to JSS Science and Technology University

The Karnataka legislature passed the J.S.S. Science and Technology University Act, 2013 (Karnataka Act No. 43 of 2013), which received the Governor’s assent on 22 March 2013. The sponsoring body is JSS Mahavidyapeetha. The Act came into force on a date to be notified by the state government. The university’s COMEDK profile gives that notification date as 16 January 2016, and the 50-year report says the university has been functioning since 2016–17.

JSS STU is a unitary university: it runs its own programmes on its own campus and does not affiliate outside colleges as VTU does. SJCE is now described as a constituent college of the university, and degrees are awarded by JSS STU. The university’s admissions profile on COMEDK lists B.E. programmes including Civil, Mechanical, Electronics & Communication, Computer Science, Information Science, Biotechnology, Construction Technology & Management, and Computer Science & Business Systems. It also lists postgraduate and doctoral programmes. The list of programmes changes over time, so check the official JSS STU website for the current list.

What the change means for students and alumni

• Degree certificates: Older alumni hold degrees from the university the college was affiliated to when they graduated. Autonomous-era graduates from 2008 onwards hold VTU degrees issued under autonomy. Recent graduates hold JSS STU degrees. For verification or transcripts, contact the body that issued your degree.
• Admissions: A private university’s seats are filled under the state’s rules, usually through a mix of government-quota, COMEDK and other categories. The proportions are set each year. Our Karnataka admissions guide explains the process.
• Names: “SJCE” is still widely used, and you will see “JSS STU”, “SJCE Mysuru” and “JSS TI Campus” used for the same place.
• Records from before 2016: Archived notices from the old site, wherever they appear, are kept for historical reference only. They are not current rules.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• SJCE – 50 years report (college document, PDF)
• J.S.S. Science and Technology University Act, 2013 (Karnataka Act 43 of 2013) – text
• COMEDK – JSS Science and Technology University profile
• Visvesvaraya Technological University – About VTU
• JSS Science and Technology University – official website