Seat of knowledge

The university seeks to achieve a high level of excellence in academic activities and physical training.

The main entrance

ACHARYA Nagarjuna University, situated in the Krishna delta region of coastal Andhra Pradesh, completes 31 years on September 11. The university derives its name from Acharya Nagarjuna, the propounder of Mahayana Buddhism. Incidentally, the Buddhist scholar set up a learning centre in the 2nd century A.D. at Vijayapuri, also in Guntur, on the banks of the Krishna. ANU takes inspiration from history to achieve a high level of excellence in academic activities and physical training.

Beginning as a postgraduate centre for Andhra University at Nallapadu in Guntur district, ANU is today spread over 300 acres (120 hectares), and has the best infrastructure a university can dream of. It has one of the best faculties in life sciences and biotechnology, both for on-campus studies and for distance education. It was the first university to offer five life sciences courses in the distance mode. COW, or career opportunities on wheels, a unique experiment under the distance education mode, has been structured in such a way as to enable commuters by train to make meaningful use of their travel time. Under this programme, students and employees commuting between Gudivada and Vijayawada will be taught communication skills in English, leading to a certificate at the end of six months.

Indias first dedicated full-fledged Sports Hostel, built at a cost of Rs.5.5-crore, is the best showpiece of the university campus. To complement it, ANU has developed sporting arenas that match international standards, explains Vice-Chancellor V. Balamohandas.

The university plans to build separate hostels for boys and girls and expects students from affiliated colleges to avail themselves of the facility to train for national competitions. Research remains the mainstay of the university although the number of scholars taking up research studies has decreased owing to the lack of adequate grants to offer fellowships. Proposals for grants to the tune of Rs.55 crore are pending with the University Grants Commission (UGC). Yet, state-of-the-art laboratories for physics, chemistry and life sciences still draw a number of scholars to the university campus. Quality circles, a terminology heard in industrial establishments, has been brought to the ANU campus with the staff members actively improving the quality of their services to make the learning process effective. In this respect, the university filled up 54 vacant posts in the teaching faculty.

Friendship with neighbourhood is a concept adopted by the university for peaceful co-existence with the community by organising rural sports meet once a year as part of its friend-raising and fund-raising strategy.

For the first time in Andhra Pradesh, the university introduced group accident insurance policy for its students. ANU is the second university in the country to adopt this policy.

Taking its cue from the Indian Railways, ANU has introduced a tatkal scheme for giving original degree certificates, obtaining which is often a time-consuming process. Students can now collect the certificates for a small fee the same day on which they apply for them.

At least one smart classroom, which provides a unique learning experience with the help of multimedia equipment, is provided in each of the 35 departments on the campus. This dynamic learning environment is proposed to be increased to two a department next year.

The sports complex

Corporate Medicare is provided at concessional rates by the NRI Medical College near Guntur and a homoeo dispensary supplements this.

In-campus bus facility has been provided to help women, disabled persons and senior citizens reach the hostels and various departments, which are located several hundred metres apart.

Mega blood donation camps are an integral part of the National Service Scheme activities and over 2,000 students from Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts participate in the camp. Student welfare has taken precedence over all other activities and improving their living conditions in the hostels has been ANUs focus in the past two years.

Flush with surplus cash, the hostels are running efficiently and have low mess bills. Today the university has a surplus budget of Rs.12 lakh, which it plans to utilise for further improving the infrastructure.

All students who sought hostel accommodation (650 boys and 650 girls) were provided rooms. As the situation could change with more demand for accommodation, the university plans to construct a hostel, which can accommodate 150 girls, by the next academic season, says University Registrar K. Viyyanna Rao. The UGC has sanctioned another Rs.1 crore for the construction of womens hostels under a special scheme.

ANUs Centre for Distance Education (CDE) had an enrolment of 96,633 students by the end of July, which is likely to exceed one lakh by the time admissions for the current academic year are completed in November/December. Established in 2003-04, the centre offers 96 courses, including B. Tech in Computer Science, with a network of 112 study centres all over the State.

Velisetty Chandra Sekhara Rao, director of the centre, has strived to increase the popularity of distance education by ensuring prompt conduct of examination and contact classes and by issuing a complete schedule at the time of admission. We provide an opportunity to employees, housewives and dropouts to complete their education for an affordable fee. Our strength lies in supplying quality material in time, which has even attracted candidates from other university areas to join the CDE, Chandra Sekhara Rao told Frontline.

The university offers a variety of courses (from undergraduate courses to highly popular postgraduate courses in information technology, mathematics, English, commerce and business administration) in the distance education mode to cater to the varied interests. Students who complete their course in time without failing in any subject and top their respective batch are awarded gold medals at the annual convocation.

CHANDRA SEKHARA RAO,

The academic year 2007-08 saw the university embark on new partnerships with various universities in India and abroad. ANU inked a memorandum of understanding with the Central Michigan University, United States, in May to offer a joint Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme capable of meeting the current industry standards. Students pursuing the programme would have the option of studying at the U.S. university in the second year, provided they meet the academic requirements.

As per the twinning agreement, the students would be required to get a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 600 (250 for Internet-based testing) and a GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score of 600, and have 3.0 grade point average (GPA) in the undergraduate course.

The university has tied up with the NTR University of Health Sciences, Vijayawada, to offer twinning programmes in MBA (hospital administration) and M.Sc (medical biotechnology). As per the agreement, classes would be held at the NRI Medical College.

The university has also signed an agreement with the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) to offer M.Sc (statistics & informatics). Students pursuing this course would have the option of studying the third and fourth semester at the JNTU.