Andhra University

Andhra University
ఆంధ్ర విశ్వవిద్యాలయం
Motto Sanskrit: तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु
Tejasvi nāvadhītamastu
(from the Taittiriya āraṇyaka of the Yajurveda, 8.0.0)
Motto in English
 "May the Divine Light illuminate our studies."
Type Public
Established 1926
Vice-Chancellor Prof. E. A. Narayana
Location Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
17°43′45.38″N 83°19′17.61″E / 17.7292722°N 83.3215583°E / 17.7292722; 83.3215583Coordinates: 17°43′45.38″N 83°19′17.61″E / 17.7292722°N 83.3215583°E / 17.7292722; 83.3215583
Campus Urban
Affiliations UGC
Website www.andhrauniversity.edu.in

Andhra University (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర విశ్వకళాపరిషత్; IAST: Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat) is one of the oldest universities in India. It is located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It was established in 1926[1] and shared affiliating responsibilities with Madras University in the initial years. It is located in a campus of 171 hectares (422 acres).

The university designed and implemented a Quality Management System and became the first general university in the country to get ISO 9001: 2000 Certification in 2006.

History

Andhra University was established in 1926 by the Madras University Act to serve the entire linguistic region of Andhra as a residential teaching- cum-affiliating university. The institution has Sir C.R. Reddy as its founder Vice chancellor and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as the second Vice-Chancellor. The university emblem was designed by shri kowta Rammohan sastri with the guidance of Sir C. R. Reddy.

The leaders of the university engaged the services of educationists such as Dr. T.R. Seshadri, Dr. S. Bhagavantham, Professor Hiren Mukherjee, Professor Humayan Kabir and Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao. Nobel Laureate C V Raman was the alumnus of the University and closely associated in laying research foundations in Physics. Padmavibhushan Prof. C R Rao, the statistician, was an alumnus of the university.

University emblem

[2] The rising sun represents the University itself and the radiating light rays representing its faculties of study. The lotus is the seat of Goddess Lakshmi (prosperity) and Saraswati (knowledge). The swastika is the symbol of benediction. Ocean is the vast region of knowledge. The two serpents represent the seekers and custodians of wisdom.

Campus

The university is a campus of 171 ha (422 acres) dotted with 121 buildings for academic, administrative, and support services, with a plinth area of about 190,000 square metres (2 million square feet), and 324 staff quarters. It serves the educational needs of five districts of Andhra Pradesh, namely Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. Located on the uplands of Visakhapatnam, 'The City of Destiny', the university campus is scenic, with the Bay of Bengal on one side of it and on the other, the green Kailasagiri hill range.

Infrastructure

Entrance
Buildings

The university contains two sections, the south campus and north campus. The south campus houses the Arts, Humanities and Sciences departments along with the administrative block. The north campus (established in 1962), comprises the engineering College.

The university has four constituent colleges. The College of Arts and Commerce is the biggest constituent college with 28 departments offering 55 courses. The College of Science and Technology has 19 departments, which offers 44 courses. The College of Engineering has 16 departments involving in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The College of Law has been identified as an advanced center in law by University Grants Commission.

The university has a school of distance education (started 1972) with 32 study centers across the state and a study center at New Delhi.

The campus has 19 hostels for men and four hostels for women, that accommodate 4,300 students. There is residential accommodation of 340 units of staff quarters. The university has three health centres, a homeopathy dispensary, three guest houses, a faculty club, an open-air theatre and a campus school for the children of university school.

Faculties and departments

The College of Engineering offers 80 courses in 15 departments. Courses include Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Electronics & Communications, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Remote Sensing, Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, Nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering.

The College of Law offers LL.B. 3 years, LL.B. 5 years, LL.M. and Ph.D. programmes. Many of the judges in the Andhra Pradesh Courts, and a representation in the judiciary of High Courts and Supreme Court are the alumni of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar College of Law.

Courses offered

Courses include Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Geology and Geography. The university teaches applied sciences like Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Human Genetics, Environmental Sciences, Geophysics, Geo-Engineering, Remote Sensing, Nuclear Physics, Meteorology, Oceanography, Nuclear Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry and Bioinorganic Chemistry.

Other courses are Plant Cytogenetics, Parasitology, Marine Fisheries, Entomology, Hydrology, Human Genetics, Ionosphere Studies, Petroleum Exploration Studies, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanoscience, Foods and drugs and water.

The university offers courses in Business Management, Quantitative Economics, Criminal Justice, Meteorology & Oceanography, Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Chemistry, Parapsychology, Genetics, Gemology, GeoEngineering, Petroleum Exploration, Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, Retail Management, Statistics and Computer Science,and Bio-medical Engineering.

Distinctions and rankings

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council accredited thrice the university at grade ‘A+’. The university secured 3.65 CGPA out of four point scale which is the highest among the State Universities in India. Andhra University, Visakahpatnam, has been ranked second among state universities and fourth among all universities in the country in a study conducted by Nielsen survey.

Andhra University has been internationally ranked 151 by the QS World Universities Rankings in 2015.

The university has been recognized by the Department of Science and Technology as one of the fourteen universities in India in terms of contribution to research in Science, Technology and Engineering based on H-index developed by Scopus. The engineering college of the university got sanction of TEQIP phases I & II based on its excellent performance. The AU College of Engineering (A) was adjudged best government engineering college by rating organizations.

The university is ranked second among all Indian state-run universities and fourth among all universities in India by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Andhra university college of engineering is one of the oldest and highly reputed engineering college of India with a large number of foreign students from various countries. The Andhra University is likely to be converted into an IIT.

The college is ISO 9001 – 2008 certified. STAR NEWS International TV Channel has adjudged Andhra University College of Engineering (A) as the ‘BEST GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE’ in February 2011.

The International Society for Space Research in the Asia-Pacific region has recognized the university for academic standards and sponsored four M.Tech., programs. This is the only university in India selected for the program.Career 360 magazine in its rating to various universities and institutions in the country awarded 5 star category to the university based on its contribution to research. Andhra University is one of the ten universities in India to secure this recognition.The Current Science Journal 2013 has mentioned Andhra University is in 8th position among all Indian institutions doing research in social sciences based on e-publications.

The college is ranked "A+" by NAAC in February 2016. Andhra University College of Engineering has also received the award of the best government engineering college in India in National B school awards by ABP news in 2012.The college ranked 29 in Mint C-Fore Top Engineering College Rankings for 2008. It is undoubtedly the best engineering college in Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the oldest and highly reputed engineering colleges in India with hundreds of foreign students from various countries. In a recent survey conducted by a reputed organization AUCE(A) has been rated at first position among the state owned technical institutions in the country (Star News).

Academics and research

The Department of Zoology and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences got MHIRT Programme-V funded by ASU, (USA), and another Project ‘Research- Technological Development and demonstration funded by IRSES (European Project). Based on the research outcome of the university the Department of Science and Technology, government of India awarded second phase PURSE program.

The DST has identified Andhra University as one of the 14 performing institutions in terms of research contributions.The H-Index based on Scopus of the university stands at 41.The university got 15 patents so far and awards on an average 350 Ph.D. degrees every year.

The university publishes seven academic journals:

Academic Staff College

Faculties

More than 85% of the faculty members have Ph.D. degrees acquired from institutes in India and abroad. The faculty strength is 180.

It is the first college in AP to launch 4G WiFi facility for students on commercial basis. Broadband internet facility is available. There is a projector is in every classroom and a finger print attendance system.

The college has established relations with R&D, productive and manufacturing industries like NSTL, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, DRDO, ISRO, BARC, SAC-Ahmedabad, Wipro, Infosys, Mahindra Satyam, HCL, TCS, IRS etc.

Campuses outside the university

The university has established campuses outside Visakhapatnam to meet the demand for post-graduate education. Campuses are located in Etcherla, Srikakulam district, Kakinada, East Godavari district, Tadepalligudem, West Godavari district and Vizianagaram. An earlier campus at Guntur City, established in 1967, became Acharya Nagarjuna University in 1976. Adikavi Nannaya University was formed in 2006 taken the affiliated colleges from East and West Godavari districts. In 2008, Edcherla PG Campus became Dr B R Ambedkar University, Edcherla and took control over all affiliated colleges in Srikakulam.

Affiliations

There are 575 affiliated colleges spread across five districts under the territorial jurisdiction of Andhra University. The enrollment in undergraduate courses is more than 77,000 and in postgraduate courses more than 20,000 students. The university is supported by 860 teachers and 2500 non-teaching and technical staff.

Kala Prapoorna

The honorary doctorate degree of ‘Kala Prapoorna' (Sangha Seva) may be given in the Faculties of Engineering and Kala Prapoorna (Krishi) in the Faculty of Agriculture, ‘Kala Prapoorna' (Sangeeta), (Natya), (Nataka), (Chitra) or (Silpa) in the Faculty of Fine Arts and ‘Kala Prapoorna' (Sahitya) in the Faculty of ‘Oriental Learning'.

Notable alumni

Alumni include the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Ministers for Central and State, Governors to State and RBI, Judiciary of Supreme Court, High Courts, Bar Council of India, CEOs of various public and private sector organizations, scientists, Chairman of UGC, Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of universities.

The government of Andhra Pradesh has appointed the professors of the university as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the APSCHE and the university contributed nearly 40 Vice-Chancellors and 3 Chancellors to universities in various parts of the country. Alumni work in countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Africa, Germany, France, Russia, Bangkok, and Malaysia.

Every department has its own Alumni Association engaged in enrolment of members, persuading them to contribute for the development of the department. The associations generally meet once in a year.

Y.S.R. Venkata Rao through their trust have donated Rs.2.5 crores for construction of a 300 capacity auditorium in the name of his father Dr. Y.V.S.Murthy who is an alumnus of the Chemical Engineering Department. Alumni of 1981-85 batch of Engineering have donated Rs 70 lakhs for the construction of a six bed hospital at North campus. Sri G Mallikarjuna Rao has donated Rs. 10 lakhs for construction of Andhra University Teachers’ Association office. One of the alumni of the Department of Chemistry included Andhra University as one of the shareholders in his property deed before he passed away. Accordingly, the University received Rs.65 lakhs and it was utilized for the construction of a students’ hostel.

An alumnus from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences supported the construction of a building for the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences by spending Rs.4.5 crores. Many alumni instituted prizes and medals, granted scholarships to students, donated books to the departmental libraries and supported the building of facilities in

A few alumni are:

The university has has six Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awardees, two Padmavibushan Awardees, three Padmasri Awardees and one Sahitya Academy Awardee.

See also

References

[3]

  1. ↑ "Welcome to Andhra University". andhrauniversity.info. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  2. ↑ Andhra University Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1926-76) Souvenir. The Andhra University Emblem; What it signifies. Waltair: Andhra University. p. v.
  3. ↑ NAAC – Reaccreditation Report, Andhra University http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/andhra-university-8th-best-in-the-country-says-survey/article7394302.ece http://www.topuniversities.com/node/9406/ranking-details/brics-rankings/2015

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