VIT University

VIT University
Vellore Institute of Technology

Vellore Institute of Technology seal
Former names
 Vellore Engineering College
Motto in English
 A place to learn; a chance to grow.
Type Private
Established 1984
Founder Dr. G. Viswanathan
Chancellor Dr. G. Viswanathan
Vice-Chancellor Dr. Anand A Samuel
Academic staff
 1,500
Students 29,000 (Vellore Campus)
Undergraduates 20,000
Location Vellore (1984)
Chennai (2010), Tamil Nadu, India
Campus Urban, spread over 530 acres (2.1 km2)
Acronym VIT
Colours Blue
Nickname VITians
Affiliations University Grants Commission
Website www.vit.ac.in

VIT University or VIT, formerly called Vellore Engineering College, is an Indian institute of higher education and a deemed university under Section 3 of the UGC Act. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, by Mr. G. Viswanathan, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses both at Vellore and Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

History

VIT was founded as Vellore Engineering College in July 1984 by Dr. G Viswanathan, a former parliamentarian and minister in the government of Tamil Nadu, with three undergraduate engineering courses — Civil, Mechanical, and Electronics & Communication.

The college was affiliated with Madras University. In 1999 Vellore Engineering College was awarded the ISO 9002 certificate for three years by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) of the Netherlands, making VEC the first educational institute in India to achieve this recognition. In June 2001 the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development conferred VEC as a ‘deemed university’ and the college became VIT University.

Accreditation

Recognition

Admissions

Admission is conducted on a merit basis through an online entrance exam. VIT organises its own entrance exam, called the Vellore Institute of Technology Engineering Entrance Examination (VITEEE). 2015 saw over two lakh students appear for the entrance examination. The exam has been conducted online since 2013.[5] VITEEE 2016 has been conducted from April 6 to April 17, 2016 in three sessions.[6][7]

Admissions to postgraduate courses is done through a separate exam VITMEE held in the first week of June every year.

Academics

VIT offers academic programs in Engineering, Technology, Applied Sciences, and Management. It offers 20 undergraduate programs, 34 postgraduate, four integrated MS courses and four doctoral programs. VIT has consolidated its disciplines into 10 Schools of Study with the addition of the VIT Law School at its Chennai campus.[8]

Research centers are part of the schools to encourage collaboration between the research and coursework areas and provide opportunity for coursework students to participate in research projects. The university organizes industrial workshops like Automotive Engineering, organized by ParaMek Technologies in GraVitas Fest.[9]

The university is among the first in India to implement the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) which gives the students flexibility to make their own time tables by choosing the subjects and the faculties under whose guidance they want to study. [10]

The institute follows a credit system for evaluating academic performance. The grade point average (GPA) is on a scale of 0 to 10. Courses are allotted credits according to their importance. Each academic year is divided into two semesters, and teaching programmes are organized around the credit system. Teaching includes lectures, tutorials, practicals, projects, seminars, dissertations, and field and industrial training. The grades are allotted on the basis of relative technique where class average and standard deviation is taken into account so as to ensure fair grades for all students regardless of different marks evaluators.

The CGPA is not the same as the American one. In India some credits might be awarded during Bachelor studies for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, while during the Master programme this is not allowed.

Rankings

University and college rankings
Engineering – India
NIRF[11][12] 13
Medical - India
Business – India

VIT is ranked 13 in National Institutional Ranking Framework published by Ministry of Human Resource Development in April 2016.

Schools

Teaching at VIT is structured around nine schools listed below. A student is registered in one of these schools according to their field of study.[13]

Research

VIT's research strength spans disciplines like CAD/CAM, Rapid Prototyping, Manufacturing, Product Design, Energy, Biomedical Research, Information Technology, Nanotechnology, Optoelectronics and Materials Engineering.

The research output of many educational institutions is steadily growing - as indicated in the recently released report of Scopus, an abstracting and indexing database that includes over 19,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers. While IIT-Madras, Chennai tops the list of institutions in the state with the highest number of research papers indexed by the database, VIT University is a close 2nd. On the nationwide level VIT University is ranked 4th, placing it ahead of IIT Delhi and Bombay, with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore ranked first. [14]

Campuses

Vellore Campus

VIT has a lush green campus which spreads over 350 acres. It is divided in two by the Chennai–Bangalore railway line. The academic portion of the campus and the women's hostels are to the south of the railway tracks while the northern portion houses the men's hostels and the outdoor stadium. Both the parts are connected by three subways. The campus resembles a city, with lake, gardens, lawns, residential complexes, food courts, hair salons and wide roads. The campus has its own water supply and backup electricity supply along with shopping complexes to cater to the needs of residents.

VIT university Reviews [15]

Location

VIT is in the city of Vellore in India's southern state, Tamil Nadu, between Chennai and Bangalore. It is 130 km west of Chennai and 180 km east of Bangalore. The nearest airport is Chennai (two and half hours drive). Vellore-katpadi Junction is the nearest railway station, just 3 km from VIT campus and accessible by train and road from Chennai and Bengaluru. It is just 5 km from the Andhra Pradesh border and approximately 25 km from Chittoor.[16]

Hostels

The men's hostel strength is about 15000. The hostel area includes an outdoor stadium, an olympic sized swimming pool, basketball courts, badminton courts, squash courts, tennis courts and an indoor stadium, where students can play table tennis and badminton. 18 hostels are on VIT campus. There are 15 men's hostels, which accommodate students in single-, two- and three-, four- and six-bedded rooms. AC and non-AC rooms are available in all categories allotted on the basis of merit.

The six women's hostels have room for 3200 students. Women students have access to gym facilities, swimming pool and a salon inside one of these hostel premises.

The hostels are named after pioneers in science, literature and peace.

Sports and activities

Its outdoor playgrounds and indoor courts are spread over a 20-acre area.[17] Sporting facilities include an athletic track and field stadium, gym, basketball courts, tennis courts, two swimming pools (one is Olympic size), a football ground, two A.C. gymnasium, badminton court, and squash.

The campus is WiFi enabled.[18]The campus has a good music scene and has a music room to encourage students to form bands and create music — everything from classical to heavy metal.

College festivals

Two main college fests are conducted in VIT: GRAVITAS and Riviera.

GRAVITAS is a techfest (technology oriented festival) conducted in August/September.

Riviera is a sports and cultural festival. According to organizers for Riviera 2011, it pulls more than 300 participants from over 20 colleges and universities. Rivera 2013 saw popular names like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sukhwinder Singh, Chiyaan Vikram, and many more. ParaMek Technologies from New Delhi conducted a workshop on Automotive Engineering during the fest which was attended by more than 450 students.[19]

The most recent edition, Riviera 2015 from February 6-9 included the Swachh Bharat Marathon and a multi-cultural parade called Aikya.[20] The performances by Bollywood playback singers Mohit Chauhan, Vasundhara Das, Benny Dayal, Suresh Peters and the popular fusion rock band Indian Ocean [21]during Riviera 2015, were attended by more than 20000 internal and external students. MTV VJ Bani J also had an interaction with the students during VIT's own Comic Con. The chief guests for the inaugural ceremony and valedictory ceremony were ace Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth[22] and Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor respectively.[23]

Chennai campus

The Chennai campus is on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road. The campus is known for its greenery and is called the Green Campus which spreads over 180 acres. It has an open-air auditorium called 'amphi-theater'. It has a library, ATM facilities, and food spots as Gazebo, Nescafe Point and others.

Chennai Campus

University sporting facilities include an athletic track, basketball courts, badminton court, tennis courts and a football ground. The campus is WiFi enabled. The campus has a music room and a dance room to encourage students to form dance groups and create music.

Location

The campus is midway between Vandalur Zoo and Kelambakkam in South Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is 30 km from Chennai International Airport and 42 km from Chennai Central Junction. It is accessible by Metro train and deluxe buses from Chennai Airport and Central Railway Junction. The nearest Metro Station is Vandalur Zoo, which is 9 km from the campus. The campus can be reached by MTC buses from Tambaram bound for Tiruporur. From Vandalur Zoo, van services are available.

Departments

Serial no. Department[24]
1 Computer Science and Engineering
2 Computer Science and Engg (spec. in Big Data Analytics)
3 Biomedical Engineering
4 Biotechnology
5 Civil Engineering
6 Mechanical Engineering
7 Mechanical Engineering (specialization in Energy Engineering)
8 Mechanical Engineering (specialization in Chemical Process Engineering)
9 Production & Industrial Engineering
10 Electrical and Electronics Engineering
11 Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
12 Information Technology
13 Electronics and Communication
14 Chemical Engineering

Gender discrimination

Gender discrimination has been a common issue raised in universities across India.[25] Some students have complained that VIT University has much more restrictive hostel rules for female students, compared to their male counterparts and regard this as an evidence of gender discrimination in VIT. University officials, however, maintain that stricter female hostel rules are a necessary safety precaution given the rise in crimes against women.[26][27] University officials have also stated that, while they agree that men and women must be treated equally, they have at times been faced by irate parents who have insisted on stricter codes of conduct. Measured steps, however, are being taken to ensure that both genders are treated equally thus allowing both male and female students equal opportunities to access the university resources.

In October 2013, two female students were suspended after they helped to organize an online opinion survey of female VIT students, focusing on issues of female safety and inequality.[28][29] Dr. Theodore Moallem, a VIT Professor who supported the students and filed a public petition in their defense,[30] was simultaneously fired from the university.[31][32] Less than 10% of the female students living in VIT's female hostel took part in the survey, only after knowing that their identity would not be revealed. Of those who did participate, roughly 84% of respondents indicated that they were dissuaded "from speaking out publicly against VIT’s management decisions" by "fear of expulsion, suspension or other academic devastation".[28][29][33] Commenting on the issue, VIT University Vice President Sekar Viswanathan said: “The students started a campaign based on the misplaced notion that the university discriminates against women, which is not true. They were taken home by their parents”.[34]

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 "U.S. Embassy Chief, handing over the ABET certificate to G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, Vellore". The Hindu. 30 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Accredited Programs VIT University, Vellore, India". ABET.
  3. ↑ "VIT University - Accreditation". Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  4. ↑ "ABET accreditation for two more programmes at VIT university, Vellore". The Hindu. 23 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "VIT opts for computer-based entrance exam for B.Tech". Chennai,India: "The Hindu". 11 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "VITEEE 2016 Complete Information". " aglasem". April 2016.
  7. ↑ "VITEEE 2016: Guidelines for application". " indiatoday". April 2016.
  8. ↑ "VIT's Law School Launched".
  9. ↑ "VIT University - Degrees offered". Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  10. ↑ Zafar, Shahila; Manjurekar, B.; Kumar, N. Prem; Khan, Zaved Ahmed (2014-01-01). "Effects of FFCS (Fully Flexible Credit System) on Learning Experience and Academic Performance". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 143. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.347.
  11. ↑ "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2016". Ministry of Human Resource Development. 2016.
  12. ↑ "HRD Ministry announces universities ranking, IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore top the list".
  13. ↑ "VIT University - Schools of study". Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  14. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/iitm-vit-top-list-of-univs-with-high-research-output/article4627827.ece
  15. ↑ http://www.engineering.careers360.com/vit-university-vellore/reviews
  16. ↑ http://vit.ac.in/informationfor/location.asp
  17. ↑ "sports facilities in vit".
  18. ↑ "Pronto Networks Deploys Fully Secure Wi-Fi At VIT Campus". Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  19. ↑ "VIT University-Campus life". Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  20. ↑ "Focus on social, cultural issues at VIT’s Riviera". The Hindu. 2015-02-07. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  21. ↑ "Focus on social, cultural issues at VIT’s Riviera". The Hindu. 2015-02-07. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  22. ↑ "VIT’s Riviera 2015 takes off". The Hindu. 2015-02-06. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  23. ↑ "Curtains down on VIT Riviera". The Hindu. 2015-02-09. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  24. ↑ http://www.infermap.com/college/Vellore-Institute-of-Technology-Vellore&tab=admission
  25. ↑ , "On India’s Campuses, Female Students Speak Out About ‘Deep Rooted’ Gender Discrimination", Chronicle of Higheer Education, 22 April 2013.
  26. ↑ , “Rapes in Tamil Nadu on the rise over last 3 years” The Hindu, 20 July 2014.
  27. ↑ , “When It Comes to College Rules, It's All Down to Safety” The Hindu, 6 June 2013.
  28. 1 2 ,“Two VIT Students Sent Home for Dissent” The Hindu, 11 October 2013.
  29. 1 2 ,“Kept Away from Commotion” The Hindu, 11 October 2013.
  30. ↑ “Petitioning G. Viswanathan VIT University: Give Women Equal Rights and Stop Suppressing Free Speech” Change.org October 2013.
  31. ↑ Sankar, Nanditha (25 October 2013). "[UPDATE] VIT University Refuses To Act Even While Thousands Register Their Protest!". Youth Ki Awaaz.
  32. ↑ , “VIT: A Case Of Blatant Gender Discrimination At A Top Indian Engineering School” International Business Times, 9 November 2013.
  33. ↑ , VIT Female Student Survey Results
  34. ↑ BP Staff (27 October 2013). "VIT University Professor removed after starting Online Petition?". Biharprabha News (Bihar, India).

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