An innovative public university

Updated on: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Humanities students have something to smile about — come August 2009 and Delhi will be home to India’s first dedicated university for the humanities. The Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD), will be Delhi’s second state varsity and the country’s first institution solely devoted to social sciences and humanities.

And while AUD already started its academic intake by offering a postgraduate diploma in development studies last year, three more postgraduate programmes are on the anvil from this year. The courses — an MA in development studies, psychology, and environment and development — will be followed by undergraduate and law programmes in 2010.

With a total of 10 schools and five centres, the university envisages a teacher-student ratio of 1:15. AUD is also planning to recruit faculty on the lines of Jawaharlal Nehru University which means that staff will have the option of moving elsewhere after four years and be able to rejoin the university later.

Functioning out of Dwarka at present, the varsity plans to shift to its new campus by 2011. Said Shyam Menon Vice Chancellor AUD, “We are going to be an innovative public university. At present innovation is practiced only in private universities. We want to demonstrate a hybrid model of public and private initiative and respond to evolving societal demands.”

With plans to showcase 15 interdisciplinary schools and centres, a community of 4,000 students, of which 1,200 will have hostel accommodation and a core of around 1,000 students who will pursue post graduation and research, AUD will have around 200 teachers and 50 professional staff at the heart of its operations.

The varsity is also proposing a differential fee structure, so that no eligible student is denied a seat because of his/her inability to pay. This will be based on the per-capita operational cost of the programme, economic and social background of the student and expected level of employment after graduation. “So, while our education will not be subsidised, it won't be as low as DU or as high as the private universities,” said Menon.

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An innovative public university

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