AMU at 5th spot on India Today Universities Rankings 2012 : EDUCATION - India Today
Known hitherto for violent clashes between students instead of its academic reputation, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) seems to be turning a new leaf. It ranks fifth on the INDIA TODAY-Nielsen list of India's top universities this year, six places up from 2011. The recent appointment of Lt-Gen (retired) Zameeruddin Shah, who retired as the deputy Army chief in 2008, as vice-chancellor on May 12, could mean the campus with 27,000 students may finally get a much needed dose of discipline. "My attempt will be to restore the past glory of the university and also the scholarship that it invoked 30 years ago," said Shah, 63, in a recent interview. He will have his task cut out for him.
Shah inherits major changes wrought about by his predecessor P.K. Abdul Aziz, 65, who stepped down on January 17. In August 2007, a student group attacked the home of the then vice-chancellor. Aziz decided a major crackdown was in order. Soon after, the university expelled over 1,200 outsiders who had been illegally squatting in hostels and set up a central allotment committee consisting of eight senior teachers to reallocate the vacated rooms. For the first time, all students on campus were issued identity cards. "Our focus was aimed at recapturing the vibrant spirit of the enquiry which was the hallmark of the university in its early years. We decided to pay particular attention to academics and research," says V.K. Abdul Jaleel, 62, registrar of AMU since 2007.
In 2008, the university asked teachers to end the backlog in PhD submissions; the number of PhDs more than doubled in a year, from 220 in 2008 to 500 in 2009. "We also decided at least 500 teachers should submit research projects to various national and international agencies. Besides this, every teacher in the university was asked to publish at least one research paper a year in a peer-reviewed journal of international repute," Jaleel adds. In 2009, the university also embarked on a spree of tie-ups, signing MOUs with Wisconsin University, Cleveland University, Atlanta University, Johns Hopkins University and New York University. "AMU has been collaborating with the American Center in New Delhi on the English Access Microscholarship Programme. Each year, the project helps 100 students who come from economically weaker sections of society to improve their English language skills," says Jaleel.
{mosimage}This March, the first set of MBA and law students arrived at AMU's Murshidabad campus, towards which the Central Government had allotted Rs.50 crore. The university has another centre at Malappuram in Kerala while two other centres at Kishangarh, Bihar, and Aurangabad, Maharashtra, are on the anvil. The university, which hosts a Unani Medical College, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, one engineering college, two polytechnics and 12 faculties, is now on an expansion spree. In 2011, it set up advanced centres in Urdu and Arabic in addition to building three new hostels. Besides this, the university spent Rs.4 crore in upgrading facilities at the Maulana Azad Library.
"The university has changed a lot in the last few years. Teachers have begun to show an interest in guiding students, which was lacking earlier. For the first time in years, there is interaction between teachers and students in class," says Mohammed Malik, 21, who is pursuing a master's degree in journalism.
In 2008, to ensure intake of quality students, the university, for the first time in its history, decided to hold entrance examinations at four centres- Bhopal, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Pune. In 2010, Lucknow and Hyderabad were added to this list. AMU also introduced a series of advanced and highlyinnovative courses in 2010 which include MTech in nanotechnology, PG diploma in biodiversity management and conservation, a certificate course in wildlife ecology and management, a certificate course in surgical endoscope techniques and a postgraduate degree in dental surgery. Besides this, the Centre for Professional Courses has introduced several postgraduate diploma courses in environmental chemistry, food analysis and biological laboratory techniques. A new R&D cell has also been set up in the Department of Engineering Technology. It provides assistance to more than 30,000 students and 300 staff members through e-resource systems that provide write-ups for research grants and onsite database support.
AMU, which became a full-fledged university in 1920, is home to several heritage buildings. In January 2009, the university constituted a committee headed by K.K. Mohammed, president of the Delhi circle of the Archaeological Survey of India, to help preserve its iconic architecture. On the committee's recommendation, work has now begun to restore the grand Central Mosque on the campus.
During Aziz's tenure, AMU effected a remarkable turnaround for a university plagued by inertia, nepotism and one that had become the epicentre of a series of controversies as well as political battles. With Aziz gone, the campus awaits Lt-Gen Shah's arrival.
Known hitherto for violent clashes between students instead of its academic reputation, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) seems to be turning a new leaf. It ranks fifth on the INDIA TODAY-Nielsen list of India's top universities this year, six places up from 2011. The recent appointment of Lt-Gen (retired) Zameeruddin Shah, who retired as the deputy Army chief in 2008, as vice-chancellor on May 12, could mean the campus with 27,000 students may finally get a much needed dose of discipline. "My attempt will be to restore the past glory of the university and also the scholarship that it invoked 30 years ago," said Shah, 63, in a recent interview. He will have his task cut out for him.
Shah inherits major changes wrought about by his predecessor P.K. Abdul Aziz, 65, who stepped down on January 17. In August 2007, a student group attacked the home of the then vice-chancellor. Aziz decided a major crackdown was in order. Soon after, the university expelled over 1,200 outsiders who had been illegally squatting in hostels and set up a central allotment committee consisting of eight senior teachers to reallocate the vacated rooms. For the first time, all students on campus were issued identity cards. "Our focus was aimed at recapturing the vibrant spirit of the enquiry which was the hallmark of the university in its early years. We decided to pay particular attention to academics and research," says V.K. Abdul Jaleel, 62, registrar of AMU since 2007.
In 2008, the university asked teachers to end the backlog in PhD submissions; the number of PhDs more than doubled in a year, from 220 in 2008 to 500 in 2009. "We also decided at least 500 teachers should submit research projects to various national and international agencies. Besides this, every teacher in the university was asked to publish at least one research paper a year in a peer-reviewed journal of international repute," Jaleel adds. In 2009, the university also embarked on a spree of tie-ups, signing MOUs with Wisconsin University, Cleveland University, Atlanta University, Johns Hopkins University and New York University. "AMU has been collaborating with the American Center in New Delhi on the English Access Microscholarship Programme. Each year, the project helps 100 students who come from economically weaker sections of society to improve their English language skills," says Jaleel.
{mosimage}This March, the first set of MBA and law students arrived at AMU's Murshidabad campus, towards which the Central Government had allotted Rs.50 crore. The university has another centre at Malappuram in Kerala while two other centres at Kishangarh, Bihar, and Aurangabad, Maharashtra, are on the anvil. The university, which hosts a Unani Medical College, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, one engineering college, two polytechnics and 12 faculties, is now on an expansion spree. In 2011, it set up advanced centres in Urdu and Arabic in addition to building three new hostels. Besides this, the university spent Rs.4 crore in upgrading facilities at the Maulana Azad Library.
"The university has changed a lot in the last few years. Teachers have begun to show an interest in guiding students, which was lacking earlier. For the first time in years, there is interaction between teachers and students in class," says Mohammed Malik, 21, who is pursuing a master's degree in journalism.
In 2008, to ensure intake of quality students, the university, for the first time in its history, decided to hold entrance examinations at four centres- Bhopal, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Pune. In 2010, Lucknow and Hyderabad were added to this list. AMU also introduced a series of advanced and highlyinnovative courses in 2010 which include MTech in nanotechnology, PG diploma in biodiversity management and conservation, a certificate course in wildlife ecology and management, a certificate course in surgical endoscope techniques and a postgraduate degree in dental surgery. Besides this, the Centre for Professional Courses has introduced several postgraduate diploma courses in environmental chemistry, food analysis and biological laboratory techniques. A new R&D cell has also been set up in the Department of Engineering Technology. It provides assistance to more than 30,000 students and 300 staff members through e-resource systems that provide write-ups for research grants and onsite database support.
AMU, which became a full-fledged university in 1920, is home to several heritage buildings. In January 2009, the university constituted a committee headed by K.K. Mohammed, president of the Delhi circle of the Archaeological Survey of India, to help preserve its iconic architecture. On the committee's recommendation, work has now begun to restore the grand Central Mosque on the campus.
During Aziz's tenure, AMU effected a remarkable turnaround for a university plagued by inertia, nepotism and one that had become the epicentre of a series of controversies as well as political battles. With Aziz gone, the campus awaits Lt-Gen Shah's arrival.
