About Maharaja Agrasen University Solan

Concept Note in the form of Vision Envisaged for MAHARAJA AGRASEN UNIVERSITY, BADDI
The goal of any educational system must be in consonance with the declaration of ancient Indian scriptures which propound “Sa Vidya Ya Vimukt haye”, which means that only education results in true liberation. Education not only develops ones intelligence and skills, but also broadens outlook and makes one useful to society and the world at large. This is possible only when the spirit of serving the society is cultivated and promoted along with education. It is the moral and spiritual education which can train a man to lead a disciplined life. The University should take appropriate measure to ensure quality research and teaching by encouraging inter-disciplinary academic and research programmes.

The vision of our University is to enable each and every student to develop self-confidence, self-knowledge and self-control. The University will equip all students to lead their lives in a righteous and conscientious manner. It will offer an environment for the development of character with enriched virtues and noble ideas for its students. The holistic system of education followed in the University will help every student to draw out the capacity for knowledge, values and wisdom latently present within. The University will not merely prepare students for earning degrees but will nurture the values required for self-realization. Stress will be on personality development and blending of academics with extra and co-curricular activities and social service.

The University will:

• Promote ‘Excellence’ by harmonizing formal education with commitment to the service to humanity.
• Prepare best course curricula and introduce need based courses which are innovative, challenging, application oriented and which integrate values.
• Produce skilled individuals who will be known for their innovative skills, analytical abilities, scientific temperament and entrepreneurial skills.
• Encourage co-curricular activities to encourage practical orientation and help students in developing a holistic and all-inclusive approach, with a widened outlook and broader understanding of life.

The University will mainly focus on:

• Academics and Research
• Infrastructure Development
• Resource Mobilization
• Human Resource Development
• E-Governance & Quality Assurance
• Social Responsibility

ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

For strengthening academics and research, the University will:

• Initiate need-based curricula to infuse with best skills students.
• Ensure that all students have a high quality personalized learning experience and regular personal contact with teaching faculty.
• Pursue impartial and transparent admission procedure to identify and select the best students.
• Improve the quality and range of Student Support Services.
• Cherish and reward merit, novelty and innovation/invention in teaching and learning.
• Introduce innovative teaching techniques through smart classes/ interactive classes.
• Promote need-focused support and scholarship programmes.
• Adopt innovations in the classroom teaching and regular process of assessment/evaluation.
• Regular interface with industry, and
• Create employment opportunities through pro-active placement cell.

The University will focus on curriculum development and assessment across all its academic programmes with an aim of equipping all its students with best of knowledge and skills. This purposeful approach is required to ensure that all the students leave the university with:

• Positive thoughts, conceptual reasoning and logical skills.
• Mastery in their discipline of choice.
• Broad intellect and sound awareness of life’s challenges.
• Preparation for professional and vocational work.

University will explore and widen the range of research funding sources, with emphasis on both national and international funding. Hence the University will encourage all its research and teaching staff to explore avenues of going for externally funded research projects by removing administrative and financial bottlenecks. The University will have the following schools in a phased manner.

• School of Engineering, Science & Technology
• School of Management
• School of Health & Allied Sciences
• School of Planning, Architecture & Design
• School of Physical & Life Sciences
• School of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management
• School of Journalism and Mass communication
• School of Law

Departments will be designed around specialized domains of knowledge and subject disciplines. The University has the location advantage and may attract quality students from Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Delhi. Designed with a vision, the university would emerge as an institution of repute and truly global University attracting good number of international students.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

• University will create world class infrastructure /facilities with separate block for each school, innovative multi-purpose lecture theatres, conference rooms, recreation and sports centres, auditoriums, residential houses, hostels, guest houses, etc.
• Landscaping and beautification of University campus by solar lighting, rainwater harvesting systems, fountains, wall murals etc.
• Efforts for captive power generation with a minimum of 100KW using solar energy will be put in place on the dictum ‘Save Energy Save Money’.
• Many conference halls will be constructed to conduct national and international seminars.
• Cluster lecture theatres and Seminar halls will be constructed for optimum utilization of the teaching-learning infrastructure.
• Students will be provided with latest books with special e-books section. Other initiatives in this regard will be computerization of academic and administrative blocks, computerized cataloguing of books available in the library, setting up of radio-frequency detectors in library to stop pilferage of books and software development for initiating online admission.
• Internet access will be increased in library building for access to on-line journals and digital books. University will opt for an Automation System/ electronic/ biometric component.
• Integration of administrative set-up of entire University through intranet connectivity with data storage on dedicated servers will be done to shift towards paperless administration.
• Renovations of the existing internet and intranet connectivity, will be done. Each of the faculty residential quarters will be provided with internet connectivity.
• University will lay emphasis on setting up web-enabled University Management System and creating web-portal of the University.
• Event Management Unit will be established which would not only maintain the auditorium and other conference hall but also provide event arrangement facilities such as transport, communication, catering, publication etc.

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION

• University will generate its own corpus fund through resource mobilization from fee, trusts, donations, sponsorships, contribution by individuals.
• University will generate financial and other resources by establishing collaborations and linkages with national and international academic and research institutions for undertaking joint research and academic exchange programme.
• Faculty members will be encouraged to avail grants from different funding agencies like UGC, DST, CSIR etc. They will be encouraged to publish research findings in leading journals, magazines and newspapers.
• Efforts will be made to rationalize the fee structure to meet the escalating cost of keeping the University meaningfully functional.

Fee structure of the University would be kept in sync with other private, state and central Universities in the State. It will have moderate fee structure with a built-in provision for marginal increase year-on year basis. 

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

• The university will promote training and skill development activities for all teaching and non-teaching staff enabling them to develop their skills and abilities in rendering their duties more efficiently to ensure safety.
• It will provide facilities to all teaching and non-teaching staff in dealing with health, physical and mental well-being.
• It will encourage staff and students to express their views on issues of University’s interest without any fear.
• It will harness expertise of academic community in promoting a dialogue with all its stakeholders, policy-makers, etc. to analyze their attitudes and perceptions.
• Capacity building and renewal processes will be undertaken regularly so as to understand and make proper use of new methods, tools and techniques used in academics, research and administrative matters.
• It will promote entrepreneurship and employment generation, facilitate placement of students in various sectors and strengthen R&D based Administrative Reform Unit, besides undertaking maintenance & enhancement of infrastructure.

E-GOVERNANCE & QUALITY ASSURANCE

• It will encourage the professionalism in administration. Authority will maintain transparency in appointments/ engagement of staff and concentrate on preparing crystal-clear, fair admission and examination policy.
• Using the modern technology university will automate results with uploading on university’s website.
• It will promote e-governance where everyone one will have access to details of fund utilization, details of all the registered students including their grades, attendance etc., courses offered and curriculum, progress of course, details of academic/research projects.
• It will make efforts to decentralize the powers pertaining to administrative, financial and academic setup.
• University will suitably reward its students and teachers for their commendable contribution/achievement but at the same time it will punish the offenders for breaking norms/ misconduct/ mischief.
• Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and R&D wing of the university will be strengthened for proper planning, guiding and monitoring Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Enhancement (QE) activities.
• University will evolve a quality system for awareness generation and constant action to improve the academic and administrative performance.
  • University will gather views & feedback from students, parents/guardians and stakeholders on quality-related issues of university.
  • Monthly evaluation of administrative, financial and academic performance of the University and set benchmarks for accessing academic and administrative performance.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• It will ensure the development of strong personal value systems by infusing in the students the importance of duty to serve the community through voluntary work for the benefit of local communities.
• It will broaden the educational opportunities of local children both at primary and secondary levels and assist talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher educational opportunities.
• University will work closely with government and non-government organizations to support the social, economic and cultural development.
• University will lay special emphasis on:
  • Strengthening Vocational Studies.
  • Introducing the concept of Third Age University to meet the learning needs of growing population.
  • Initiating special programmes for weaker sections of society.
• Yearly increase in the number of scholarships awarded to support the education of talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Annually increase in extension and outreach for the benefit of communities.

FINAL WORDS

The highest-ranked Universities are the ones that make significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge through research, teach the most innovative curriculum and pedagogical methods under the most conducive circumstances, make research an integral component of undergraduate teaching, and produce graduates who stand out because of their success in intensely competitive arenas during their education. There is no universal recipe or magic formula for ‘making’ a world class university. National contexts and institutional models vary widely. Therefore, each institution must choose, from among the various possible pathways, a strategy that plays to its strengths and resources. International experience provides a few lessons regarding the key features of such universities-high concentrations of talent, abundance of resources, flexible governance arrangements-and successful approaches to move in that direction, from upgrading or merging existing institutions to creating new institutions altogether. The distinguishing vision of Maharaja Agrasen University is through a strong stress that the University lays on ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. The concept of all encompassing family has always inspired us to treat everyone equally irrespective of caste, creed, gender and this forms the basis of our vision. 

Information compiled from: Maharaja Agrasen University Solan Website