Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

AU Senate meet focuses on fund raising

— Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

ACADEMIC MATTERS: Andhra University Vice-Chancellor B. Satyanarayana addressing university’s Academic Senate meeting in Visakhapatnam on Friday. On his left is Registrar P.V.G.D. Prasada Reddy.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The issue of fund crunch being faced by Andhra University and the ways to raise revenue was among the main topics discussed during the Academic Senate meeting held here on Friday.

A resolution was passed seeking the government to release Rs. 40 crores due from the last year’s Block Grant and release full amount of this year’s grant as the amount had been reduced.

Earlier Vice-Chancellor B. Satyanarayana, who presided over the meeting, suggested handing over payment of pensions to the retired AU employees to the government. But some senior teachers like P. Apada Rao felt that it would be difficult for the AU pensioners as the government was finding it difficult to pay pension to its own employees and there was a threat of pension not being paid in future. Thanks to the rise in points for calculating dearness allowance, the pension bill of AU had gone up by Rs. 5 crores and reached Rs. 41 crores. Under these circumstances it was better to seek more grant from the government, it was felt.

Prof. Satyanarayana renewed his appeal to the academic departments to raise funds on their own by taking up activities like offering consultancy service. Alumni associations must be started by each department to take help of old students.

More foreign students must be attracted and embassies of foreign countries might be contacted to offer courses to their students in AU, he said.

He also said that an agreement was on the anvil with Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in the areas of training and research. Prof. Satyanarayana and other Senate members thanked all those who had extended help to the university so far.

It was also decided to seek help of the faculty and old students to raise a compound wall around the entire university campus to prevent encroachment of university land. Since it would cost some crores of rupees, a method was involved to seek a donation of Rs. 7,500 from a teacher or old student to meet the cost of a 10-feet length of the compound wall and the donor’s name would be displayed on the stretch.

Several five-year programmes received the Senate’s consent and the Vice-Chancellor said that a B.Tech.-MBA course was likely to be introduced by AU soon. The UGC guidelines on admission into Ph.D. and M.Phil. programmes would be followed. Conditions like the principal guide of a research scholar must be a faculty member of the department concerned, etc. would be followed.

Rector U. Viplava Prasad, Registrar P.V.G.D. Prasada Rao, principals of campus colleges, Executive Council Members and other Senate members attended.

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