It is virtually a township, but the address is simple. Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamilnadu, 608 002. It is also a verdant green campus that welcomes the visitor to its portals in the glorious temple town of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. Avenues of trees, well-laid out roads and impressive buildings tell you that this indeed, could well be the heart of learning. The quiet campus is well-peopled as students and academics go about the business of learning with quiet certitude. At the heart of all activity is the huge library named after the famous statesman and academic, Sir C P Ramaswamy Aiyer, who himself served as the Vice Chancellor of this University that boasts of a long and interesting history.
“We want to make Annamalai a Centre for Excellence,” says the current Vice Chancellor(V. C.), Dr. L. B. Venkatarangan, with justifiable pride. This eminent academician has been at the helm of Annamalai’s attempt to take learning to the different corners of the country with their very widely spread distance education programme that now boasts of the facility to gain a dual degree.
The 50 odd departments on campus serve 10,668 students of which 6,920 are residents of the various hostels within the university. There is pride in the V.C.’s demeanour as he talks about the university he has been part of for so many years. “We have two centres for advance study recognised by the University Grants Commision,” he tells us, “Our Centre for Advance Study in Marine Biology is internationally known. So too, is the Centre for Advance Study in Linguistics.” There are nine departments under the faculty of engineering and technology alone. Translation Studies, Master of Financial Services, Coastal Aquaculture, a B.Pharm and M.Pharm course, Development Studies, Applied Psychology, Philosophy and Political Science are a listing of a few of the many courses on offer.
There are several research degrees that one can pursue under the guidance of the Director of Research of the university. There is a Department of Sports Education for those who wish to pursue careers in physical training. “This could also be a topic of research for we have all the other related departments on campus as well,” adds the V.C. What is also singular about the Annamalai University is its `unitary nature’. “All the departments of study affiliated to the university are within this campus itself and nowhere else,” explains the Venkatrangan. Admission to the various fields of study is according to government rules and regulations.
The University offers courses through the regular stream as well as through the distance education mode, what is more popularly referred to as `correspondence education’. While the distance learning courses are well networked with course materials and many study centres at strategic locations all over the country and abroad, the regular stream offers undergraduate and post-graduate levels of education for professional courses. What is interesting is the fact that for non-professional courses, only post-graduate education is offered. “That is because focus of the university has been purely academic - on teaching, research and what we call, extension activities,” says the V.C. He goes on to explain what an `extension activity’ is. “Any learning,” he says, “Has to be of some good to the society at large. Of course, the National Service Scheme or the N.S.S. plays a very large part in our student activity. Where camps are held and students spread awareness among the people in the villages nearby. We also hold camps in areas around the university where we help spread literacy – we offer a whole host of aids to these neo-literates. It is an on-going process.”
“Our campus plays host to a variety of facilities for students,” says Venkatrangan. Besides separate hostels for men and women, there is the library(see box), a constant barrage of seminars, refresher courses, conferences and workshops that help keep the student updated with what’s latest in their fields, excellent lab facilities, a pavilion and a ground for any kind of physical exercise the student might want to indulge in, and even a guest house for visitors. A centre for yoga and mediation is open to students, staff and the public. “All our energies are concentrated on making this university a place where the student can acquire a well-rounded education,” says Venkatrangan, adding with a laugh, “We also want to make every department, a centre of excellence as well. That could be ambitious, but we have to strive for that.”
On the anvil for the future are some interesting new courses. Among them is an M.Sc. in Bio Technology through their Centre for Advanced Studies in Marine Biology, which is strategically situated in a coastal fringe of the university campus.
Education has long ceased to be the preserve of a chosen few. As more students luxuriate in the opportunities that better learning and higher degrees offer, one does not have to look far to understand why there is more awareness now of the scope of education. Annamalai University has shown the way.
Sandhya Sridhar
Box Item 1:
Small Beginning, Big Vision
The story of the university harks back to the year 1920, when Dr. Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar founded the Sri Meenakshi College. This was just the seed for what was to later grow into the great banyan of the university. In 1928, the Annamalai University Act was passed and with the college as the hub, the surrounding 300 acres donated by the Rajah along with a more than princely sum of Rs20 lakh(in those days!), there was no looking back.
On Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar fell the mantle of Pro-Chancellorship, and his descendents have ably taken the spirit forward. Today, Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy, grandson of the founder, is Founder Pro-Chancellor. The Governor of Tamilnadu serves as the Chancellor of the university. What began with a few fields of study – Tamil, Music, Arts and Sciences… - now covers most areas of possible learning. While the department for Engineering was constituted in 1948, it was closely followed by the Medical and Dental college, the Institute for Correspondence Education(1979).
The present Vice Chancellor has an instance to relate, of what he feels is the vision of the founder. “I am a demographer, and I was Professor and Director, Centre for Population Studies. I happened to be perusing some records for the state for the year 1921. I happened to come across a table of the list of the various districts in the country, listed according to their levels of development. This was then the South Arcot district, and it was listed in the table as the last but one! It was then among the most backward districts. The founder had the vision to locate the university here, and that is an interesting aside to the history of the beginnings of the university that shares space with the cosmic dancer Lord Nataraja, in Chidambaram.”
Box Item 2:
Surely, A Student Needs No More
4.5 lakh volumes of books, subscriptions to more than 800 current periodicals and newspapers , considerable archives, first editions, rare manuscripts, earliest printed books and valuable treatises on art. The Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Library at the Annamalai University is a haven for any book lover and researcher. “It is said to be the third biggest library in South Asia,” says the V.C. of the university, Venkatrangan. Besides this one big source of study material, every department in the university boasts of its own library.
The central library now has access to internet connectivity and LAN, and Campus Networking Process is in progress. The library is also undertaking modernisation work with assistance from the U.G.C.
Box Item 3:
Quick View of Some New Courses
· Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights and Peace(part time)
· B. E. Information Technology
· M. S. in Software Engineering/Software Technology/Information Technology
· M. Tech in Industrial Pollution Control
· Master of Physiotherapy
· B.B.A. through Open University System
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