Plagued by the problems common to the State Universities all over the country, the University has had to struggle hard to maintain the high quality of academic standards with the rapid increase in the enrollment of students with concomitant problems. In this regard, the University has been successful in ensuring appropriate per capita levels of availability and access of academic resources and amenities, and sustaining ideal quanta of face-to-face interaction between faculty and students.

The University has had considerable success in making regular ‘course corrections’ for keeping pace with up-to-date trends in teaching-learning, research, and academic/community extension activities. Two of its departments namely Ancient History, Culture & Archaeology and Psychology are recognized as UGC Centers of Advanced Study, and five more are (or have been) UGC Departments of Special Assistance. Several departments in the Faculty of Science are covered by the COSIST and FIST Programmes. Several major research projects awarded by national R & D agencies have been successfully completed, and several Departmental or Inter-Departmental Research Groups and individual faculty members are currently engaged in carrying out numerous other projects.

These projects (as well as earlier and current collaborative academic programmes with agencies such as the CSIR, the DST, the DBT, the DOD, the DoS, the DRDO, ICSSR, ICHR, UGC, NCERT, Planning Commission etc) have helped augment and expand research facilities and infrastructure. The Physics Department has, for instance, established a Nanophosphor Application Centre with the financial assistance of the DST. The University has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nano Crystal Technology, New York for the Center’s development. The Centre would undertake advanced studies in the synthesis and characterization of Nanophosphor material and Nanobiotechnology. The Physics Department is also planning to establish a High Fluence Low Energy Ion Beam facility with the help of the DST. The CSIR has granted a ‘Chair’ to the University on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and the University has already prepared a Plan of Action in the IPR field. The UGC has also established the M. N. Saha Chair, the Munshi Prem Chand Chair and the Nirala Chair in the Physics, Urdu and Hindi Departments respectively.

The University has well-established professional programmes in Business Management, Electronic and Tele-communication Engineering, Law, Medicine, Educational Training, Human Resource Development and Management, Journalism and Mass Communication among others. In accordance with the UGC Scheme for vocational courses, vocational options have been provided in the graduate degree programmes.

The University has also been developing independent post-graduate professional courses in the light of emerging requirements for specialized personnel in various fields, and several such courses are being offered by the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS), which has been set up to articulate specific linkages between the ‘world of learning’ and the ‘world of living’. The Institute is offering short term and medium term professional courses on self-financial basis. Centre of Food Technology and Centre of Computer Education are two activities, which are ongoing and offering Diploma Certificate Courses. Professional courses in few other areas will be supported under the umbrella of this Institute.

The University has established the Institute of Inter-disciplinary Studies (IIDS) in order to pursue a non-conventional paradigm for research activities and provide an autonomous platform—free from the often vexatious formalities and time consuming procedures involved in inter-Departmental interactions—for focused inter- and multi-disciplinary explorations in post-graduate programmes and research. The IIDS is designed as a loose collective of Centers dedicated to different areas. Centers for Atmospheric and Ocean Studies, Space Sciences, Biotechnology, Mobile Communication for Developing Countries (CMCDC), Bio-medical NMR, and Consciousness Studies have already started working. Other planned Centers will cover well-focused inter-disciplinary areas such as Environmental Science, Genetic Engineering, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Human Resource Development, Globalization and its Effects among others. It is already conducting a post-graduate programme and several high-end research projects. Other post-graduate courses and M. Phil. and D. Phil. programmes are on the anvil. The activities of the IIDS are funded by project and other grants from national agencies and institutes by the faculty members of the University. The IIDS is seeking special grants for infrastructure and research faculty and staff to enlarge the scope of its activities. The UGC has recently sanctioned quite a few teaching positions for several centers of IIDS.

The University has also instituted an inter-disciplinary undergraduate science programme (Applied Sciences) with the objective of inculcating a cross-disciplinary approach involving the Physical Sciences and Biology streams, both, to give appropriate grounding for higher post-graduate studies in such subjects as Biophysics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Bio informatics, Environmental Science, NanoScience, Nano Technology, Medical Physics among others. Several departments are also gearing up their post-graduate programmes with particular stress on futuristic possibilities and planning professional courses as self-financing package.

Many University departments in the modular pattern, by themselves or in co-operation with other departments, have initiated or worked out self-financing diploma and proficiency courses. The Department of Psychology, for instance, had instituted a highly successful professional inter-disciplinary M. Psy. (Master of Psychology) programme in Human Resource Development and Management in the Ninth Plan period. This programme is, however, not being offered in the current academic year because of the shortage of faculty. It is also proposed to rename the programme, in view of the recommendation of the UGC, as Master in Human Resource Development and Management. The Department has, apart from significant outreach activities, also implemented the concept of ‘Cafeteria choice’ courses/modules, credit courses in other departments and obligatory field studies in their Post-graduate programme. The Regional Learning Resource and Documentation Centre, which was set up by the Department in the Ninth Plan period, is to be further strengthened in the Eleventh Plan period. The University has also established a world class autonomous Centre for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences under the University Grants Commission scheme of UPE during the Tenth Plan. Specialists from as diverse disciplines as Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Linguistics, Neuro- Science, Philosophy, and Psychology work together in the Centre to offer Masters and D.Phil courses in Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences.

The Geography Department has created a modern Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (RS/GIS) unit (as a Central facility) during the Ninth Plan, for research, database development and the conduct of a Post-graduate Diploma course in RS/GIS.

The Department of Economics has been given a ‘Chair’ by the Planning Commission to promote research in the field of planning and development. The syllabi incorporate new areas of teaching and research in Environmental Economics and the economic and societal impact of globalization on India, with particular emphasis on projects/studies on its social, political, legal, and cultural aspects. The research base is being further strengthened by the upgradation of the Statistics Laboratory. The Department has also introduced a one year Post-graduate Diploma Course in Foreign Trade.

The University has taken advantage of the rapid advances and expansion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and has attempted to move in step with the ICT Revolution, within the framework of available facilities and funds. The salient features of the application of ICT in the University are as follows:

• Computerization was initiated in the admission and examination processes in the mid-1980s and these processes are now completely computerized. In the course of the past decade computerization has been extended, mainly through the Administrative Computer Centre (established in 1984), to establishment records and procedures, finances, accounts and examination records. Work is under way to computerize the proceedings and records of University bodies, student records, the management of academic and research activities, personnel management, and other fields of academic and administrative functioning. The administrative units now have their own dedicated computer systems that are being linked up through the campus-networking project.

• The University Computer Centre (UCC) was instituted in the early 1980s with UGC assistance as a central unit for researchers requiring EDP facilities and for imparting training/experience in computer methods to faculty, research scholars, and students. There has been regular system upgradation of the UCC, and it is now also being utilized to provide familiarization/training to staff in the use and application of computers. The Institute of Professional Studies is conducting similar programmes of computer education for students as short-term modular courses.

• Most of the Science Faculty Departments, as well as some of the Social Science/Management Departments have been equipped with up-to-date computer systems by the end of the Eighth Plan, and the objective of the Ninth Plan to upgrade existing systems and provide computer systems to the remaining Departments has been largely achieved. The Departments are using their ICT facilities for research as well as teaching activities.

• During the Ninth Plan, the University established the Central Internet Access Facility (CIAF) and commenced the networking of the Departments and other academic/research/administrative units. Networking between the Departments and units in the Arts, Science, Commerce, and Law Campuses has almost been completed. This project will realize the objective of optimum sharing of departmental resources and enable cost-efficient global access (through the CIAF) for academic and research work.

• The programme of computerization and global networking of the Central, Faculty, and Departmental Libraries has moved beyond the planning stage. An elaborate Electronic Library is being planned as well.

• The University has worked out a proposal to institute Web-based education programmes, initially through modular professional courses for graduates and then with specially designed courses on Indian Culture, Archaeology and other areas involving several Departments.

The University strongly emphasizes ‘outreach’ programmes, recognizing the need to relating the academic activities of the University with social imperatives. Such programmes envisage the integration of extension with research proposals and teaching curricula. The purpose is to involve the University departments in serving the developmental and other needs of specific segments of the community. The University recognizes the need for co-operation with various government agencies and NGOS in extension initiatives. Efforts are also underway to establish linkages with the corporate world and imparting training to the students in the areas of mutual interests without disturbing the regular academic schedule of the University