NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation- Self Study Report -2013 1 NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation- Self Study Report -2013 Executive Summary Established in 1949, Karnatak University campus is located at an altitude of over 750 mtrs on a stretch of 750 acres perched on gently sloping hillock called Chota Mahabaleshwar. This location commands a panoramic view of the valleys with sylvan surroundings providing a unique natural beauty and peaceful setting. Heavily wooded slopes are dotted by Eucalyptus, Mango and Subabul groves and casuarinas, Gulmohar, Neem, Coconut, Palm and Ashoka trees. The greenery that surrounds the campus lends a rare grace to the buildings and roadside boundaries overlooking the city of Dharwad. One of the abiding concerns of the University has been to ensure and enhance this ambience by conserving the biodiversity and provide an eco-friendly environment for the healthy and intellectual development of the faculty and students. Keeping this in view, lush gardens are maintained by planting varieties of seasonal flower saplings every year in different locations of the campus. Dharwad has been a vibrant cultural centre of Karnataka. It has been the birth place of the modern movement for the cultural revival of Karnataka. It was here that the idea of a united Karnataka movement originated and later intensified. As part of the movement, the movement for Karnatak University was started in the 1920s. As a culmination of this movement the Karnatak University was born. There is little doubt that Dharwad is an ideal location for a University as it is a centre of Karnataka’s intellectual and cultural rejuvenation. It has produced a galaxy of creative and discursive writers. It is a place of thinkers as well as musicians. It has given to the world a number of awardees of Jnana Peetha like D.R. Bendre, V.K. Gokak, Girish Karnad and Chandrashekhar Kambhar. It has also given to the world such great Hindustani Classical singers as Mallikarjun Mansur, Bhimsen Joshi, and Gangubai Hanagal. It was inevitable that Dharwad was crowned with a modern and dynamic University. The founders and architects of the University with true nationalistic spirit have laid sound foundation to build a distinct institution of higher learning in this part of independent India. Eradication of illiteracy among the masses was their avowed mission and accordingly they conceived the logo of the University with a banyan tree, a rising son and the legend Arrive Guru, i.e., Wisdom is Guru, indicating that both wisdom and knowledge should be all pervading like the ramifying banyan tree to lit up the world. The majestic Vidya Soudha, that stands huge and tall at the head of the campus, is a magnificent memorial to their dedicated efforts, particularly of late Wrangler Dr. D.C. Pavate. Today it is an icon of higher education and operation literacy that were launched 64 years ago in this part of Karnataka. This is the second oldest University in Karnataka and it celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 2009. It has been one of the major knowledge disseminating centres in several disciplines in South Central India catering to the needs of millions of students. The unstinted efforts of 2 NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation- Self Study Report -2013 Karnatak University to enhance the body of knowledge in the realm of Science and Humanities has yielded fruitful results leading to the development of the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Statistics, Life Sciences which have proved to be robust research centers as well as the Arts and Social Science departments which are also equally active in pursuing research, teaching and extension activities relevant to the present day social requirements. Regional imbalance in Karnataka has been the cause of backwardness in North Karnataka. As a result of this, large numbers of people of this region have suffered from social exclusion, especially in education, employment and in overall development. Imparting quality education, especially higher education became imperative to overcome the problem of regional imbalance in Karnataka state. It is in this direction that a humble beginning was made in 1950 by Karnatak University and this initiative was intensified during the time of Wrangler Dr. D.C. Pavate. Since then, Karnatak University has been striving to promote social justice to empower the people of North Karnataka through the spread and access of quality higher education. The continuous efforts of Karnatak University to spread the higher education has given rise to the birth of two more universities out of its two PG centres. The erstwhile PG Centre at Gulbarga emerged as an independent Gulbarga University in 1980 and the PG Centre at Belgaum became another full fledged University called Rani Channamma University in 2010. The University has endeavoured to explore as many domains of knowledge as it could be possible with its seven faculties viz., Science and Technology, Social Science, Arts, Commerce, Management, Law and Education. Most of the PG departments have independent buildings with adequate space, classrooms, laboratories, Seminar and discussion halls and Computer labs with Internet facilities which are upgraded periodically with modern infrastructure. The USIC with its Annex is housed in an independent building. New buildings for the Research Centre for DNA Diagnostics, Bhasha Bhavan, Basava Bhavan, Women’s Rest Room, Central Evaluation Centre and Swami Vivekananda Study Centre have come up during the last five years. Several renovations and extension of buildings have been carried out during the last five years. In addition, the work for separate buildings for Dr. D.C. Pavate Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Interdisciplinary Programme for Life Sciences and for the School of Social Sciences are in progress. The Vidya Soudha houses several departments of the Faculties of Social Sciences, Science and Technology, Commerce and Arts. The PG departments of Business Management and Reproductive Health Management are housed in one independent building near the University Library with classrooms, seminar halls and auditorium. The department of Physical Education is housed in Kreeda Bhavan. The department of Gandhian Studies is housed in Gandhi Bhavan, while the departments of Foreign Languages, Hindi, Urdu and Persian and Electronic Media are situated in 3 NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation- Self Study Report -2013 Bhasha Bhavan. The Ambedkar Study Centre is in the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan. Kanaka Bhavan houses the Kanaka Peetha and University Consultancy Cell. The Vishwachetana Building houses Examination Section, Directorate of Distance Education, The Minorities and Other Backward Classes Cell, IQAC Office, Computer Processing Unit and a branch of State Bank of India. The Dr. R.C. Hiremath Institute of Kannada Studies accommodates the departments of Kannada, Folklore, Linguistics, Sanskrit and Marathi. The Student Home Building houses the UEIGB Centre, Central Computer Centre, Academic Staff College and Office of the Director of Student Welfare. The University publication division Prasaranga is located in an independent building. The Gandhi Bhavan, Golden Jubilee Building and Manasollasa are multipurpose halls. The University offers a wide range of PG courses in the Faculties of Science and Technology, Social Science, Commerce, Management, Education, Law and Arts. All possible measures are taken to impart quality higher education in accordance with the UGC Higher Education Policies with a view to providing access to higher education for various sections of the society. There are 47 PG departments offering 50 courses, 18 PG Diplomas, 3 Advanced Diplomas, 4 Diplomas, 3 Certificate courses, 26 M.Phil. and 42 Ph.D. Programmes. On an average, in the last five years, there has been a considerable increase in the percentage of female students vis-a-vis male students. The University has been promoting social justice in accordance with the policy of the State Government. As a result, there has been a spurt to the extent of almost 60 % in the total admission of students belonging to SC/ST, Category-I and OBC categories in the last five years. The University Public School started in 1964, is also serving as a practicing school for the B.Ed. Course of the constituent College of Education. Most of the PG Diploma courses, especially the 11 Peethas (Chairs) focus on inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary components in their curricula. The Basava Peetha, Gandhian Studies, Kanaka Adhyayana Peetha, Ambedkar Studies and Swami Vivekanand Centre are offering value-based courses. There are a few self- financing courses viz., M.Com., (Corporate Secretaryship), M.Sc., (Applied Genetics), M.Sc., (Bio-technology), M.Sc., (Computer Science), M.Sc., (Microbiology), MBA, MBA (Evening), MCA, PG Diploma in Bank Management and PG Diploma in Risk Management as well as an integrated Course in Tourism Administration. The UGC Curriculum Development Report is the base for various courses. Introduction of CBCS pattern at the PG level in the University has given rise to a paradigm shift. The primary objective of introducing CBCS System is to serve the interest of students by giving option of choosing any one paper as an open elective in second and third semesters. Academic flexibility is provided to the students to enable them to have ample choice not only at the PG level but also at the level of PG Diplomas. The system of open electives provides the scope to choose courses beyond core courses in other 4 NAAC 3rd Cycle Accreditation- Self Study Report -2013 departments. The recognition of cognate subjects lends freedom for graduates and post graduates to seek admission to the new PG courses as well as to conduct research in the new fields at the level of Ph.D. programme. That is how any graduate can seek admission to the PG courses like Anthropology, Criminology, Library and Information Science, Mass Communication and Journalism, Electronic Media, Philosophy, Linguistics, Management and Social Work. In the Faculty of Arts, any graduate from the discipline in Arts can opt for the PG Course in Linguistics and Folklore.