Academic excellence is the demonstrated ability to perform, achieve, and/or excel in scholastic activities. Imbibing this very rule into its very fibre is The Manipal University Jaipur. Upon receiving an invitation from the Government of Rajasthan, The Manipal Education Group coupled its expertise and legacy of excellence in higher education of 63 years to launch the Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) in 2011.
Spread over a plush 122 acres, Manipal University Jaipur is a self-financed state university that strives to enhance the teaching-learning experience while promoting creativity and innovation. MUJ offers Under-Graduate, Post-Graduate and Doctoral programmes across diverse streams including Engineering, Architecture, Planning, Fashion & Jewellery Design, Fine Arts, Hospitality, Humanities, Journalism and Mass Communication, Basic Sciences, Law, Commerce, Computer Applications, and Management; thus standing true to its assertion that it is a multi-disciplinary university. Blessed with a faculty team wherein more than half of the team proudly displays a Ph.D., MUJ houses more than 6500 students at present. MUJ has adopted the practice of Choice Based Credit System, where the students can decide their own pace of learning and register for courses according to their interests and capabilities. By leveraging avant-garde technologies, MUJ adopts the best practices and also initiates a couple of innovative ones to provide quality education to its students. MUJ also provides online academic information and support to students through an Academic Management System (AMS). The campus is fully Wi-Fi enabled with 10 Gbps optical fibre backbone and has 100% surveillance through 600 CCTV cameras. MUJ boasts of a Solar Power Plant of 850 KW, which is likely to go up to 1.0 MW, installed on the roof–tops of the buildings in the Campus. Along the same vein, the university has been conferred with the Digital India – Smart Campus Award given by NDTV-CISCO.
Promoting MOOCs
One of the first digital campuses in the country, MUJ realises the importance of MOOCs. As testimony to the same, laptops are provided to all of the faculty members and the students, thereby encouraging both the students and faculty to take various MOOC courses to enhance their domain knowledge. Moreover, the university offers initiatives like Open book Tests, Moderation of Question Papers, Showing of Examination and Test Answer Books to students, and moderation of final grades to bring in an element of clarity of transparency in the evaluation process. In addition, many interdisciplinary and open elective courses are available to students wherein they can opt for credits from specializations other than their own. With the aim of shaping up responsible and dependable individuals, MUJ offers a compulsory course on Value Education and Ethics for all first year students. Further, in an attempt to prepare its students to win the world and all the challenges that it may pose, MUJ has set up an Entrepreneurship Cell where the students are given a chance to learn about innovation, incubation, technology transfer, patenting and IPR. Testimony to this particular initiative, MUJ has already incubated five technology companies through its Technology Business Incubation Centre.
Emphasising on the importance of technology and industry in the academic curriculum, MUJ offers basic and advanced training programmes to its students, while also exposing them to related research in contemporary and futuristic technologies by way of continual improvement and innovation. Boosting its students’ chances to scale the skies in the real world, MUJ mandates that final year students work for their projects in the industry to get hands-on experience, through the Practice School concept. “This particular concept helps them in getting good placements by converting their project work / internship into jobs,” says (spokesperson). Manipal University Jaipur further facilitates students to attend short duration stints abroad under more than two dozen MOUs signed reputed global academic institutes so as to expose them to the culture and work ethos and prepare them for global leadership.
Standing true to its mission ‘Transform young minds into competent professionals with good human values,’ the Manipal University Jaipur continuously reviews its curriculum and constantly revises its programs to reflect the latest international trends. MUJ further ensures to design its syllabus to include skill development courses, thus boosting their students chance at obtaining befitting employability opportunities. It is no surprise that the university continues to bag accolades after accolades, as it strives to be a beacon in the Higher Education arena.
MUJ is the first LEED India Platinum rated & GRIHA (Five Star) rated Educational Campus in India. Revelling in this glory, the university also takes pride in being a ‘Zero discharge Campus’ by harvesting Rain water, recycling and reusing water, and ground water recharging. By monitoring the water and electricity consumption on the campus through smart metering, the university regulates the optimum consumption levels, thereby doing its bit for conserving the environment.
