Sunday, Jan 04, 2009
Chennai: Those in the business of education have now been given permission to join their varied institutions into a single campus, saving money on land and infrastructure investments - all without going through the procedures required for deemed university status.

From the 2009-10 academic year, the All India Council for Technical Education has launched the "integrated campus" scheme to allow institutions to optimally use their infrastructure. A trust running different types of institutions under AICTE's purview on contiguous land sites will now be allowed to share a joint campus with common facilities - a common library, canteen, computer centre, auditorium or playground - and reduce its land requirements by 20 per cent. The scheme is open to both existing groups and newly started educational trusts. The idea is to reduce the cost of education per student, said M.S. Palanichamy, regional AICTE chairman. The practical effect will be a campus in the "deemed university style," he said, emphasising that only infrastructure would be shared, not academics. Each institution will continue to remain affiliated to its respective university.

Since fencing between the institutions will be done away with, S. Alfred Devaprasad, chief executive of the Alpha Group of Institutions, points to another advantage of the scheme.

"A unitary campus of this sort can increase reach for students. It is not useful to confine students to areas of their specialisation, and very often technical students are isolated, even in cultural interaction. This is a great opportunity for an inter-disciplinary approach," he said. The Alpha Group plans to bring its engineering and management courses, as well as new institutions in hotel management and architecture under an integrated campus.