IT in the hills

JUIT says it is the first private university in Solan offering foriegn technical degrees.
Discipline, punctuality, uniform, regular attendance and efficiency in assignments are the bricks on which the foundation stone of Jaypee University of Information Technology (JUIT) is laid. Claiming to be the first ever-private university in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, the university is promoted by the Rs 2,100 crore-diversified Jaiprakash Group.The university has become functional from the academic year 2002-03.
‘‘Although, we are not getting the freedom that we used to hear from our college-experienced cousins and friends, yet we are happy and satisfied. The sole purpose of going to a college or university is learning further, which is offered in abundance at this university,’’said a group of girl students.
According to the university vice chancellor Yaj Medury, JUIT is a philanthropic initiative by Jaiprakash group. He said: ‘‘Apart from this university, Jaypee group already runs an IT institute at Noida. It runs various secondary schools and industrial training institutes. Further, the group plans a college of engineering and technology in Guna, Madhya Pradesh.’’
The JUIT offers four-year bachelor degree courses in information technology, electronics and communication, computer science engineering and bio-informatics. Currently, 181 students are studying at JUIT, out of which 25 are girl students.
JUIT campus sprawls over 255,000 sq ft of which already built area is 80,000 sq ft with one academic block and three student hostels. The rest of academic blocks and hostels will be built up over four phases. ‘‘By next year we will see a full-time residential complex,’’ said Medury. The campus is fully networked. While discussing the course structure and quality, he informed that JUIT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with three foreign universities. The course curriculum and duration of the programme is same as regular BE/BTech programme.
“Being located in Himachal Pradesh, the institute has a little difficulty is sourcing faculty. But to maintain high quality teaching, we are only taking M Techs from IITs or equivalent institutes, or those doing their Phds or have completed it,’’asserted Medury. The eligibility conditions for students applying for these courses is XII. As admissions are made on an-all India basis, selection of the candidates is entirely on merit. The annual tuition and hostel fee are Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively. Notably, 5 per cent of the total seats are reserved for students from Himachal Pradesh.
As far as the placement opportunities are concerned, Medury remarked that the quality of the course is such that students will not find difficulty in getting placed in organisations of repute. He said: ‘‘The last semester of the courses will be completely industry-oriented, where students will be busy doing the industry project work by visiting the local industries of HP.’’