Ashoka University

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Ashoka University
TypePrivate
Established2014
ChancellorRudrangshu Mukherjee
Vice-ChancellorMalabika Sarkar
Location
Sonepat
,
Haryana
,
India
Campus25 acres (10 ha) (Main campus)
ColoursAshoka University Red  
Ashoka University Blue  
AffiliationsUGC; ACU[1]
Websitewww.ashoka.edu.in
Ashoka University logo with wordmark.png

Ashoka University is a private liberal arts and sciences university in Sonipat, Haryana, India. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Government of India, and the Government of Haryana.

History[]

The idea was generated while in talks with IIT Delhi students. They later approached former Indian School of Business dean Pramath Sinha for help in setting up a university that would be of a different calibre than that of present higher education in India. The project was code-named Project Nobel,[2] referring to the founders' aspiration to produce future Nobel Prize laureates. At the same time, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Ashish Dhawan also approached Pramath with a vision of a university, and Pramath combined the two visions.[3]

Initial discussions leaned towards setting up an institute of engineering and technology that could perhaps match the reputation of leading institutions in the field such as MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University. Ashoka's founders consequently signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. The founders' list named 22 people, including Ashok Trivedi, Dilip Shanghvi, Nirmal Jain, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Jerry Rao.[4][5]

Ashoka's concept, however, shifted from an engineering and technology focus to a liberal arts approach, providing instruction in the core sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.[6][7] The decision was inspired by both industry demand and a desire to change the mindsets of Indian students and parents to see education as an end in itself, rather than merely a stepping stone to securing a job.[8] Ashok Trivedi fortified this decision by setting up the Ashok Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) in partnership with the University of Michigan.[9] TCPD helps build datasets and authoritative knowledge on India's political life and diffuses the same through an open-access platform.[10] In 2020, Ashoka university announced the establishment of the Trivedi School of Biosciences. Virologist Shahid Jameel is the first director of the centre.[11]

Campus[]

Ashoka University's 25-acre (10 ha) main campus is in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonepat, Haryana. It was designed by the American design firm Perkins Eastman[12] led by architect Aaron Schwarz.[13]

Organisation and administration[]

Governance[]

Ashoka University is funded entirely by donations, with no hierarchies present in the founding group in terms of decision-making. The group includes over 70 entrepreneurs and industry leaders.[14] Some of them also founded Plaksha University. The founders were drawn to the idea of a university where no single individual held sway, but whose administration would be driven by the potential for social change based on critical inquiry, free from political pressure.[15] In addition to the chancellor, vice-chancellor and deans, Ashoka is guided by an academic council of academics and scholars from around the world. The council sets the university's academic standard, advising on matters of curriculum, faculty hiring and research.[16]

Academics[]

Undergraduate programme[]

Ashoka University offers a full-time residential multidisciplinary 3 (+ 1) year undergraduate programme. Students are encouraged to extend one more year after the standard three and do further in-depth research in their chosen major under the guidance of a faculty member, completing the standard 4-year university education, which many universities abroad require to admit students to their doctoral research programmes. This additional year is known as the Ashoka Scholars Programme (ASP). The university's first class, inducted in 2014, graduated in May 2017. It had about 120 students.[17][citation needed]

The admission procedure includes an application form, an on-spot essay, an interview, and an optional aptitude objective test. During the admission of students into Ashoka's UG programme, students are not required to declare their major and may experiment with their course preferences. Only after the third semester does the school require students to declare a major.[18][citation needed]

Young India Fellowship[]

The Young India Fellowship is a one-year postgraduate programme that was launched in 2011 with a vision "To create a global fellowship by nurturing a pool of talented young individuals and prepare them to think critically, communicate effectively and become leaders with a commitment to public service."[19] Its first graduating class included 57 Fellows, all of whom were provided a full scholarship.[20] The programme comprises eight terms of six weeks each, with up to four courses in each term. The Fellowship emphasizes writing, research, and experiential learning—in the form of an 8-month part-time Experiential Learning Module.[21] The application for the fellowship has an age restriction and it only allows students with maximum 28 years of age to apply for the program.[22]

Admission[]

Ashoka has its own admissions test, called the Ashoka Aptitude Test. It also accepts the SAT from domestic applicants, one of the first universities in India to do so. Students are welcome to take either test without prejudice.[23] Ashoka University is a Founding Member institution of the India Global Higher Education Alliance, which addresses how admissions policies among Indian and non-Indian institutions influence access and equity in higher education.[24]

Recognition and rankings[]

Ashoka University has been hailed as aspiring to be the "Ivy League of India" by Financial Times,[25]The Economics Times[26] and Open Magazine.[27] The institution was ranked the second-best private university in India in EducationWorld 2019-20 Rankings.[28]

Controversies[]

In October 2016, a faculty member, Rajendran Narayanan, and two other employees resigned; it was alleged by the Faculty Council that they were asked to resign because they signed a petition on Kashmir, something the university denies.[29] Narayanan believes he was targeted because he was also organising a Workers' Welfare Committee for all campus staff.[30]

In March 2021, two faculty members, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian, resigned within days of each other, alleging curb of academic freedom in the university.[31] Mehta has been an open advocate of liberalism, speaking openly about the 'Death of liberalism' under the Narendra Modi Government.[32] He resigned from Ashoka University in March 2021, when trustees Pramath Raj Sinha and Ashish Dhawan are said to have told him that his "intellectual interventions were something they could no longer protect."[33] This was followed by protests from students and faculty, who alleged that Mehta's views on the Modi administration might have drawn pressure internally, leading him to resign.[34] But the vice-chancellor denied that.[31]

Notable faculty[]

Notable faculty of the university includes:

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Association of Commonwealth Universities Membars-Asia". Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Ashoka University takes its Project Nobel ahead with donation for Centre of Biosciences". The Financial Express. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Ashoka, India's first liberal arts university, to open in August". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. ^ Sengupta, Devina (15 April 2014). "Dilip Shanghvi, Nirmal Jain, others line up to back Ashoka University". Retrieved 27 April 2018 – via Economic Times.
  5. ^ University, Ashoka. "Ashoka University celebrates Founders' Day". Ashoka University. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Ashoka University". Ashoka University. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Ashoka University: India's answer to the Ivy League, promises 'world-class' liberal arts education". Economic Times. 11 May 2014.
  8. ^ "47% of Graduates of 2013 Unemployable for Any Job: Study". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  9. ^ Khosla, Varuni (8 March 2016). "Ashoka University, Michigan University partner to set up Ashok Trivedi Centre for Political Data". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Ashoka University's TCPD Governing Body". Ashoka University. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  11. ^ https://www.ashoka.edu.in/page/biology-tsbs-374
  12. ^ Goyal, Malini (11 May 2014). "Ashoka University: India's answer to the Ivy League, promises 'world-class' liberal arts education". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Ashoka University". Perkins Eastman. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Ashoka University". Ashoka University. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Ivy League, Indian-style". Financial Times, UK. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Ashoka University". Ashoka University website. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Ashoka University, Sonepat Courses & Fees 2020". www.shiksha.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  18. ^ "The Call Of The Mind | Media | FLAME University". www.flame.edu.in. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Young India Fellowship" (PDF). Ashoka University. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Young India Fellowship". Ashoka University. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  21. ^ "Young India Fellowship" (PDF). Ashoka University. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  22. ^ "Young India Fellowship". Ashoka University. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  23. ^ "Ashoka University". Ashoka University website. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  24. ^ "India Global Higher Education Alliance". College Board. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  25. ^ Kazmin, Amy. "Ashoka University: Ivy League, Indian-style". Financial Times (FT). Financial Times. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  26. ^ Goyal, Malini. "Ashoka University: India's answer to the Ivy League". Economic Times. Economic Times. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  27. ^ Sra, Gunjeet. "India's New Ivy League". Open The Magazine. Open The Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  28. ^ "India's top 100 private universities". Education World. Education World. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  29. ^ Chopra, Ritika (1 March 2017). "Firing of professor will hurt Ashoka, says university faculty body as three staff exit over Kashmir petition". Indian Express. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  30. ^ Narayanan, Rajendran (24 March 2021). [Firing of professor will hurt Ashoka, says university faculty body as three staff exit over Kashmir petition "Dismantling the labyrinth: What I learnt about power and privilege when I quit Ashoka in 2016"] Check |url= value (help). Scroll. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b "Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University after P.B. Mehta's exit". The Hindu. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  32. ^ "5 reasons why 'liberalism is dead' according to Pratap Bhanu Mehta". www.theprint.in/. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  33. ^ Chopra, Ritika (19 March 2021). "Founders made clear I was political liability for Ashoka University: Pratap Bhanu Mehta". Indian Express. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  34. ^ "Bhanu Pratap Mehta's Exit Upsets Ashoka University Students & Faculty". www.Boomlive.in. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  35. ^ https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/former-cea-arvind-subramanian-is-returning-to-india-to-join-ashoka-university-as-economics-professor-5464211.html
  36. ^ University, Ashoka. "Faculty/Staff". Ashoka University. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  37. ^ University, Ashoka. "Faculty/Staff". Ashoka University. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  38. ^ University, Ashoka. "Faculty/Staff". Ashoka University. Retrieved 25 February 2021.

External links[]

Coordinates: 28°56′48″N 77°06′06″E / 28.9468°N 77.1016°E / 28.9468; 77.1016

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