Craving for own campus

VIJAYAWADA: The Krishna University at Machilipatnam is running from a rented block at the National College since its inception in 2008. The university offers 11 courses and classes are held in eight rooms in a shift system. Against this backdrop, Prof Vunnam Venkaiah has taken charge as the vice-chancellor recently. In an interview with Express, he exuded confidence in taking the university on a success path.
Excerpts:
What are your priorities as the vice-chancellor?
I would like to initiate steps for creating proper infrastructure. We do not have the required infrastructure as we are yet to take possession of the land allotted to us. We are making efforts to get the land and develop the campus with the help of the government. We are also planning to introduce more courses from the next academic year. I want more use of technological aids in teaching.
The university did not have a vice-chancellor for almost seven months. How do you plan to streamline the affairs?
Though there was no regular VC for the past several months, we had an in-charge vice-chancellor who guided the university without any trouble with the help of the monitoring and developing committee.
What is the financial position of the university?
Though we are getting money from the state government as block grants, we are facing funds problem as we are yet to receive UGC funding. The university got Rs 3.46 crore for 2010-11, Rs 5.99 crore for 2011-12 and Rs 3.78 crore for 2012-13 from the state government. The university also received `2.5 crore for building construction.
Do you have sufficient staff? How many posts are lying vacant and when do you plan to fill them?
We have the required staff for current courses. However, staff members are also shouldering additional responsibilities. The government has to take a decision on increasing staff.
What about the employability of students? What steps will you taking to improve campus selections?
We are planning to set up a career guidance and placement services cell with the support of the government.
Does the university have a registrar? Is there an executive council? How are you handling administrative issues?
We have Prof D Suryachandar Rao as registrar, but there is no executive council. The university is run by the monitoring and development committee constituted by the state government.
It is headed by the VC and members include APSCHE chairman, higher education department principal secretary, commissioner of collegiate education, finance department secretary (W&P) and the university registrar.
Do you face any problems over the transfer of colleges to your university?
We are not facing any trouble with it. The transfer is smooth. We have 143 colleges affiliated to us now. Full-fledged affiliation starts from the coming academic year.