One of the very few universities whose ideology is already globally acclaimed and nationally appreciated is Shiv Nadar University (SNU). Research-focused, multidisciplinary, comprehensive and student-centric are the strong pillars which have firmly held this uncommon university and helped it soar to success in a limited time frame. On 8th December 2017, AVM students were fortunate to have SNU officials come down all the way from Delhi to address the inquisitive students of classes 12 & 12. The young & energetic pupils, very eager to gain insights, were delighted to see Gurnam Sir and Neeraj Sir from Admissions Department at SNU. The session informed the attendees regarding what SNU has to offer.

The students learnt that SNU aims to help solve problems of the society by giving their students the opportunity to do research and find solutions. Generating globally responsible & ethical students and inculcating in them the problem-solving attitude. Their academic curriculum is quite unique and very well supports their ideology, explained the speaker. He explained that a student’s academic related time at university mainly revolves around:

  • Core Common Curriculum(CCC):
    • Subjects are related to day-to-day life.
    • The motive behind including this is that the student’s knowledge should not be restricted to the pursued specialisation.
  • Major:
    • Students have to select any of the 15 major programs currently available for them. This is student’s area of specific studies and constitutes a major chunk of their degree requirement.
  • University Wide Electives (UWE)
    • Apart from their majors, students may have other interests too. To cater to their interest, the university provides for a minor program.

Talking about learning opportunities, SNU is abundant with them.

  • For instance, there is the Opportunities for Undergraduate Research (OUR), a path breaking program for the undergraduate students, enabling them to do original research with faculty members. It helps a student to learn practically with big and small discoveries, enhance his/her skills and knowledge by the student-faculty interaction and much more. An ecosystem of external exposure, service learning projects and innovative mentorship program is part of the curriculum.
  • The on-campus jobs (OCJ), a wonderful initiative by SNU, helps the students to inculcate a sense of responsibility and an ethical approach, preparing them for the future jobs.

Another rare one is the special unit set up to offer guidance for career development, i.e. Career Development Centre (CDC). Students can register themselves in different workshops training and flagship programs and can find answers to questions regarding their field of interest. This helps the student in coming up with an effective strategy to pursue their desired career path.

Thus, ended the introduction to a student centric and research focused school.

The attendees learnt that learning can only happen to an individual when he/she has the internal willingness to learn. The students left the auditorium thinking ‘why not take charge of ourselves and be prepared for tomorrow’s rising challenges.’

Reported by: Aayush Sagar & Smit Lad (Class 11 Commerce)