KU uploads video clips in place of prospectus to attract students

For the first time since its establishment, in place of the prospectus, the Kuvempu University is uploading video clips highlighting the available courses, facilities, and achievements on its website to attract students for the admissions to postgraduate courses.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutes have been prompted to utilise advanced technology extensively to reach out to the students.

Earlier, the university used to print around 2,000 prospectuses every year for students seeking admission to PG courses. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the university decided to upload video clips to provide information on 32 courses which are being offered at its Jnana Sahyadri campus at Shankaraghatta. Students seeking admission to PG courses can download the application, and apply to any number of courses they wish online from November 12.

Besides, they can also view the video clips in which each department head speaks about the course, syllabus, etc, for about two to three minutes. The selected students receive SMS on the given cell phone number, and such students can visit the campus to pay the admission fee. The entire admission process including counselling has been made online.

32 PG courses

Speaking to DH, Kuvempu University Registrar S S Patil said, the university is offering 32 PG courses at its campus at Shankaraghatta, and the intake is limited to 40 students for each course.

Besides, PG courses are being offered at Kadur in Chikkamagaluru, and in some colleges in Shivamogga district for the benefit of students. The university used to spend Rs three lakh on the prospectus earlier. This time, it has spent around Rs two lakh on video clips, and the online admission system.

As many as 95 degree colleges functioning in Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts are affiliated to the university. Of them, 63 are government, 20 are unaided, and the remaining are aided colleges.

He said that the university wants to attract students from Bhutan, Srilanka, Nepal, and Arab countries by utilising its rank at the national level, and achievements in the field of research and higher education.

"At present, many PhD students are from the North-East States of India. They have a high opinion about the university, and mouth-to-mouth publicity will play a key role in attracting students from other States, and neighbouring countries. We have a good number of students from Yemen and Ghana," he noted.