| Amity University | |
|---|---|
| Motto | We Nurture Talent |
| Type | Private, unaccredited |
| Chairman | Ashok Chauhan |
| Location | Noida, Lucknow, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Gwalior |
| Campus | Urban |
| Affiliations | UGC |
| Website | www.amity.edu |
Amity University (Hindi : एमिटी विश्वविद्यालय) is a private university in Noida, India established under an Uttar Pradesh state government act.
The founder president is Ashok Chauhan. It is not approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). As per the university, it is not required to take the approval of AICTE.[1] The university has been involved in controversies, including refusal by the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) to recognize Amity University and an international arrest warrant against its founder president Ashok Chauhan.[2]
Contents |
The University is a Member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU),[3] and a Member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.[4] The Bar Council of India (BCI),[5] Council of Architecture[6] and National Council of Teachers Education (Educational Programs)[7] have recognized certain function-specific courses. These are not the central recognition bodies in India.
A 2009 UGC report confirmed that "None of the programmes [of Amity University] has received the approval of relevant professional councils. BCI approval is for the School of Law before the University was born. The no. of students admitted seemed to be too large". The report also confirmed that "the University conducts a number of distance learning programmes in the professional subjects (like MBA & MCA). As per UGC Regulations they are not authorized to do so. Further, they have not obtained the approval of the concerned Statutory Council, viz., AICTE. Besides they have not got the approval of UGC, AICTE-DEC Joint Committee for running these programmes. The UGC may like to advise the University to take immediate appropriate steps in this direction."[8] Purely for its UK programs, Amity University is accredited by ASIC, UK, a private body into the business of accreditation in United Kingdom.[9]
According to the university, it has five campuses - Noida, Lucknow, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Gwalior.[10] Amity brands its varsities under the name of "Amity Global Business Schools". As per Amity, these are based in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna, Indore, Kochi, Kolkatta and Pune. As per Amity's website, campuses exist in London and Singapore too.[11]
A 2009 UGC inspection report found that the university had no land in its name. While Amity claimed to UGC that there were no off-campus and offshore centers, the UGC inspectors found otherwise in their investigations. The report mentions that setting up by Amity of "a number of off-campus centres/set-up in different States including Uttar Pradesh, almost simultaneously with the setting-up of the NOIDA Campus, [is] not in order, even as per the UGC Regulations-2003 referred to earlier. The UGC may like to advise the University to take appropriate action not to contravene the provisions of its own Act and also the UGC Regulations." The report also mentioned that the Noida campus had a "good focus on research... has a number of well equipped modern laboratories and is recognized by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India as a Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (SIRO)." The report recorded that the University has some "well qualified/experienced scientists as faculty members, who have already filed a number of patents based on their R&D work at the University. As of August 2009, "two of these patents had been published by the Patents Office." Additionally, the report mentioend that "the University has been certified for ISO 9001: 2000 (Quality Management System) and ISO 14001: 2004 (Environmental Management System). However, the University as yet is not accredited by NAAC/NBA, whose assessment methods are outcome-based and important for a University as per UGC regulations."[8]
During the tainted 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, Amity was part of the consortium that was chosen to provide vocational training for nearly 22,000 volunteers enrolled at the volunteer program "Delhi United".[12][13][14][15] Just three days before the event was to begin, around 10,000 volunteers quit their duties because of "poor training and motivation, unglamorous assignments, and random allocation of responsibilities."[16]
According to the university, there are various courses offered, ranging from anthropology to telecom.[17]