AU to tap alumni base for funds, knowledge resource

The 90-year-old Andhra University has elaborate plans to tap its huge alumni base across the nation and other countries, especially the US.

It is learnt that the move is being seriously discussed not only to build financial resources but also exchange knowledge and share research potential.

To begin with, plans are afoot to create a database of the alumni.

As of now, the database has about 31,000 registered alumni and the target is to take the figure to one lakh by the end to this year and three lakh by 2018.

Speaking to The Hindu, Vice- Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao said a team had been constituted to build the database.

At the same time, AU Alummi chapters are being opened in various cities.

Recently, the first of such chapters was opened in Hyderabad.

On July 9, the Godavari chapter would be opened in Rajamahendravaram, which would cater to the districts of East and West Godavari.

“In the last week of July, we have plans to launch the Amravati chapter and separate chapters in Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, and Rayalaseema. The Vice-Chancellors of Acharya Nagarjuna University and Krishna University, who are alumni of AU, have taken the responsibility to launch the chapters in the Krishna area,” said Prof. Nageswara Rao.

This apart, efforts are on to start chapters in New Delhi, Ethiopia, and the US.

“We have about 2,500-strong alumni in Ethiopia and a very strong community in the US,” he added.

According to the V-C, a few old students in the US are in touch with the university officials to start chapters in America.

“We will not have just one chapter, but a number of them covering the whole of the US. We have over 60,000 alumni in the US and we are proposing to collect at least 1,000 USD from each one of them. This would give a big financial boost to the cash-strapped university,” he said.

Over the last couple of years, the university has been receiving sizeable contributions from its alumni, and the idea is to increase it further and make it a regular feature.

“Many top universities in the world such as Stanford, Harvard, and MIT get sizeable contribution from its alumni, and we have similar ideas,” said Prof. Nageswara Rao.

According to him, the YVS Murthy auditorium was built from a contribution of ₹2 crore. Similarly, the new building in the Department of Pharmacy was also built with ₹5.5. crore contribution. In the same way, the new canteen building coming up on the north campus was being built from a contribution of ₹25 lakh, he said.

“We are planning a five-storeyed research and development building from the alumni funds,” he said.

“We target to mobilise at least ₹25 crore to ₹30 crore by the end of next year,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

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