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The new education policy (NPE) made extension as an important facet of higher education. This was desirable to familiarize students with the real problems of industry / farm sector / society so that syllabi could be oriented to address them and research themes could be designed to solve them. In fact, in the absence of extension studies, unmindfully the western themes were being copied in our research activities, whose results merely brought publications, without solving long pending problems. There has been a long standing desire of the science policy makers that we address problems of region, for which the universities were conceived and mandated. This was indeed so explicitly made by the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994 that NMU should be a vehicle of socio-economic progress of the region under its jurisdiction. Hence, the vitality of extension activities.
Extension actvities:
Each School / Department has been actively undertaking extension activities to (i) suit their P. G. curricula, (ii) identify real life problems for M.Sc. dissertations and Ph.D. themes and (iii) inculcate industrial culture among the students through industrial visits/training, so that their unknown fears and inhibitions for industrial jobs are desirably wiped out or at least minimized.
Extension studies (visits to industries and farms) also serve as a linkage between the needy of consultancy / technology and generators of resources on the one hand, rwhile teachers and esearch scholars with ideas, stamina and zeal for developing & transferring consultancy/ technology for bringing funds for future progress on the other hand.
In another area, senior faculty served as resource persons for refresher courses. Research scholars are encouraged to participate in national and international symposia so that they too develop courage for scientific interaction on public platform. Extension activities pertaining to identification of research theme are summarized in the following table.
Extension activities for meaningful identification of research themes
| Sr.No. |
School / Department |
Extension activities |
| 1 |
Physical Sciences |
Interaction with Peers / Experts during seminars/ conferences / project presentation & demonstration of expertise. |
| 2 |
Chemical Sciences |
Student's industrial training, visit to industries, industrially sponsored projects & analytical services to industry. |
| 3 |
Life Sciences |
Visit to farms for samples collection, interaction with farmers individually / collectively (Farmers Mela), field trials of biotech products under development & demonstration of technology. |
| 4 |
Mathematical Sciences |
Compulsory industrial training. |
| 5 |
Environmental & Earth Sciences |
Visits to different eco-systems, eco-damaged projects, use of regional resources etc. |
| 6 |
Chemical Technology |
Interaction with a wide spectrum of Experts during Open House, industrial training to students, interaction with Visiting Faculty / Experts, analytical services to industry etc. |
| 7 |
Computer Science |
Interaction with Experts, software competition-cum-exhibition and compulsory industrial training. |
| 8 |
Management Studies |
Interaction with Visiting Faculty / Experts, annual seminars, management week and student's summer training. |
| 9 |
Comparative Languages and Literature |
Creative discussions / debating, writing articles and prabodhan. |
Other Extension activities at the University:
To complement the above activities, the following extension activities are also organised by the University.
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Plantation, beautification, clean-up operation, removal of grass / weeds, irrigation etc.
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Celebration of National Science Day, Open House, Computer Literacy program, Vigyan Jattha and Krishi Vigyan Yatra in rural areas.
Teak Plantation Program
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Large scale teak plantation program on NMU campus has been conducted to achieve its financial self-reliance in future, through participation of students, administrative staff and faculty of the the the Univesity.In the monsoon of the year 1999 over 95,000 teak saplings were planted in 100 acres of the University campus.The novelty of this program is that 6 biotech inputs were prepared by the students to examine if they promoted percent survival of plants under scorching heat of Jalgaon. The progress of the project appears bright by virtue of about 96 % survival rate, speedily growing green plantlets.Maintenance of plantation is routinely carried out by a group of faculty members, garden section and periodically by N.S.S. It has provided (1) greenery soothing to eyes, especially in summer, (2) conducive atmosphere for thinking, learning and research, (3) an echo-system for the visit of an increased number of birds and rabbits, (4) an opportunity to establish that biotech inputs do work even under adverse conditions and (5) an example of self-help, which no other university and no distinguished Vice-Chancellor of any of the 264 universities ever considered. It is expected that the teak trees would fetch a substantial money to the university in 15-20 years. The North Maharashtra University is perhaps the only university to venture into such an ambitious project. |
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Vigyan Jattha, Vigyan Gatha and Krishi Vigyan Yatra
Each year, the School of chemical Sciences organize Vigyan Jattha : Vigyan Gatha and Krishi Vigyan Yatra to commemorate Science Day celebrations in the revered memory of Noble Laureate Sir C. V. Raman. This activity is carried out for a week with the participation of dedicated teachers and committed students for creating awareness in the rural masses in the area of their health, hygiene, Andhashraddha nirmulan, modern agro-practices, environmental care, hazardous effects of narcotic drugs, AIDS etc. This activity has been appreciated by many villagers and wished it's repetition for their betterment.
Open House celebrations on NMU Campus
The Department of Chemical Technology has earned an unique distinction by organizing Open House each year to spread the temper of Science & Technology among the students. This activity has gained momentum with the active participation of students from Schools, Junior and Senior Colleges as well as University Schools / Departments. It is also witnessed by invited speakers, teachers, technocrats and eminent personalities from the city. This forum provides an opportunity to students to participate in several imaginative competitions, which kindle the spirit of planning, demonstration, creativity, leadership, oratory skills and so on. This painstaking program spreads over 5 5 days(February 24-28) each year since 1996-97 ,has grown up and made the University Samajabhimukh as well as it's relevant to the aspirations of our budding scientists from schools and colleges. The outcome of these Open House celebrations is sharpening the latent talents of students and creation of awareness about scientific temper in the public.
IT Dindi
To create computer literacy awareness amongst the rural people, Department of Computer Science has successfully organized an IT Dindi, a unique experiment during years 2001, 2002. This program was carried out as a part of National Science Day celebration activity. In this Dindi, a team of enthusiastic students, resource persons, faculty members of the department gave live demonstrations/talks on applications & uses of computers, to the students and people living in the rural remote areas of North Maharashtra University jurisdiction. This program was appreciated al lot by media and society. |