Vellore Institute of Technology

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university[2][3][4] located in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, by G. Viswanathan, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

Vellore Institute of Technology
Former names
Vellore Engineering College
TypePrivate Deemed University and Institute of Eminence[1]
Established1984 (1984)
FounderG. Viswanathan
ChancellorG. Viswanathan
Location
Vellore
,
Tamil Nadu
,
India
CampusUrban
ColorsBlue and White
AffiliationsUGC
Websitewww.vit.ac.in

Academics

VIT consolidated its disciplines into 20 Schools of Study with the addition of the VIT Law School at its Chennai campus.[5][6]

VIT implements the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) which gives the students flexibility to make their own time tables by choosing the subjects and the faculties under whose guidance they want to study.[7][8]

Admission

VIT admits bachelor students through its own engineering entrance exam, called the Vellore Institute of Technology Engineering Entrance Examination (VITEEE). It is conducted every year in the month of April and May. The exam has been conducted online since 2013[9] and in 2018, 212,000 students have registered.[10]

Rankings
University and institute rankings
General – international
QS (World) (2020)[11]801-1000
QS (Asia) (2020)[12]228
QS (BRICS) (2019)[13]176
Times (World) (2020)[14]801-1000
Times (Asia) (2020)[15]201-250
General – India
NIRF (Overall) (2020)[16]28
NIRF (Universities) (2020)[17]16
Engineering – India
NIRF (2020)[18]15
Outlook India (2019)[19]13
The Week (2019)[20]19
India Today (2020)[21]20
Business/Management – India
NIRF (2020)[22]55

VIT was ranked 801–1000 in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2020[14] and 201-250 in Asia.[15] The QS World University Rankings ranked it 228 in Asia in 2020.[12]

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked VIT 28 overall in India in 2020[16] and 16 among universities.[17]

Among engineering colleges in India, VIT was ranked 15 in 2020[18] and 13 by Outlook India.[19] The Week ranked it 19 in 2019[20] and India Today ranked it 20th among engineering colleges in 2020.[21]

The VIT Business School was ranked 55 among management schools in India by NIRF in 2020.[22]

Govt. of India has recognized VIT, Vellore as an Institution of Eminence. This is a move from Gol to give autonomy to selected institutions of higher education in India, so as to encourage the institutions to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

College fests

The Vellore campus hosts two annual college fests, Riviera, a sports and cultural fest, and GraVITas, a technological and design fest.[23] The Chennai campus organizes the cultural fest Vibrance[24] and the technical fest technoVIT.[25]

Controversies

Gender discrimination

Gender discrimination has been a common issue raised in universities across India.[26] VIT allegedly use their restrictive rules and regressive practices to market to conservative parents of Southern India, particularly in their home state of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Andhra Pradesh. These practices include much more restrictive rules on women hostelers, moral policing, shaming by an all-round security force and special committees to look into moral paternalism.[27] The Hindu reported that often women would find themselves checked at hostel rooms and asked to stop talking on mobile phones and sleep or study. Over time, videos and articles have emerged online about the same. VIT officials, however, maintain that stricter female hostel rules are a necessary safety precaution given the rise in crimes against women.[28] VIT officials have stated that, while they agree that men and women must be treated equally, they have at times been faced by irate parents who have insisted on stricter codes of conduct.[27] VIT despite calling itself a progressive educational institution committed to excellence, still ensures strict gender segregation at official events and fests.[27]

In October 2013, two female students were suspended after they helped to organize an online opinion survey of female VIT students, focusing on issues of safety and inequality.[29] Commenting on the issue, VIT vice president Sekar Viswanathan said: "The students started a campaign based on the misplaced notion that the university discriminates against women, which is not true. They were taken home by their parents".[29]

In 2019, Indian news outlet The Print carried a story which alleged that the government was delaying according the Institute of Eminence status to VIT due to an alleged anti-Modi government stance by its Chancellor and an official Intelligence Bureau report alleging gender discrimination of students.[30]

Lack of freedom of speech

VIT allegedly makes students sign an affidavit which prohibits them from speaking out against university management.[27] The university code of conduct prohibits any form of protest or action within premises or outside which may spoil repute of the institute and prohibits passing out information to any media group without prior permission of university officials. In 2015, Indian stand-up comedian Papa CJ was banned from the campus for taking up issues related to gender discrimination and moral policing during his show at GraVITas. He put up a video about his ban on his Facebook page and tweeted about the same[31] describing his ban and a video recording of his show.

PUBG Ban

In December 2018 a circular sent out by VIT Vellore's Chief Warden of Men's Hostel banning the online multiplayer game PUBG[32][33]. Netizens slammed the university for its moral paternalism on Twitter and Reddit[32].

Notable alumni

References
  1. {{Cite web|url = https://www.thehindu.com/education/ugc-recommends-20-institutions-for-institutes-of-eminence/article28801256.ece/
  2. University, V. I. T. "Admissions > Research". Admissions > Research | VIT. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. "VIT". VIT. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. University, V. I. T. "Research organization". Research organization | VIT. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. "VIT's Law School Launched".
  6. "Life at VIT Chennai | VITEEE 2020 | Vellore Institute of Technology | Life at VIT - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. Zafar, Shahila; Manjurekar, B.; Kumar, N. Prem; Khan, Zaved Ahmed (1 January 2014). "Effects of FFCS (Fully Flexible Credit System) on Learning Experience and Academic Performance". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 143: 4–7. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.347.
  8. "Life at VIT Chennai | VITEEE 2020 | Vellore Institute of Technology | Life at VIT - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. Murthi, P. v v. (11 December 2012). "VIT opts for computer-based entrance exam for BTech". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  10. "VITEEE-2018 begins". The Hindu. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  11. "QS World University Rankings 2020". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  12. "QS Asia University Rankings 2020". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2020.
  13. "QS BRICS University Rankings 2019". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2018.
  14. "Top 1000 World University Rankings 2020". Times Higher Education. 2019.
  15. "Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings (2020)". Times Higher Education. 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Overall)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  17. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Universities)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  18. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Engineering)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  19. "India's Top 150 Engineering Colleges In 2019". Outlook India. 6 June 2019.
  20. Pushkarna, Vijaya (8 June 2019). "Best colleges: THE WEEK-Hansa Research Survey 2019". The Week.
  21. "Best ENGINEERING Colleges 2020: List of Top ENGINEERING Colleges 2020 in India". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  22. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Management)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  23. "International Sports and Cultural Fest | Annual technological and design Carnival". VIT. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. "Life at VIT Chennai | VITEEE 2020 | Vellore Institute of Technology | Life at VIT - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  25. "Fests". VIT. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  26. Najar, Nida (22 April 2013). "On India's Campuses, Female Students Speak Out About 'Deep Rooted' Gender Discrimination". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  27. Venugopal, Vasudha (22 April 2012). "When it comes to college rules, it's all down to safety". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  28. Palaniappan, V. S. (20 July 2014). "Rapes in Tamil Nadu on the rise over last 3 years". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  29. Venugopal, Vasudha (11 October 2013). "Two VIT students sent home for dissent". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  30. P, Neelam; ey (28 January 2019). "Intelligence Bureau red-flags pvt universities seeking eminence tag for anti-Modi patrons". ThePrint. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  31. CJ, Papa (8 March 2018). "Here's my experience on the VIT campus - 3 minutes of context followed by 20 minutes of comedy standing up for the students' rights. All based on input from the students themselves. Watch this to know the on ground reality". Retrieved 12 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  32. DelhiDecember 21, India Today Web Desk New; December 21, 2018UPDATED:; Ist, 2018 15:35. "This university has banned PUBG in its campus: Here's how internet reacted". India Today. Retrieved 1 July 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. "Vellore Institute of Technology bans PUBG in campus, but leaves women out of it". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  34. "Musafiri appointed as new Education minister". The New Times. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  35. Rao, Subha J. (22 September 2014). "What's in a name? Quite a lot!". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.

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