Xavier university new campus opened in Odisha

Varsity seeks funds and land for expansion

Exactly a year after the Xavier University Bill-2013 was passed in the state assembly, the new university jointly promoted by the Odisha Jesuit Society and Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) was inaugurated by Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik here today.

Styled as Xavier University-Bhubaneswar (XUB), the campus of the university is located at Kurki near Pipili, on the outskirt of the city.

Unlike the old XIMB campus in the heart of the city, which faces paucity of land for further expansion, the new campus of XUB has come up over sprawling 35 acres of land.

“Xavier University has clear vision to be an innovative one, with a global outreach. It has all the necessary support of the digital technology supplied by IT giants such as HP, IBM, Juniper and others. We have created the first digital university of India right here in this place,” said Father Paul Fernandes, vice-chancellor, XUB, at the inauguration ceremony. The new university is mandated to reserve 50 per cent seats for the students of Odisha. It claimed pioneering position among Indian universities in terms of technical infrastructure by putting in place the data center, Xavier one portal, Xavier University cloud, video book, EduERP, data analytics and big data lab and a social media and cloud computing lab with the help of leading technology firms.

IT enabled learning provides personalised learning and collaborative learning experience for the students, Fernandes added.

Apart from offering MBA, MHRM (human resource management and MBA-RM (rural management), XUB is also home to the School of Commerce which will offer undergraduate courses such as Bachelor in Commerce (Accounting), Bachelor in Commerce (Finance), Bachelor of Management Studies- Marketing and Bachelor of Management Studies- HR.

“This year, we have admitted 27 doctoral students for research in different areas and we have infrastructure capacity for 100 PhD students,” the vice-chancellor said.  

The university official also sought funds and land for expansion in different regions of the state. ” If the government is willing to provide land and initial infrastructure development funds and support, we can help the government achieve its goal of increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education, quality education, utility driven education, in western , northern and southern parts of the state,” he urged the state government.

Chief Minister Patnaik said, “I am sure that the Xavier University would do well in ensuring that the young talent from Odisha and across the country find the right education and knowledge which would facilitate it to take leadership position in determining the future of our country.” Our government is committed to facilitate such centres of academic excellence, he assured.

Among others, Pradeep Maharathy, minister for agriculture, fisheries & animal resource, Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi, minister for higher education and science and technology, John Barwa, arch bishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese and Rajive Kaul, Chairman, Board of Governor, Xavier University were present.