According to the University of Vavuniya’s Vice Chancellor T. Mangaleswaran, the university is aiming for a world ranking and to be a leader in research and dissemination for sustainable development, within the next three years. “Our vision has been determined by the analysis we did on the strength and threat analysis, SWOT analysis and the situation analysis of the university,” the Vice Chancellor said. The vision of the university is to be achieved in three years and would consist of a Rs. one billion infrastructure project that would be sponsored by foreign countries including India and Germany.

Dr. Mangaleswaran also said the university plans to attain a world rank of 1000 and to be the tenth in the country. Additionally, the VC mentioned that the vision is to be established also with the assistance of international organisations and foreign universities. Assistance would be provided in the areas of student exchange, the provision of post graduate education and the development of the curriculum. Dr. Mangaleswaran said the foreign universities and organisations include the University of Arizona, International University of Malaysia, University of Vietnam and Istanbul Okan University.

The selection of the foreign partners was based on their potential in staffing and human resources, their external collaborations, their legal standing and their overall resources. The actual start of the collaboration is to be expected in January next year, and the collaboration programme was approved by the Cabinet, the UGC, the Higher Education Ministry. Giving further detail, Dr. Mangaleswaran, elaborated that there was a clear advantage in the university’s internal and external resources and in the regulatory system of Sri Lanka that allowed for the vision to be created.

In terms of the internal resources, the VC explained that it had a clear advantage in its teaching and research capacity that enables it to create and advance knowledge and thereby achieve its vision. Explaining further, Dr. Mangaleswaran observed that the university also funded certain research of individual staff members that included the areas of water, forestry, agriculture and environment. In the field of business the research included human resource management, marketing and entrepreneur management.

At the same time, the outcome of the new research was to be of benefit for the country, region and the community by adding to both the theory and practical side of the Sri Lankan research culture, the VC said. In relation to creating such a vision the university is to have discussions with the public sector, the NGO sector and the private sector. Further discussion is also to take place with the university’s staff, students and other stakeholders, which would occur at the institutional level. Overall the idea behind the vision is to make the university into a research centre that would benefit the region, the nation and industry. It would also be of assistance in increasing student employment.

Priyath Wijewardene