JNAFAU’s 4th Convocation tomorrow

Hyderabad, January 18, 2023: Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU)’s 4th Convocation will be held in the city at its premises in Masa tank on 19^th January at 11 am.

Disclosing this addressing a press conference in the city today Prof. Dr. N. Kavita Daryani Rao, Vice Chancellor said the convocation for three academic years 2019-20; 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 will be held on 19th January.  Dr. B.S. Murthy, Director, IIT Hyderabad will be the Chief Guest.
Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana State and Lt Governor of Puducherry, Chancellor of the University will join live online and address the gathering.  

During the Convocation, six Ph.Ds, 114 Gold Medals and 612 for other Degrees will be conferred.  331 PG Degrees and 4456 Undergraduate Degrees, all put together 4793 degrees will be awarded.

Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa, will be conferred to Architect Brinda Somaya, eminent and renowned Architect and Conservation Specialist. She is the recipient of UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage award for the restoration of the St. Thomas' Cathedral in Mumbai in 2004.  She was chosen as one of the "100 Global Public Interest Design" persons working at the intersection of design and service globally in the year 2013.

The Six doctoral theses for which the doctorates will be presented tomorrow are two in the faculty of Architecture and four in the faculty of Planning. These covered areas of academic and present-day significance range from Bus Transit System, Neighborhood Quality, Housing for the Urban Poor, Impact of Urbanization on Lakes and Residential spaces for the elderly. All doctoral scholars have published articles concerning their research work in national and international journals, shared Prof S. Kumar, Director of Evaluation, JNAFAU.

Of the overall 114 Gold Medals, 42 are University Gold Medals, 51 are longstanding Endowment Medals and 5 Endowment Medals were instituted at the last convocation. This year 16 Endowment Gold Medals have been added which were instituted by the Institute of Indian Interior Designers, (IIID), Gold Medals are being awarded for three academic years, Prof S. Kumar, added.

Total degrees to be conferred in this convocation upon candidates from the constituent, affiliated and MoU/VAD colleges including UG, PG and Ph.D are 4793, he said.

It is a State Government University for Architecture and Fine Arts.  It is a very specialized University. Established in 2008, the aim of it is to prepare students for creative and applied responsibilities in the world of Art and Design informed Prof. M. Vinod Ganesh, Director Academic and Planning, JNAFAU.  

The University is in the process of realigning its academic programs as per the direction of National Education Policy 2020 shared Dr. N. Kavita Daryani Rao. To begin with, we are shortly introducing one-year programs in Interior Design and Photography for which there is a lot of interest. The University is trying to put the holistic development of students a priority. With this objective, it has introduced a system of mentoring with each student being allotted a faculty mentor. Senior Counsellor supports faculty mentors to help students, she added

We are aligning our programs in line with National Education Policy and also according to the changing needs of the markets. We are restructuring some of our programs to make them more employment oriented and with a diversity of skill development, the Vice Chancellor shared.  The syllabus of the various course is also revised in line with the NEP.

The University has sanctioned seed Research grants to 15 faculty members and 6 Research Projects to UG (Under Graduate) Students

Several initiatives have been taken up to upgrade the existing infrastructure.  Some of them include setting up a new VFX Lab at a cost of approximately Rs 75 lakhs in the campus

Our Painting Department initiated ‘The Archival & Documentation Centre, which encourages UG & PG students to enhance their ideas, publish monographs etc. A step towards research and its orientation. 

Speaking further she added that the University at present has two constituent colleges, 10 Architecture Affiliated Colleges and 16 Affiliated Colleges in Visual Arts and Design offering several courses in the fields of Architecture & Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Animation, Film-making, Gaming, Temple Architecture, Management and allied disciplines. 

An R & D Cell was set up in the University.  It will train faculty as well as others.  The University is also starting Management Courses to orient their students in various aspects of management so that when they launch their own consultancy, they will be well equipped. 

The University has also formally revised its alumni. 

The University organized a special skill development workshop in various crafts and materials. It organized expert lectures on Entrepreneurship, and gender sensitization several other activities were taken up to make students aware of issues such as population, environment, democracy and so on.

A cultural club is being formed with SPIC MACAY to bring the rich heritage of the Country's performing arts to the students.