Know all about VIT-AP University, Amravati: An interview with Dr S. V. Kota Reddy, Vice Chancellor

Established in 2017, VIT-AP University is located near Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. VIT has four campuses at Vellore, Chennai, Amaravati (AP), and Bhopal. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes. For admission to B.Tech courses, candidates have to appear for VITEEE conducted by Vellore Institute of Technology. VIT-AP University has a dedicated Careers Development Centre (CDC) that facilitates training for students to ensure that they get placed in top national and multinational companies.

In an exclusive interview with Careers360, Dr S.V. Kota Reddy who is the Vice Chancellor of VIT-AP University. He is a veteran academician AND administrator with more than 32 years of teaching, research and administrative experience. Previously he has worked as the Academic President at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Dubai Campus. Dr. S. V. Kota Reddy holds a Doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay. Dr. S. V. Kota Reddy filed seven patents, one US, two international and four Indian, in association with IIT Bombay. He also published several research papers in Scopus/Web of Science Indexed Journals and conferences. In this interview, Dr. Reddy has shared all about the vision and mission of VIT-AP, programmes, admission process, placements, startups in VIT-AP and other important information related to Fully Flexible Credit System, Semester Abroad Programme (SAP), Value Added Courses (VACs) and “Engineering Clinics”. To know all about VIT-AP, read the full article below.

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Question- Please explain the mission and vision of the university.

Answer- VIT-AP University was started in the year 2017 with the vision to transform higher education and contribute to the improvement of life itself by application of knowledge. VIT-AP's mission is to improve the world through transformative education and impactful research by fostering an intellectual, empowered, accountable and caring workforce.

Question- VITEEE is the entrance exam for the B.Tech programmes. Can you specify the modalities for the other programmes - are admissions through entrance exams or qualifying exam?

Answer- VIT Engineering Entrance Exam (VITEEE) is the entrance exam conducted by VIT Group and this entrance exam is for engineering admission across the VIT group like VIT Vellore, VIT Chennai, VIT Andhra Pradesh and VIT Bhopal. Based on the ranks, students are going to be given seats and this year, 2,20,000 students have written the VITEEE examination. VIT admissions happen based on the VITEEE ranks at VIT Vellore, VIT Chennai, VIT-AP and VIT Bhopal.

Apart from engineering education, VIT-AP is also focusing on non-engineering programmes as it has engineering programmes in three schools that include the School of Computer Science and Engineering, the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Electronics Engineering. Coming to the non-engineering schools the university has the School of Business, School of Law, School of Social Sciences and Humanities and School of Advance Sciences. There is a written test for example in the School of Business for the BBA programme as there is an entrance exam followed by an interview. Similarly, the other schools also have some kind of entry test for admission to their courses.

Question- The AP government has mandated some seat sharing for the state counselling. Is that applicable to VIT AP and if yes, please give details.

Answer- Yes, VIT-AP University is getting 35% of the government students and these students for engineering programmes come from each state based on the rank AP government allocates seats to students at VIT-AP University which will help those students who are unable to get seats through VITEEE. Whereas, if a student is having good rank in AP EAPCET then they can also apply for admission at VIT.

Question- What is the Support the Advancement of Rural Students (STARS) programme?

Answer- Support the Advancement of Rural Students (STARS) is a scholarship scheme and in this scholarship scheme, students need not have to pay even one rupee as tuition fee to the university. This scholarship scheme is introduced by our Honourable Chancellor Dr G. Viswanathan in VIT Vellore and now Tamil Nadu has already implemented the same scheme. As part of this scholarship programme, one boy and one girl from the rural government schools, the toppers of the district will get selected for this scholarship scheme. From 26 districts of Andhra Pradesh, 52 students will be given free education to students from rural backgrounds and for students who can’t afford education. The university not only provides tuition fees but also provides hostel fees, free food and a laptop to each rural student who is coming under the scheme. However, every year the university will provide free education to these 52 students till they graduate along with good placement opportunities.

Question- Please explain the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) at VIT AP.

Answer- VIT-AP University implemented the Design Your Own Degree, curriculum for engineering programmes. Design Your Own Degree means that students can choose the subjects that they are interested in and can take the specialisation, minors and double majors in such a way that they can design their own degree. For example, Mechanical Engineering students can do a minor in Computer Science and Engineering and then, Computer Science and Engineering students based on their interest they can do minor in Mechanical or Electronics Engineering. In the same way, it applies to all branches of engineering and one more speciality is that students can do double majors also which means Mechanical Engineering students can do another major in Computer Science and Engineering.

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Question- Please give details about the Semester Abroad Programme (SAP) - final project with scholarship.

Answer- VIT Vellore is having 300+ MoUs with various international universities and all these MoUs apply to VIT-AP University. As part of this, the students in their final year can go to any partner university and complete their project and can earn the credits there. Once they come back, based on their credits they can earn their degree here at VIT-AP University.

Question- What is the International Transfer Programme- 2 yrs at VIT-AP and 2 yrs Abroad? Please give some details.

Answer- The SAP and the 2+2 which is the Student Abroad Programme are part of the international programmes. The university has about 300+ MoUs that help the 2+2 programme. For example, the BBA programme, where the student can do 2 years at VIT-AP and 2 years at Michigan Dearborn University. As students will get the BBA degree from VIT-AP University as well as from Michigan Dearborn University. Basically, for two years the students will study at VIT-AP University and 2 years abroad.

Question- Kindly throw light on Value Added Courses(VACs) - what are they and how do they benefit students?

Answer- The Value Added Courses are beyond the curriculum as they are not part of the curriculum and still students can learn something new from these courses. For example, the Blockchain is a part of the curriculum also but if the student has to get some certification, the university has tied up with some industries like Idea, as it is one of the companies where VIT-AP send the MoU and it gets the Blockchain certification. For value-added there are two different ways, one is through industry certification and the other one is through the other theoretical value-added courses. These industry certifications are adding value to the students as these certifications are useful for the placements.

Question- VIT AP has three Centers of Excellence in IoT, Cyber Security, and AI and Robotics. What are these and how do students get to use them?

Answer- VIT-AP University has created the Centers of Excellence in IoT, Cyber Security, and AI and Robotics and these centres have been established in collaboration with industries as the university has signed MoUs with Intel for the establishment of these centres.

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Question- Please give details about the Startups in VIT-AP for students. How are they facilitated? Please give some examples if any.

Answer- The focusing areas of VIT-AP University are Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship. Last year, the university created the Innovation and Incubation Centres and as a part of this Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship cell it has the patent cell. Since the inception of the university, it has published 270 patents and in the last 2 and ½ years the VIT-Ap has published almost 250 patents which is one of the achievements that the university has.

Question- What are the “Engineering Clinics”? Please elaborate.

Answer- As a part of the curriculum, VIT-AP University offers a few credit courses entitled “Engineering Clinics'' which aim at project-based learning to first and second-year students. As a part of the Engineering Clinics, the students have to do the mini project in the first year and second year. Interdisciplinary teams formed by students choose a topic to work with and develop prototypes.

Question- Do VIT AP students fall under the common placement drive of all VIT campuses or is the drive separate for VIT AP? Please give details about the placement statistics of VIT AP - average packages, top recruiters.

Answer- VIT-AP University placements are part of the central placement which is conducted by the VIT Vellore placement cell for all other VITs like VIT Vellore, VIT Chennai, VIT-AP and VIT Bhopal. To get good placements, students should be well-rounded as they should excel in academics and they should excel in extracurricular activities. In the 2022 graduating batch, 93% of students have been placed and they got the highest salary package of Rs. 63 LPA. This year the 2023 graduating batch, as of now 83% of students got placement and the highest package was Rs. 34 LPA. The average package of VIT-AP is between Rs. 5.5 LPA to Rs. 10 LPA.

Questions- Any message for the students?

Answer- Before applying for admission to any university, students have to check the ranking of the university, the credibility of the university and the placement opportunities for that university and the other extracurricular opportunities that the university offers. After analysing all the factors mentioned above students should join the university.

Disclaimer: This content was distributed by VIT-AP University, Amaravati and has been published as part of Careers360’s marketing initiative.