The 411-acre University of Pune’s (UoP) campus will soon get bigger — virtually. By the end of 2007, the UoP will bring onto one single digital platform all its 408 affiliated colleges scattered across three districts — Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik — using existing satellite, broadband and other terrestrial network. This will pave the way for greater academic exchange and smoother governance within the university.

Over the past month, a panel of experts appointed by the university has been formulating a plan to connect all colleges in terms of three components — video, voice and data. The Triple Connectivity Project (TCP), as it is called, will include various features like virtual classrooms for students and faculty training, speedier administrative exchange between colleges and the university, and student-friendly measures like online application and admission procedures.

The project will be headed by Pramod Kale, former director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It will also have Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL) Managing Director Vivek Sawant, Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC) Director Sameeran Walvekar, and the university authorities. Broadband companies would also be roped in for the project, said Vice-Chancellor Narendra Jadhav.

“This project will achieve the goals of quality education, improved research abilities, and better governance,” he said.

The first aspect of the TCP will be virtual classrooms, wherein lectures conducted at the Pune campus by expert faculty employed or invited by the university can be broadcast live to any college in the three districts. The electronic content for this purpose will be prepared at the EMRC’s fully equipped studio at the campus. “We are also working out a way in which colleges themselves can prepare the electronic content,” said Kale.

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