OVERVIEW
The Undergraduate Programme at Ahmedabad University provides skills, promotes citizenship, builds courage, and inculcates responsibility. It is aimed at providing broad and deep education that will equip the student to navigate the world in which she lives and become an agent of change in the betterment of her own life and that of the society. The undergraduate education is premised on the fact that it is broad enough for the student to discover her passion in life and prepare her to pursue the passion and yet build deep expertise in her chosen field. It is the ambition of the University to facilitate crossover of disciplinary learning. Undergraduate education, for many, is also a terminal degree hence, it must provide a pathway to earning a livelihood.
Empathy for others who are less endowed and a sense of duty towards contributing to the society whether through their own discipline or their engagement with social organizations is an important ethos that must be reflected by the university environment. Universities are also safe places where students and faculty can use the scholarship to address conflicting ideas and diverse opinions and beliefs. Respect for and protection of other’s ideas and beliefs and their right to express it even when they are different from ours should be a foremost object of the undergraduate experience.
The undergraduate curriculum at Ahmedabad University provides immense flexibility to help students discover their own passion and their own areas of engagement. The programme will particularly help students develop capabilities to synthesize ideas and information while creating an ability to cogently develop an argument and express themselves, verbally and in writing.
STRUCTURE
From 2019, the University will host Undergraduate and Integrated Programmes that offer the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Technology, Integrated Master of Business Administration and Integrated Master of Science in Life Sciences.
Within each of the programmes, such as the Bachelor of Arts Programme, a student can select a Major such as History or Economics. Similarly, in the Bachelor of Business Administration Programme, a student can select a Major in Finance or Operations Management.
In addition to the Major, which is the discipline of the degree, a student can select a Minor, which is an alternative area of specialization that is outside the Major discipline. A Minor can be taken in the same School or outside the School but cannot be in the same or closely related discipline as the Major. The purpose of the Minor is to facilitate building up of alternative areas of expertise. While each student has to declare a Major, a Minor is optional even though we encourage students to declare a Minor. Most Major disciplines will also be available for a Minor.
There may be prerequisites specified for a Major or Minor in terms of preparation and academic achievement.
A very well-prepared student may decide to undertake an Interdisciplinary Major that will be decided by a Committee on Individual Choice in conjunction with the student. This allows for creating a customized Major to meet the academic requirements of the student.
An interested student will apply to a single Major at the time of application and may indicate that she would be interested in an Interdisciplinary Major. The student will work with the Committee on Individual Choice during the first year at the University and will design the Interdisciplinary Major and the accompanying programme of study at the end of the second semester. Alternatively, a student can apply to transfer to an Interdisciplinary Major at any time; however, such a student may have to take additional set of courses which may increase the duration to complete the programme. Note that this is in addition to Interdisciplinary Majors existing at the University, such as Philosophy, History and Languages in the Bachelor of Arts Programme.
Students in Integrated Programmes will be awarded two degrees at the Bachelors and Masters levels in the same discipline. There will be an option to exit the Integrated Programmes after four years with a Bachelors (Honours) degree upon successful completion of the requirements for the Bachelors (Honours) degree.
Programme Chairs and Major Advisors will advise students about the academic requirements of each Programme and Major.
All undergraduate programmes other than the Bachelor of Technology programmes in Engineering will be Honours Programmes requiring students to complete either an Undergraduate Thesis or a Capstone Project. The Bachelor of Technology programme will also require a final year project.
The Undergraduate Programme will be a 120 credit programme. The Structure of the Curriculum is as follows:
| I | Foundation Programme | 12 credits |
| II | General Education Requirements | 30 credits |
| III | Major Requirements | 60 credits |
| IV | Free Electives | 18 credits |
| V | Volunteerism | Required |
| Total | 120 credits |
Most undergraduate students are still discovering their passion when they enter the University. The undergraduate period comprises formative years and must allow for this discovery through flexibility in programmes and curriculum, and create an environment that develops love for life-long learning. Towards that, the University allows students to change their Majors including moving to a Major hosted by a different School, subject to eligibility requirements and with the approval of the Dean of the School hosting the new Major. However, as time progresses in a programme, a Major change may extend the duration of stay since requirements of the new Major will have to be completed and not all courses (or perhaps none) in the old Major may count for the Major Requirements of the new Major.
Students can also choose to enter the University with an Undeclared Major and take courses at the University to determine their passion and capabilities, and thereafter select a Major of their choice, subject to eligibility requirements and with the approval of the Dean of the School hosting the Major.
The eligibility requirements for changing or declaring a Major may include a minimum performance in relevant courses at the University and inclusion of certain subjects in the academic programme of the student in high school. Changing between Bachelor of Technology Majors, whose admission is regulated by government regulations, will be as per the relevant regulations. Changing to a Bachelor of Technology Major from a non-Bachelor of Technology Major will not be permitted.
Students will finalise their Major in the 4th registered semester (by Pre-Registration of courses for the 5th registered semester). This does not preclude a student from changing the Major at any time so long as the statutory limit (of 10 years) of completing an undergraduate programme is not violated. Changing a Major, or entering the University with an Undeclared Major, can in some cases lead to a student taking longer than the normative duration to obtain the degree.
Students should consult the Major Advisors, or the Undeclared Majors Advisor, about changing or choosing a Major.
PREREQUISITES
The prerequisite is a pre-condition for registering and studying a course. It implies that the knowledge/concepts/techniques/methods/etc. taught in course(s) that is/are pre-requisite to a course, will be foundational to the topics covered in the higher level course. Alternately, a course may require some level of "maturity" for studying a course; this maturity would be indicated by credits earned by the student in any combination of courses.
Prerequisites for a course could be a combination of (i) course(s) and/or (ii) topical knowledge as indicated by certain sections of texts, or school competency level, and/or (iii) earned credits.
The different possibilities regarding prerequisites are given below:
If a student wishes to register for more credits than is the norm for her Major then she may do so with the approval of the relevant Major Advisor. There can be a minimum CGPA requirement for this, decided by the discipline or the School. For Undeclared Major the norm may be set at 15 credits.
The maximum number of credits allowed per semester will be 6 credits more than the norm.
Auditing of courses allows students to gain exposure to additional subjects without unduly increasing their overall workload. A student is expected to attend 100% of the sessions but may not be required to complete all the requirements for the course.