University of Ruhuna

University in Sri Lanka

The University of Ruhuna ( (Ruhuṇa Viśvavidyālaya, Rohana sarasaviya),; ) is a public university in Matara, Sri Lanka. It is the only university in the southern region of Sri Lanka (also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna). It was established by a special presidential decree on 1 September 1978 as Ruhuna University College and upgraded to a full fledged university on 1 February 1984 by a university order. It is informally known as Ruhuna University or simply Ruhuna. The university is organized into ten faculties throughout the southern province of Sri Lanka. Its main campus is located in the Wellamadama complex in Matara. The Agriculture and Technology faculties are in Kamburupitiya (Matara), while the Engineering, Medicine, and Allied Health Sciences faculties are in Galle. Its LKR 5.49 billion financial endowments are used for academic and research purposes of the university. It operates the Ruhuna Library, which is one of the largest academic and research library systems in Sri Lanka. The Ruhuna University Library System is centered in the main library at the Wellamadama main campus and comprises nearly four other libraries holding over 200,000 volumes.

The idea of a University of Ruhuna was proposed by the Cabinet Minister of Education & Higher Education at the time, Dr. Nissanka Wijeyeratne. As Cabinet Minister of Education and Higher Education, Wijeyeratne introduced the Universities Act No 16 of 1978 to Parliament. and the Open University of Sri Lanka.

The Ruhuna University College shifted to its new premises in 1984 following which it was elevated to full university status. The new location was selected for the main campus at Wellamadama, two kilometers from Matara facing the Matara Kataragama main road. Professor G. P. Samarawickrama was the first vice chancellor of the university. Hon. Ronnie De Mel inaugurated the university after being elevated from campus to university status in 1984. During the past 25 years, it has witnessed considerable progress and development in the academic, research and outreach spheres with substantial improvement in intellectual and infrastructure resources and has emerged as a leader of higher education in Sri Lanka. To date, it has produced about 50,000 graduates and over 75 postgraduates.

The University of Ruhuna is a state university and depends on the government for much of its annual grant, which is provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Due to this, its administration is heavily influenced by the UGC. Undergraduate education is completely free. The governance of the university is under the provisions of the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978 and the Universities (Amendment) Act No. 7 of 1985 along with its own by laws.

A new building complex for the university was designed by the world renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa and was constructed at Wellamadama with a unique architectural landscape. The 30 hectare site straddled three steep hills, the westernmost overlooking the sea and separated from the other two by a low lying valley that carried the main road from Matara to Hambantota. Bawa placed the vice chancellor's lodge and a guest house on the western hill and flooded the intervening valley to create a buffer between the road and the main campus. He then wrapped the buildings of the science faculty around the northern hill and those of the arts faculty around the southern hill, using the depression between them for the library and other central facilities.

In Geoffery Bawa's architecture, the central role of geography must be a highlight. The buildings as they are conceived are influenced by the "character of the natural terrain, the vegetation, the potential for developing vistas out into the landscape and hence light and shade and of course the related and ever present aspect of climate". In the Ruhuna campus construction are intimately tied to the topography and the territory they occupy.

The Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium is the largest auditorium in any of the universities in Sri Lanka.

The University of Ruhuna undertakes research, mostly with other universities, government organisations, semi governmental organisations and non governmental organisations. The research is funded by both Sri Lankan and foreign entities.

The university has 5 libraries. The Ruhuna University Library is the central research library, which holds over 0.2 million volumes. It is a legal deposit library, therefore it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in Sri Lanka. In addition to the University Library and its dependents, almost every faculty or department has a specialised library; for example, Agriculture, Medical, Allied Health Science and Engineering faculty libraries are at the Mapalana, Karapitiya, and Hapugala campuses. The library holds about 200,000 books and about 300 journals (foreign and local). These resources are available in print and electronic formats. Services include reference, lending, interlibrary loan, current awareness services, workshops and maintaining library website with links to resources for which the library have subscribed as well as those available free. The library website also provides access to the CD collection and the Online Public Access catalog. According to library statistics, annual circulation of resources is more than 123,000.