University of Rajshahi the second largest university of Bangladesh, located 5 km north of the rajshahi city. The recommendation for establishment of the university was made by the sadler commission formed by the Calcutta University in 1917 to conduct a feasibility study for a university for the students of the northern and southern regions of Bengal. The report of the Commission was shelved for long and only in 1953, the government of East Pakistan adopted the Rajshahi University Act 1953, which was published through a gazette notification on 16 June 1953. The Governor of East Bengal was the chancellor and Dr. Itrat Hossain Juberi, the Principal of rajshahi college was appointed the first vice-chancellor of the university.
He and a patron of learning Mr. Madar Baksh worked together to prepare a plan for the university. All intermediate and degree colleges and also the colleges of vocational and technical education of Rajshahi and Khulna divisions were affiliated to the newly established university.
The present campus of the university is at Matihar on 298.2 hectares of land acquired for the purpose. A master plan for the campus was designed by a foreign architect John A Zomanec and the construction of new buildings and structures started in 1958. The construction of the first phase to accommodate all offices and academic units was completed in 1964. At present, the university has two administrative buildings, a senate house, 8 academic buildings, 15 residential halls for students (4 for girls), residential houses for teachers and other staff (including separate houses for the vice chancellor and pro vice-chancellor), the central library building, central mosque, central auditorium, students’ union building, medical centre, press, guest house and a cafeteria. Some institutes, special departments and facilities of the university are located within the campus and in the town and they include the Institute for Bangladesh Studies, the Department of Fine Arts, the University School and College, a rail station, the Barendra Museum and Barakuthi Building. A sculpture of the war of liberation, the Sabash Bangladesh and a Shaheed Minar has been erected at the campus.
Honours courses in the university were introduced in 1962. In 1953, there were only two faculties, Arts and Law with 7 departments. In 2001, the number of faculties stood at 8 and these had 43 different departments of all major branches of humanities, pure and applied science and commerce as well as new and modern disciplines. The five institutes of the university are those of Bangladesh Studies, Biological Sciences, Education and Research, Environment Science and of Business Administration. The university does not have any affiliated college now as the colleges were put under academic control of the national university established in 1992.
At the beginning (1954), the university had only 156 students (6 girls) and in 2001, the number of students stood at about 20,000. The university now has 804 teachers, 472 officers, and about 1,600 support staff. Degrees offered by the university include bachelors (honours) and Masters in different disciplines as well as M Phil, Ph D, diplomas and Certificates. The departments and institutes of the university have so far (2000) produced 168 M Phils and 289 Ph Ds.
The central library of the university has a collection of 250,000 books and journals of 2000 titles. In addition to the central library, there are libraries in all institutes and students’ halls and almost all departments. The university has a relatively large computer centre that provides e-mail and internet services. The transport pool of the university has 29 buses for students.