The Institute's foundation was laid by the Christian Churches and Organizations in India under the leadership of Dr. Sam Higginbottom with the belief that the improvement of Indian Agriculture is fundamental to all material and spiritual progress of the country. True success in life depends not only on the ability and technical training of the individual but even more on his/her moral character and attitude towards life. Through teaching and other Christian educational activities, the Institute tries to develop integrity, moral stamina, and unselfish idealism in its students. It seeks to base its mode of life and activity on the teaching and example of Lord Jesus Christ and to persuade all men and women to do likewise. The founder Christian leader received a command from LORD JESUS CHRIST to feed the hungry, and they followed it by undertaking transfer of technology mission to enable farmers to produce more food and achieve self-reliance. Dr. Sam Higginbottom believed that The Gospel must be preached with action, thus, he envisioned the institute to take up a leading role in Agriculture, Technical, Industrial, and Health Education to train peasants, extension workers, agriculture graduates, and other rural young people under the vision of The Gospel and the Plough.

The Directorate shall function as an independent entity in the system of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, as far as it goes for the conduct of Distance Education Programmes. The Directorate shall have a strong interface with all the concerned wings of the University for the purpose of coordination and smooth functioning of the Distance Education System. It shall work under the Director and the guidance of the Distance Education Advisory Committee, which shall receive the instruction and be answerable to the Executive Council for the Distance Education System of the University.

In India, Distance Education is the only effective way of making education and technology available to the masses. We are living in a learning society today. Such learning takes place through institutional programmes in schools, colleges, and universities and by means of lifelong education. Institutions alone cannot provide education and training to the one billion-plus population of the country. Therefore Distance Education Programmes gain relevance and suitability for learners of diverse age groups. Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences has embarked upon well-orchestrated Distance Education Programmes covering the entire country with a focus on Traditional Education, Information Technology, Business Management, and Allied Health Sciences. The programmes will open the doors of employment-oriented learning to thousands of young persons and adults in distant places. The university is equipped with a team of experienced experts to design, plan and implement the academic programmes with the highest academic quality and employability.



NEED AND JUSTIFICATION
Education has been recognized as the most potent tool for removing social evils and imbalances, thereby democratizing society. However, the dream of providing equal access to higher education to all sections of society cannot be fulfilled with the existing means, resources, and infrastructure available in the country. Hence, there is growing realization for the need, urgency, and importance of using non-conventional forms and means of education to supplement the conventional ones. Distance Education has been accepted as the most viable and effective means of spreading education, especially higher and technical education to all parts of the country.

In view of the above, SHUATS has embarked upon the project for establishing a separate Directorate of Distance Education to ensure exclusive attention and growth of distance education in various academic and applied fields.

VISION
To accomplish the vision of "The Gospel and The Plough" enunciated by the founders of the Institution .which means to convey the message of freedom from spiritual and material poverty through the technology of Agriculture together with Preaching of the message of Jesus Christ, healing, and evangelism for the salvation of all mankind

MISSION
"To provide education of the highest possible standards to the learners throughout the country and to help develop competent human resources for the nation."

GOALS & OBJECTIVES
To develop self-learning modules for quality education in diverse fields of
1. Traditional Education Programmes Information Technology
2. Business Management and other associated fields.
3. Fashion Technology
4. And many other socially relevant fields to fulfill the needs of the masses.

To develop a nationwide network of well-equipped Distance Education Online Facilitation Centers (OLFC) /Identified Places for Imparting Practicals (IPIP) throughout the length and breadth of the country or within the jurisdiction defined in order to bring education to the doorstep of the masses.

Administrative arrangements and Management System

No.	Societies	Members
1)	Chairman	Vice Chancellor, SHUATS
2)	Director & Secretary	Director DDE
3)	Joint Secretary	Joint Director, DDE
4)	Deputy Secretary	Deputy/Assistant Registrar, DE
5)	Members	Registrar, SHUATS Director Finance, SHUATS Finance Comptroller, SHUATS Deans of concerned colleges or concerned HODs to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor. Any other official of SHUATS or experts from outside, to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor.
6)	Chancellor's Nominees	Two nominees of the Chancellor

DISTANCE EDUCATION WORKING COMMITTEE (DEWC)
The Distance Education working Committee shall be responsible to monitor day to day functioning of the Distance Education programmes of SHUATS. The composition of the working Committee for Distance Education shall be as under:-

No.	Societies	Members
1)	Director Distance Education	Chairman
2)	Co-ordinator Distance Education	Secretary
3)	Dy. / Asstt. Registrar Distance Education	Joint Secretary
4)	Deans of concerned colleges or concerned Head of Departments	Members

MEETINGS:
1. The Distance Education Coordination Committee shall meet at least once in each semester.
2. The Distance Education Working Committee shall meet at least once every month.

Affiliation and Recognitions
1. SHUATS an ISO 9001:2008 certified institution

2. Recognized member of

No.	Societies
a)	Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
b)	Indian Agricultural Universities Association (IAUA)
c)	International Association of Universities (IAU)
d)	All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE)
e)	Association of Commonwealth Universities
f)	Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)
g)	Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture (GCHERA).
h)	Indian Council for Forest Research Education (ICFRE).

3. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous institution of University Grants Commission (UGC) accredited SHUATS with “A Grade” in 2013.

4. MHRD, Govt. of India placed SHUATS – Deemed University in “A” category among the Deemed Universities
    The University has signed 23 International MoU's on academics and research collaborations.

Approval from DEC/Joint Committee/DEB from Ex-post facto to 2016
1. Distance Education Council provided Provisional Recognition for offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.No:DEC/Univ/State/07/5738 Dated 03-09-2007, EX-POST facto

2. Distance Education Council provided Continuation of Provisional Recognition for offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.No:DEC/AAI-DU/UP/08/14287 Dated 15-10-2008

3. After the recommendation of Joint committee visit (UGC-AICTE-DEC) provided Recognition for offering programme through distance mode for 3 academic years vide letter no F.No:DEC/Recog/2009/3159 Dated 08-09-2009

4. Distance Education Council granted Provisional Recognition for offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.No:DEC/Recog/AAI-DU/2012/4284-86 Dated 30-08-2012

5. Distance Education Bureau granted Recognition for the continuation of offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.No:DEC/DEB/AAI-DU/2011/1138-1142 Dated 20-08-2013

6. Distance Education Bureau granted Recognition for the continuation of offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.No. UGC/DEB/AAI-DU/2014/7161-7165 Dated 28-05-2014

7. Distance Education Bureau granted Recognition for the continuation of offering programme through distance mode vide Letter F.NO. UGC/DEB/UP/9/2/2015(DEB-I)/83 Dated 14-09-2015

8. The Directorate of Distance Education, SHUATS has not admitted any students from session 2016 onwards.

List of Staff Members

No.	Societies	Members
1)	Business Management	Dr. Sebestian T. Joseph (Assistant Professor (Sr. Grade)
2)	Library & Information Science	Ms. Shweta Chaurasia (Assistant Librarian)
3)	Journalism and Mass Communication	Ms. Aneesha Henry (Assistant Professor)
4)	Mathematics	Dr. (Mrs.) Sherly George (Assistant Professor)
5)	Computer Science	Mr. P. Stanley (Assistant Professor)
6)	Humanities	Dr. Javed Quadri (Assistant Professor)
		Mr. Immanuel Prem Kumar (Assistant Professor)
		Dr. Arvind Kumar Mishra (Assistant Professor)
		Dr. Ravindra Pratap Singh (Assistant Professor)
		Dr. Syed Hasan Qasim (Assistant Professor)
		Dr. Alam Ara (Assistant Professor)
7)	Accountant /Administrative Assistant	Mr. Arun Srivastava
8)	Sr. Technical Assistant	Mr. Harpal Singh Sethi
9)	Office Superintend	Mr Rizwan Ahmad
10)	Office Assistant	Mr. Manu Singh
11)	Office Assistant	Mrs. Jolly Kurian

Contact us: Mon to Fri: 9:00AM to 5:30PM, Closed on Saturday & Sunday and all National Holidays

No.	Name	Designation	Contact No.
1)	Mr. Rizwan Ahmad	Office Superintend	9956391756
2)	Mr. Manu Singh	Office Assistant	9670454321
3)	Mrs. Jolly Kurian	Office Assistant	8960868638