The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (, ) is a public university in Belihuloya, Balangoda, Sri Lanka. It was founded on 20 November 1991 and consists of Nine faculties.
History
Palabaddala Monastic University
This ancient university was established by Kalikala Sahittya Sarvagna Pandita ParakramaBahu, the Second (1235–1271 AD) in the Dambadeniya period. Bhikku Dharmakirti held its chancellorship. Meanwhile, the monastic institution of higher education in Sabaragamuwa had been in the custody of Deva Pathiraja, the royal agent to King Parakramabahu, the Second.
Recent years
During the early 1990s, the Sri Lankan government came up with the concept of "University Affiliated Colleges". The concept was triggered by social problems faced by the younger generation, in addition to several committee reports which made recommendations to the government on youth unrest. Based on these reports, the government decided to open new avenues for the younger generation by means of establishing diploma-awarding bodies, which were to be affiliated with several national universities.
The Sabaragamuwa Affiliated University College (SAUC) was one such institution formed in affiliation with the University of Sri Jayawardenepura. Established at Belihuloya in the Sabaragamuwa Province on 20 November 1991 under the Sabaragamuwa Province Affiliated University College Ordinance No. 14 of 1992, the SAUC was ceremoniously declared open by His Excellency R. Premadasa, then President of Sri Lanka, on 8 February 1992. Following the opening, academic programmes of the SAUC commenced on 7 May 1992.
Prof. Dayananda Somasundara, the founding director of the college, determined that the SAUC should become a national university. Guided by his motivation, the academic, administrative and non-academic staff, students, and the nearby communities actively contributed towards the development and promotion of SAUC into a national university. As a result, the government decided to elevate SAUC to the status of a national university, amalgamating the Uva Affiliated University College (UAUC) at Rahangala and the Buttala Affiliated University College (BAUC) as the Faculties of Agricultural Sciences and Applied Sciences respectively. (Before this amalgamation, the SAUC at Belihuloya and the UAUC at Buttala were affiliated to the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, while the UAUC at Rahangala was affiliated to the University of Peradeniya.) The directors of the UAUC and BAUC were the Rev. Elle Wimalananda Thero and Prof. Arthur Bamunuarachchi respectively.
Professor Dayananda Somasundara was appointed as the first vice-chancellor in 1995. He continued in the post till 2001.
The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences was functioning at Rahangala under difficult conditions until 2001. The main difficulty was the long distance between the university's main premises and Rahangala. In addition, the academic staff and students pleaded with the university administration to shift the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences from Rahangala to the main university premises at Belihuloya. In response, the faculty was moved to Belihuloya in 2001. Meanwhile, the Faculty of Applied Sciences was still operative in Buttala. In 2008 this, too, was moved from Buttala to the main university at Belihuloya for the same reasons.
At present, the university has Nine faculties – Agricultural Sciences, Applied Sciences, Geomatics, Management Studies, Social Sciences and Languages, Computing, and Medicine.
SUSL has several other institutes and centres, which are in great demand. They offer programmes to undergraduate and postgraduate students and the wider community. The university practices a semester-based system and conducts most of its study programmes in the English medium. Although a bilingual medium (English/Sinhala or English/Tamil) instruction is available in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages, the proportion of students who follow study programmes in the Sinhala medium is on the decline.
Examples of the courses offered only by SUSL are the BSc degrees in Surveying Sciences, Agri-Business Management, Food Science and Technology, Tourism Management, Physical Education and Sports Sciences Management, Eco-Tourism Management, and many more. In addition to the above SUSL offers B.A. degrees and conducts postgraduate studies in subjects such as Ayurvedic Hospital Management, Indigenous Community Studies, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation etc.