Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (ශ්‍රී ලංකා සබරගමුව විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, சபரகமுவா பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in Belihuloya, Balangoda, Sri Lanka. It was founded on 20 November 1991 and consists of Nine faculties.

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.

The university has signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with international universities, and national and international organizations, with the primary intention of collaboratively raising standards of academic excellence. Among the international institutions that have ventured into a partnership with SUSL via MoUs are leading educational bodies such as Durham University, UK; Guilin University of Technology, China; Shivaji University, India; Gombe State University, Nigeria; and Gothenburg University, Sweden.

Campus
The SUSL is in the former Japanese expatriate village of the Samanalawewa project. Hence, from the inception of SUSL, some of the Samanalawewa project buildings became available. After expansion and renovation, this village became the hub of the university.

Upon the invitation of Prof. Mahinda S. Rupasinghe, the vice-chancellor of SUSL, the new building of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the second stage of the faculty building of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages were ceremoniously declared opened by His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakshe, president of Sri Lanka on 31 March 2012. Also present were the Hon. S. B. Dissanayake, Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Nandimiththra Ekanayake, deputy minister of Higher Education and other honoured guests.

Meanwhile, the construction of the new buildings complex for the Faculty of Geomatics and the playground and pavilion was completed as well. The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences had several new buildings, which were deemed adequate for its present requirements. In the future, a separate new building will be constructed for the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences to hold its growing student population. These infrastructural changes reflect steps taken towards the progress of the university.

Location
SUSL is in the southern foothills of the central mountain range about 162 km from Colombo, on the Colombo–Badulla (A4) road. Administratively, SUSL belongs to the Imbulpe Divisional Secretariat and to the Ratnapura District in Sabaragamuwa Province. The university is 500 m from the Pambahinna Junction, on the A4 highway which runs through Belihuloya. The closest city to the university is Balangoda (18 km), the closest railway station is Haputale (31 km), while Bandarawela is the only 40 km from the university.

Organization
The SUSL was established on 7 November 1995 by the Gazette Notification No. 896/2 and operates under the provisions of the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978 and the Universities (Amendment) Act No. 7 of 1985. SUSL was ceremonially declared open on 2 February 1996 by Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the president of Sri Lanka. The organizational structure represents a number of chief administrative positions such as chancellor, vice-chancellor, deans and many others, who plan for future development. They implement and monitor decisions taken by the overall management.

Chancellors

 * Most Venerable Agga Maha Pandita Rev. Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Mahanayaka Thero
 * Dr. C. R. Panabokka
 * Venerable Madithiyawela Wijithasena Thero
 * Venerable Professor Kumburugamuwe Vajira Thero: (Present Chancellor)

The chancellor of the SUSL is the ceremonial head of the university and presides over the University Convocation. The chancellor is nominated by the president of Sri Lanka for five years.

Vice-chancellors

 * Prof. Dayananda Somasundara, 1995–2001
 * Prof. I.K. Perera, 2001–2004
 * Prof. Rohana P Mahaliyanaarachchi: 2005–2008
 * Prof. Mahinda S Rupasinghe: 2008–2014
 * Prof. Chandana P. Udawatte: 2014–2017
 * Prof. M. Sunil Shantha: 2017-2020
 * Prof. R.M.U.S.K. Rathnayake 2020 - 2023
 * Prof. M. Sunil Shantha: 2023 - to date

The president of Sri Lanka appoints the vice-chancellor out of three nominations made by the University Council for three years. The vice-chancellor is the principal Executive, Academic Officer, and Chief Accounting Officer of the university. The vice-chancellor is also the chairman and ex-officio member of the Council and the Senate of the University and is responsible for the maintenance of discipline and academic work.

Faculty of Computing
Department of Software Engineering

The Department of Software Engineering (DSE) at the Faculty of Computing, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka was established in 2022 by introducing the BSc Hons Degree Programme in Software Engineering for the academic year 2019/2020.

Faculty of Graduate Studies

 * Department of Physiology
 * Department of Medicine
 * Forensic Medicine & Toxicology
 * Department of Community Medicine
 * Department of Microbiology
 * Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
 * Department of Paediatrics
 * Department of Parasitology
 * Department of Pathology
 * Department of Pharmacology
 * Department of Primary Care & Family Medicine
 * Department of Psychiatry
 * Department of Surgery

Development
The university was awarded some 155.5 million rupees in 2004/5 for improving the relevance and quality of undergraduates in higher education. This money is in addition to the annual government funds received.