Established in 1987 by the act of the Karnataka state legislature through amendment No. 28/1976 dated 29 January 1989 under the Karnataka State University Act 1976. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in wide range of disciplines. It was recognized by the UGC in 1994 and is a member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).The university has its headquarters at Jnana Sahyadri Campus, Shimoga. Its campus is called Jnana Sahyadri, which means 'The Western Ghat section of knowledge'. It has university jurisdiction over malnad districts of Shimoga and Chikmagalur, through which the Sahyadri mountain ranges pass. The campus sprawls across an area of 230 acres.The campus has an admixture of wild and domestic animals.Academic life on the campus includes seminars, symposia, special lectures and workshops. Conventional and non-conventional course of study have updated syllabi responsive to the needs of contemporary society. The research orientation is innovative, original and directed to societal needs.The campus area is free of pollution including noise pollution. The main buildings were constructed on a small hill and blend naturally into the landscape.The University has 80 affiliated colleges, three constituent colleges and other one autonomous college, one B.P.Ed. college, and 17 B.Ed. It also has outlying regional Post-Graduate centre at Kadur. It offers postgraduate courses and research programmes (Ph.D.)in faculty of art, commerce and science. Karnataka State and has in its ambit 50 postgraduate departments, four constituent colleges and 133 affiliated colleges offering graduate-level courses in disciplines catering to the education needs of more than 50,000 students.The university has 59 post-graduate departments of studies in the faculties of Arts, Science, Commerce, Education and Law offering 45 post-graduate (PG) programmes, four PG diplomas(regular) and one undergraduate programme. There are many colleges affiliated to this university offering undergraduate courses in the above-mentioned faculties.The library offers facilities for reading, borrowing, and reference to the students, teachers and research scholars of all departments. Over 70,000 books and 4,000 archived periodicals are available. The library has kept pace with technology by introducing a CD-ROM database and Internet and e-mail facilities. The library provides facilities for self-directed student learning outside standard university hours.Kuvempu University from its inception has been organizing seminars, talks, conferences. During the early days of the university, local people were cordially invited into the debates and seminars during the twilight hours. Then the culture changed and strikes and debates on politics took over for many years for graduate constituencies in the Member of legislative council of the Karnataka State. Things took a standstill then