The late Dr. A.N.V. Rao, a mathematics and statistics professor was the founder of the statistics department and many educational organizations at the University of South Florida, some of which include the Urban Scholars Outreach Program and Tampa Gurukula. His dedication led to their recognizable status as exceptionally effective educational programs. After his passing in 2006, to continue his legacy his wife Mrs. Sarala Rao started Dr. A.N.V. Rao Gurukulam Program here at USF.
Since inception, the organization meets every Sunday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in Cooper Hall, third floor.
Dr.ANV Rao Gurukulam Program's(AGP) mission is to provide service and support the students in our community. We provide free educational assistance to urban school going children who are studying for standardized examinations and regular coursework.
Our volunteer tutors includes USF undergraduate and graduate students; USF faculty and staff;
Our dedicated volunteers’ assist the kids with core subjects (such as math, science, and language arts) while also preparing them for higher education by offering SAT/ACT prep.
We reserve and divide rooms by grade level, subject, and age. Each volunteer tutor is paired with one to two students and assists the student in his/her/their subject area.
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Mudra in our logo is an inspiration from Gyana Mudra. Sri Bnim, a prominent artist from India, designs this logo. This gesture indicates teaching, intellectual argument, and debate, which is the very purpose of our organization. In our logo, the globe in between the thumb and the index finger resembles that gaining the right knowledge through right education and right teachers can make this world a beautiful place to live. Venkat Mudunuru started volunteering in this program since fall of 2008 when he joined USF for pursuing Ph.D. degree. In fall of 2015, he set this program up as a USF student organization to expand the volunteer outreach. By not limiting academic assistance to only Sunday, the Dr. A.N.V. Rao Gurukulam Program of course fetched its wings to cater to a larger student body.
This award recognizes a student organization at USF with the most comprehensive and effective volunteer service program. AGP received this award twice in the academic years 2018 and 2019
In his book "From Indians to Indian Americans" by Paul Guzzo, he mentions about Dr Rao as 'The Uncle'. "He could be referred to as the father of the Tampa Bay Indian community for his numerous contributions in building its foundation. But, those whose lives he has couched prefer to call him 'uncle'. Thousands of young Indian men and women still refer to the late A. N. V. Rao as uncle, a term of affection for the man who brought the youngsters in the Tampa Bay Indian community together, taught them about their roots, and turned them into a giant extended family."
Dr Rao Gurukulam Program strives to provide assistance for education for students of diverse ethnic, racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are grateful to USF Faculty, Graduate, Undergraduate students those who stood forward for volunteering in our program.
