The University of Hyderabad is a post-graduate teaching and research institute in India. It was established by an act of the Parliament in 1974 as a Central University. The university also offers courses under distance learning programs. The university is a member of the 'Association of Indian Universities' (AIU), the 'Association of Commonwealth Universities' (ACU) and 'International Council for Distance Education'. An Academic Staff College has been functioning on the university campus since 1988 under the UGC scheme for improving the standards of teaching in colleges and universities. The college organizes orientation and refresher courses for college and university teachers. The university was recently ranked first among other universities of India in publications.. The university is located at GachiBowli, about 20 km from the city of Hyderabad on the old Hyderabad-Bombay highway. Stretching over nearly 2,300 acres (9.3 km) of land. The university also has a city campus, "The Golden Threshold", the residence of Sarojini Naidu. The Sarojini Naidu School was located at the Golden Threshold premises for nearly 15 years before it moved to the main campus in Gachibowli in 2003.