Page 52 - EducationWorld Oct 2021

Cover Story

“We will continue to expand as a world-class varsity”

ilip Thakore interviewed major objectives were to provide a
Dr. (Prof.) C. Raj Kumar, globally benchmarked environment
Dan alum of Madras, Delhi, of academic freedom to our staff
Oxford, Harvard, and Hong Kong and students. We set out to build
universities and founding vice chan- an academic ecosystem offering an
cellor of the top-ranked O.P. Jindal intellectually engaging, discovery-
Global University (estb.2009). based learning environment for
Excerpts: our students through internships
in leading organisations; semester
Although the wholly residential JGU’s abroad programmes, participation in
campus has been under lockdown for community service projects as also
over 60 weeks, the word is that you have in national and international aca-
been able to maintain learning continu- demic, cultural, and sports events.
ity of your 8,200 students throughout the We were also determined to create
lockdown crisis. How satisfied are you and maintain a research culture that
with JGU’s learning continuity record dur- encourages academic collaboration
ing the pandemic? and work with local, regional and
As a university deeply committed to international communities.
promoting academic excellence, we
switched to digitally-enabled classes How satisfied are you with progress of the
in March 2020 immediately after the of India and/or state government of university 12 years on?
lockdown. We constituted a Planned Haryana. Meanwhile, we have been The milestones we have successfully
Intervention in Virtual Learning and maintaining our campus with all crossed in this short span of time is
Online Teaching (PIVOT) task force preparations to safeguard the health very satisfying. We have been award-
to design a process-driven pro- and safety of students and faculty, ed the NAAC ‘A’ accreditation and
gramme to cover all academic and and to welcome them on campus graded autonomy status and JGU is
administrative operations within less as soon as government regulations satisfactorily ranked in the QS Asia,
than a week after the lockdown was permit. BRICS and World Rankings, and is
extended. Under our PIVOT pro- We have also prepared a plan to ranked India’s #1 private university
gramme, we held over 20,000 online reopen our campus in phases so that in the latest QS World University
classes, achieved 100 percent digiti- at any given point of time, to main- Rankings. Moreover JGLS — our law
sation of the library and conducted tain the prescribed social distanc- school — is ranked India’s #1 law
1,250 online examinations by the end ing norms, only a select fraction of school and #76 worldwide in the QS
of 2020. Moreover in the academic students will be on campus. We are World University Rankings by sub-
year 2021-2022, we have built digital fully prepared with a hybrid learn- jects. JGU has also been conferred
capacity to fully support our current ing model of online and in-person the status of an Institution of Emi-
student base of 8,200 students and classes. nence by the Government of India.
910 faculty. Additionally, we have upgraded And most recently QS has ranked us
Therefore, I am proud that during JGU’s on-campus health infrastruc- among the Top 500 universities in
the 16-month lockdown period, we ture. We have built indoor influenza the world for graduate employability.
have not only ensured 100 percent wards with essential equipment to By all metrics, this is a good record
teaching-learning continuity, but handle any emergency and have of institution and nation-building.
also created value for our academic constituted a JGU Medical Advisory For this, substantial credit has to
community through numerous Board comprising distinguished pro- be given to our founding chancellor
initiatives. Given JGU’s swift transi- fessionals from the medical sciences and benefactor, Mr. Naveen Jindal
tion to digital education to maintain to advise us on ways and means to for his complete faith, philanthropy,
academic continuity during the improve the health infrastructure and excellent leadership. This sup-
pandemic, we have been awarded the and ecosystem of the JGU commu- port has played a major role in the
QS I-GAUGE ‘E-Learning Excellence nity. development of JGU into a higher
for Academic Digitisation (E-LEAD)’ education institution of national and
certification. Going back 12 years, what were the major global excellence.
objectives of JGU when it was registered
When do you expect to resume teach- in 2009? Conceptualising and developing great
ing-learning and research on the JGU Our vision was to build a multidisci- academic institutions requires building
campus? plinary, research-driven university firm foundations. What in your opinion
Reopening the campus of our fully providing excellence in teaching, are the essential characteristics of great
residential university is subject to research and community service. universities?
directives issued by the government More specifically in 2009, our I believe the defining characteristics

52 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2021