First three or four months of 2025 were spent in retirement- turned out to be a break. Because by end- April, I was back working full time, in a new place. JIS University, Kolkata, a 10- year-old private university. The pluses- an established university, unlike Prestige, my last workplace where I was the Founding VC.
Another plus was that the top management team including the VC and the other Pro VC, was new. So we could view things differently.
Of course, legacy issues were there- a closed loop view of West Bengal for admissions and some of the placements. Affecting diversity and output, to a certain extent. The campuses being spread out also affected coordination at times.
Some achievements during this period- improving processes, accountability and governance structure within the university. Establishing a structure with new Deans for Research, and Student/alumni interaction, for example, will have a long term impact. Regular discussions on how to improve diversity in admissions have been taking place, with some actionable plans from the team.
A couple of good FDPs and conferences have also happened, across departments. Student participation in placements is looking up, and so is the faculty participation. Ph. D. admissions in most departments have a good demand. Admissions in B.Sc. Agriculture have gone up. Entrepreneurship related events and cultural activities have picked up steam. An MoU with a Malaysian Tech university (APU) has been signed.
The Medical college under JIS University has got permission to run Post Graduate courses recently. The brand is bound to make its presence felt in many ways, beyond the state.
