Officiating Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University P.C. Joshi on Tuesday said that the university has launched a Vidya Vistar Scheme to develop cooperative academic bonding between its colleges and departments with other universities situated in remote areas in the country.
The aim of the scheme is to maximise contribution of higher educational institutions to nation-building through optimum utilisation of resources, he said.
“The programme will not be one of mentorship by DU but will be a relationship of equality to conduct multidisciplinary research with the expertise, infrastructure and facilities of the university with field experience from the other universities for mutual benefit,” Prof. Joshi said.
Admitting that research at the university had suffered over the past few years, Mr. Joshi who took charge six months ago said, “We will not look back at it as a ‘black period’ but will look at it positively. The university is still very high on the H-index that shows that quality research is being done.”
He said that over the past six months, many decisions have been taken like filling of statutory positions and pending works had been carried out like promotion of teaching and non-teaching staff as well as recruitment that has brought the university on track.
The officiating V-C added that the university was ready with its plans to implement the National Education Policy 2020, and a 42-member committee was taking the opinion of various stakeholders into account.
Phased reopening
He also announced that DU would be holding its convocation on February 27 and that it was in the process of developing a standard operating procedure for a phased reopening of the university by February 1for physical classes, especially for those who need to access labs and other equipment and resources.
Preparations are also being made for the centenary celebrations of DU next year.
Prof. Joshi said the university plans to celebrate its legacy and the brand that it has established over the 100 years. He said that apart from releasing books on the history of the university, the university will make attempts to reach out to its distinguished alumni that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build a university corpus of ₹300 crore. On more short-term goals of the university, he said that his entire team was working towards breaking into the top 500 in the QS World University Rankings.
