NEW DELHI: UGC chairman and outgoing JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday said the varsity’s students and colleagues were “delightfully receptive” to new ideas and changes introduced by the administration in functioning of the institution.

Recalling his appointment as the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Kumar, in a statement, said he did not know anyone in the university when he assumed office in 2016.

“When I entered my office on 27 January 2016, I did not know anyone in the JNU. But now in 2022, my wife and I can very fondly say that we met incredible people at the JNU and enjoyed very pleasant interactions with you and your families. It was only because of this that we had a joyful stay on the campus,” he said.
He said it was a great honour to be at the helm of affairs of the JNU and its “transformative growth”.

He also thanked his team members at the university for being “incredibly dedicated”.

“Opening of new Schools and Centres, starting of new academic programmes, and making the admission and administrative processes efficient could be realized only because my colleagues had the commitment and conviction to remain focused on the priorities that would enable our university to turn into one of the finest,” he said.

He said he received constructive feedback and suggestions from students that helped in resolution of issues.

“Students and colleagues were delightfully receptive to many new ideas and changes that we introduced in academic and administrative functioning of the university. I tried always to be available to all the stakeholders – students, staff and faculty members. We used to have weekly afternoons exclusively reserved for such interactions,” he said.

Kumar, who was holding the charge of acting VC at the JNU after his five-year term ended last year, was last week appointed as the chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

From the sedition row of 2016 and lockdown of his office multiple times to then HRD minister getting stuck for over six hours at the venue of JNU’s convocation in 2019 to attack by a mob on January 5 on campus students and teachers, Kumar’s tenure as the VC was marred by controversies.

Kumar, who was made the VC in January 2016, had his first brush with controversy as the VC just a week after his appointment when students locked horns with the administration over holding of an event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit will be the first woman Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University with the Ministry of Education (MoE) appointing her to the post on Monday.