Q&A: Upinder Dhar, Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University

'Admission to the varsity will follow the IIM pattern'

JK Organisation, promoter of JK Tyre, JK Paper and JK Lakshmi Cement, among other group companies, is in the process of setting up a multi-disciplinary university — JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) in Jaipur. The university will be operational from the next academic year. Upinder Dhar, vice chancellor of JKLU tells Kirtika Suneja that the university will be based on four principles — long term teaching, corporate training, research and consulting. Edited excerpts:

What was the idea behind setting up the university?
The JK Group is more than 100 years old and we have around 40 primary schools in the country. So, our involvement in education is nothing new but this is for the first time that we thought of setting up a full fledged university. The group wanted to offer quality education in the country and cater to the needs of specific disciplines to enable people to develop their skills and become employable. The focus of the varsity will be on long-term teaching, corporate training, research and consulting.

How will you fund the varsity?
The university will be a self financed institution in the long run with an investment in the order of Rs 100 crore now and Rs 300 crore over the next five to six years. The funding will mostly be in the form of contribution by the JK Organisation group companies including JK Tyre, JK Paper and JK Lakshmi Cement. The Rajasthan government had given us the land and the constructionof the 30-acre campus began in 2009. We will start our academic session from next year.

What programmes will the university offer?
The university will roll out its operations with the Institute of Management with a fully residential MBA programme and an Institute of Engineering and Technology from the 2011-12 session. The admission criterion will generally follow the IIM pattern. The candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of a Common Admission Test or equivalent examination followed by group discussion. Work experience will also be given due consideration. Besides, we are also looking at offering corporate training or management development programmes. We will announce nine programmes between November this year and March next year along with faculty development programmes.

What would be the expected student strength?
We plan to have 5,000 students on our roll in the next 5-10 years. In the first year, we hope to have 500 students. There will be an addition of 200 students in the second year. There will be 10 hostels accomodating 206 students each in the long run. Three of the hostels are ready. We will also have the faculty on campus so that students can benefit all the time.

Are you looking at collaborations with international universities?
JKLU has signed a memorandum of understanding with Han Yang University, Seoul, Korea for cooperation in the field of education and academic activities of mutual benefit. We are also in dialogue with a few renowned universities in the US, Canada and Europe for cooperation for faculty development, students exchange and research.