Jadavpur University has issued a notice, announcing the constitution of an alumni cell of the university to tap former students worldwide to mobilise resources and address the funds crunch the university is reeling under.
The notice, uploaded on the varsity’s website last week, announces the formation of the cell that will network with the alumni to raise resources. Depletion in grants from the state and central governments has triggered a funds crunch on the campus.
“The cell has been constituted with the aim to raise funds,” said JU registrar Snehamamju Basu.
An office of the Jadavpur University Alumni Association has been functional on the campus for close to two decades. The association works towards fundraising.
Then what prompted the university to come up with a separate alumni cell?
“Given the burgeoning funds crunch, we need to expedite the fundraising process. A separate cell is expected to meet this demand. We have plans to come up with an office for the cell,” a JU official said.
Another JU official said the members of the cell would maintain the database of the former students, reach out to them and liaise with them so that more funds could be generated. “Fundraising was organised earlier, too. But it was loosely done. We want to give it a firm structure, like IIT Kharagpur,” he said.
But will fundraising through the alumni be enough to meet the crunch?
“I don’t think this can be sufficient. The university should also explore the possibility of resource generation through a reasonable fee hike, considering that this has a multiplying effect,” said a JU teacher.
JU’s September newsletter stated the monthly tuition fees in the arts, science and engineering faculty are Rs 75, Rs 150 and 200, respectively. The monthly hostel fee is Rs 25.