Jio University To Start Academic Sessions In 2021

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)’s Jio University has formed a seven member Global Advisory Council ahead of its academic session in 2021. The University has also unveiled a list of courses for its graduate programmes.

The advisors in the power-packed Advisory Council will be –Jean Lou Chameau, president of emeritus of California Institute of Technology (Caltech); Rick Levin, former president of Yale University; Subra Suresh, president of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University; Michael Keller, vice provost of Stanford University; Nadhmi A Al-Nasr, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s futuristic habitat project and Frank J Mulhern and Vinayak P Dravid of Northwestern University, according to The ET.

Apart from them, Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita Ambani and daughter Isha Ambani Piramal will also be the member of the council. Former Managing trustee of the Tata Trusts, R Venkataramanan will lead the group’s social initiatives and Bimal Patel, president of CEPT University in Ahmedabad and director of HCP Design has been selected to redevelop New Delhi’s Central Vista.

Others that will be part of the council are–Vikaram S Mehta, chairman of Brookings India, RA Mashelkar, vice chancellor Dipak C Jain,  Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of the University of California and Vinay Sheel Oberoi, former secretary in HRD ministry.

The Jio University’s website claims that it will not promote any kind of caste based reservation, high fees, and politician’s referral. It further mentions the University will be “almost free for poor people, reasonable for middle class and affordable for rich”.

According to the daily, the Reliance Group has informed Empowered Expert Committee of all the selected Institutes of Eminence that the Jio University would be spread in 40,000 sq ft area in Navi Mumbai during a review on November 16.

Jio University’s courses:

In its first academic year, Jio University has proposed to start programmes in Artificial Intelligence, data science and digital media & integrated marketing communication for undergraduates.

It is said that Mulhern of Northwestern University will introduce marketing communication course and Jio’s chief data scientist would conduct AI-related courses.

Keller of Stanford will head Jio Digital library project.

Jio University, which is said to be a centre for medicine, liberal arts and sports, was accorded the “institution of eminence” tag by the NDA government in 2018.

Reliance Foundation’s Jio University was among six colleges that was selected as Institutions of Eminence – a status that will ensure complete autonomy and facilitate them to make a mark in global rankings.

Apart from Jio Institute – which is yet to established, other five institutions were Indian Institute of Science- Bangalore, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (known as BITS-Pilani) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education.―Business Today