The Student Academic Council at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur came into being to foster the values of democracy and good governance among students. These values are considered to be signs of development and progress, and have relevance in educational institutes as well. With the notion of democratic processes in mind, elections for the council were held for the first time at the institute, generating much interest. After all, coordinators for different committees, including the Academic Programme Committee, Corporate Relations Committee, Placements Committee, Media PR & IT Committee, Student Welfare & Disciplinary Committee, Conferences & Events Committee, etc., were to be elected.

Only students from the 2012-2014 batch were allowed to give in their names. Candidates who made it to the top two in the election results were put through an interview round. The esteemed interview panel included names like Mr.Rupesh Mathur (Marketing Head of Fortis Escorts Hospital, Jaipur), alumnus Mr.Ankur Jain (Oriental Bank of Commerce), Dr.Prabhat Pankaj (Director) and Dr.Pradeep Kautish (Faculty – HR).

Thirteen coordinators for 13 committees were finally chosen through a rigorous election process.

The first Student Academic Council was thereby formed and met with the Director, Dr.Prabhat Pankaj. The oath-taking ceremony was conducted on the 2nd of August, 2013, in which Dr.Pankaj addressed the students and emphasised the role of leaders in shaping the institute. “With power comes responsibility” was a central dictum that he gave to the students, encouraging them to host functions enthusiastically but responsibly.

In his talk, Dr.Pankaj also spoke about the importance of the newly formed Student Academic Council when it came to placements for students. He ended by asking the juniors to learn from the example of their seniors in order to become better leaders in the future.

Nikita Thomas
PGDM 2012-14