The dean’s in

Sitting in his cabin on Tuesday,a day after the sale of prospectus and forms for admission to under-graduate courses began,Khurana is the most sought-after man in these parts. His phone rings incessantly while he stares into a camera,answering two television journalists’ queries about online application forms. A room full of print journalists awaits him next door. In the hall below,disabled students,many of them from economically weak families from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,are registering for admissions with the help of DSW officials and trained volunteers. Elsewhere on the campus,students stand in winding queues. There are forms being sold in places such as Khair village,close to Haryana. Anything,anywhere could go wrong,and Khurana knows the buck stops with him.

Preparations for under-graduate admissions,the biggest event on DU’s annual calendar,starts a month and a half in advance,says the dean. “Our first job is to update the university information bulletin,after which the tendering process for printing the forms begins. Then there are open days to be organised,” he says.

‘Open days’,sessions for applicants to clear their doubts on courses and admission procedures,attract more than a thousand students per session. “Students usually ask about courses and want to know which one is better. We tell them all courses are good. DU seats are rarely left vacant. That says something about our courses.”

Then,there is the fixation with North Campus colleges,something university officials have to talk students out of every year. “In all such cases,we advice students to go for the course they want and not to focus too much on the college,” he says.

While planning for admissions this year,the dean says,his office expected two lakh students to apply. “We ordered two lakh copies of the prospectus this year. Around 1.8 lakh students had registered for admissions in 2010,the last time we held pre-admission registrations. A large number of students apply to the university every year,even those people who eventually go on to do BTech and other courses,” he says.

While preparations—including the recruitment of student volunteers (the university engages nearly 20 college students for a stipend to act as guides and counsellors for applicants) and the training of college teachers—begin a week in advance,the real test for officials is when the university throws its gates open to under-graduate aspirants with the sale of admission forms.

“Ever since the sale of application forms began,we have been starting our day here at 8 a.m. and going on till about 9 at night. On Monday,when the sale of forms began,I was here at 8 a.m. My first job was to supervise the despatch of prospectus and forms to the sales centres,” says Khurana.

This year,the OMR admission forms are sold through more than 20 centres,among them 12 post offices. “Forms are sent by road to all centres. We send them as per the requirements of different centres. This time,we faced an unprecedented rush on the first day and colleges asked for more forms. We had taxis on stand-by with staff members to take forms to wherever it was required.”

On Tuesday,after ensuring that the forms had been counted and sent to all centres,Khurana heads to the computer centre to ensure that the university’s debut with online applications is successful. Once he has checked that online forms are up on the site,he returns to inspect other arrangements.

With two of his deputy deans by his side,Khurana goes to the Faculty of Arts,whose grounds have resembled a fair since the sale of forms began on Monday. On the campus,around a Vivekananda statue,are hundreds of students—while some stand in queues to buy the forms,others sit on benches and lawns carefully filling in the dots on the OMR forms. There are carts distributing water for free and members of the students’ union operate help-desks. Inside the building of the Arts Faculty are counters where SC/ST candidates line up to register for admission to reserved seats.

After doing the rounds of the campus,the dean returns to his office,where hassled parents and reporters await him. Even as he hears them out,his phone rings and he answers it. “That was Radio Mirchi calling,” he says as he gets back. “My phone rings constantly. It is not just reporters,calls come from everywhere.”

Khurana has ready answers to everything from cutoffs to reasons why filmmakers prefer JNU to DU to promote their films. But this is not what he was trained in: he joined the university in 1986 as a reader in the Department of Chemistry,and took up research in organic chemistry. But these days,he has time only for admissions.

Lying on his table is a pile of answer sheets to be graded. “I grade them when I manage to find some time in between. I don’t find time to go to the department when admissions are on but otherwise in the mornings and evenings,I take classes and do my research.”

While admissions are a crucial part of the dean’s job and go on till late July,the Students’ Welfare Office is also responsible for the welfare of nearly four lakh students who form the mammoth university—a population that can make an entire nation in some parts of the world.

“We are a team of seven,besides the office staff. During admissions,we bring in additional staff to help,” he says.

At 2.30 p.m.,Khurana heads to his on-campus residence for lunch. When he returns,he will have to compile information from all sales counters on the forms sold and the numbers required for the next day.

“There are admission coordinators in each centre whom we have trained,” he says. By 8 p.m.,the data is compiled and arrangements for the next day are made,and Khurana gets ready to leave for home.

Khurana,who has been dean for over a year now,knows it’s a long haul. After the sale of forms is over by the end of June,the cutoffs for admission to different colleges will be announced.“The admissions will go on till the end of July. Once cutoffs come,students will come in with grievances. They will need counselling.”