(I've been advised by the Vice Chancellor of UPES to not make internal emails public citing legal concerns. Hence this post with all the relevant dates and details but sans the pdf document. I certainly don't have the resources to fight legal fights 🙂!)
This post is to answer a question I've been asked by several colleagues and well wishers over the few months: "Why did you resign from UPES in just about two months after joining?"
Here's the answer. As you go through it, please bear in mind that I was brought in as Cluster Head (Mechanical) and was academically leading four B.Tech. Programs (Mechanical, Aerospace, Automotive and Mechatronics).
1. 21/3/23 afternoon: We get an email from the VC regarding auditions for a "university music video". A good email, written in the correct spirit, and much appreciated!
2. 21/3/23 night: An email from Dean Students announcing the tentative schedule for auditions and the process for registering for the same. All good except that the audition dates were in the midsemester exam week. Since the auditions were also open to students, not so good :)!
3. 22/3/23 morning: I email the VC and Dean Students requesting that audition dates be pushed back by a week so that midsem exams performances don't suffer.
4. 22/3/23 morning: Emails from VC and Dean Students agreeing with my concern but with Dean Students pointing out that the CEO (Global University Systems, Gurgaon) might prefer that the auditions not be postponed due to production deadlines.
5. 22/3/23 morning: PA to CEO confirms that the auditions will continue as scheduled (in the midsem week).
6. 22/3/23 afternoon: I write to the CEO to express my concern.
7. 22/3/23 afternoon: CEO replies. To quote: "Audition of 50-100 in a university of 12,500 students will not affect the outcome of what we are trying to do as an institution."
--> I completely disagree with this. Even one student's performance suffering is one too many.
8. 22/3/23 night: I resign. If I was a Professor within the UPES system who had undertaken the responsibility of heading the cluster, I would have simply resigned from the head-ship and become a lab-rat again :). But as I pointed out at the start of the email, I was brought in as Cluster Head. So my resignation had to be comprehensive.
9. 25/3/23: Resignation acceptance and my final email to VC.
Some folks will agree that I did the right thing by resigning. Some will disagree and would have preferred that I stayed around for more time :). And that's alright - I respect different opinions as long as they are coming from a good space :)!
But as far as I was concerned, this was a moral call. It's a very competitive world that we are preparing students for. Their academic training comes first in a university. And exams and grades stay on transcripts for life. There's no way I could have felt morally ok with staying on after these communications.
There :)!
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