On behalf of Jamia, the agreement was signed by the Registrar of the University Prof. S M Sajid while the York University was represented by Patric J Monahan, Vice-President Academic and Provost of the York University. The agreement is signed for a period of five years subject to the availability of funds to persue goals and objectives like exchange of students on reciprocal basis, exchange of faculty members, exchange of publications and research materials, news letters and joint projects related to research, teaching, faculty development
The other members of Jamia delegation included Prof. Obaid Siddiqui, Director, AJK Mass Communication Research Centre and Prof. Biswajit Das, Director, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance. Besides signing the MoU, the Jamia delegation also visited various departments of the University to explore areas of mutual interest in order to put the MoU in practice sooner rather than later.
York has a very long association with Jamia which goes back to early eighties. In 1982, the York University had helped Jamia in establishing the Mass Communication Research Centre. While the first generation of teachers was provided by the York University in the form legendary documentary maker James Beveridge, his wife Margaret gave the Centre film and other equipment the Centre needed so badly in its infancy.
Before returning back to Delhi the Jamia Millia Islamia delegation also signed a similar MoU with Rayerson University besides paying a visit to the University of Toronto.
This initiative comes with Mr. Najeeb Jung, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia’s keen interest in raising the profile and educational standards of Jamia and collaborating with the reputed universities of the world to achieve this goal.