Former VCs want syndicate replaced with Board of Governors
The Hindu
FVCK president K S Rangappa welcomed the move of the State Government to amend the Karnataka State Universities Act 2000 to bring in changes in the structure and functions of universities in consonance with recommendations made by the National Education Policy 2020
The Forum of Former Vice Chancellors of Karnataka (FVCK) has urged the State Government to replace the syndicate with a Board of Governors (BoG) having wide-ranging powers, including the authority to appoint Vice Chancellors.
FVCK president K S Rangappa welcomed the move of the State Government to amend the Karnataka State Universities Act 2000 to bring in changes in the structure and functions of universities in consonance with recommendations made by the National Education Policy 2020, and has made certain suggestions, including replacing the syndicate with a BoG.
“The archaic syndicate must be replaced by a Board of Governors, which should have wide-ranging powers and authority, including appointment of Vice Chancellors. In this respect, the recently introduced IIM (Indian Institute of Management) model is worth emulating. Well-defined statutes should be in place to govern the steps to be taken by the search-cum-selection committee for identifying suitable candidates,” Prof. Rangappa said.
All nominations, either by the government or by the chancellor, should be made only on the basis of recommendations of the BoG and the Vice Chancellor. “The idea is to have a coherent team that will provide collective wisdom for efficient governance,” he said.
He recommends unrestricted autonomy to the BoG in matters other than financial. “For example, both affiliation and disaffiliation must be decided only by the university concerned,” he said.
The role of the government should be more of a ‘facilitator’ than a ‘controller’, he said while adding that too many regulations prove counter-productive. “Let our universities function on the roadmap drawn by the BoG in consultation with academicians. The government can intervene in case of gross omissions and commissions,” he said.
The other suggestions by FVCK to ‘elevate our universities to reinforce the twin activities of teaching and research’ include filling up vacant faculty positions on a priority by inducting both qualified and competent candidates. The vacancies are estimated to be around 50%.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, permitted Anna University to deposit, in three monthly instalments, an amount of ₹73.23 lakh before the Central Government Industrial Tribunal (CGIT) as a condition to hear a statutory appeal preferred by the varsity against the Coimbatore Regional Provident Fund (RPF) Commissioner’s order to pay dues to the tune of ₹2.44 crore to contract employees.