Chennai: After finding the name of a former vice-chancellor who had a questionable tenure at Anna University among the shortlisted candidates, the VC search panel has reportedly started to redo the ranking of candidates with a new set of parameters, according to sources.
A total of 170 applications were received for the Anna University's VC post. The search committee headed by Justice V.S. Sirpurkar has eliminated 70 candidates who do not have the required qualifications in the first round. Candidates were shortlisted, based on their administrative experience and appropriateness of qualifications for the VC's post.
After three rounds of the elimination process, the search committee eliminated around 140 candidates. They ranked the shortlisted candidates using standard qualifications like the number of publications, books and other academic qualifications. “Based on these parameters, many candidates including a former vice-chancellor were able to get into the top 30 candidates,” sources revealed.
Sources alleged that some of these candidates have boosted their research publications with many articles in low-quality journals. “After finding a former vice-chancellor who had a questionable tenure at Anna University, the search committee members were surprised. Now, they have decided to rank the candidates based on new parameters such as administrative capabilities and achievements,” sources said.
The Anna University VC search panel has retired IAS officer N.Sundaradevan as state government's nominee and IIT Madras Professor R.Gnanamoorthy as the Syndicate nominee in the panel. Several candidates from Anna University and IIT Madras are expected to feature in the list of shortlisted candidates. The search committee will recommend a panel of three names for the VC's appointment to the Governor.
In all probability, the new vice-chancellor is likely to be appointed in the first week of April. Some senior professors said thatthe search committee should choose a person who is a visionary and an institution builder.
“Anna University has been included in the category-1 universities based on the NAAC score. Now, it has complete autonomy on many things including starting new courses and appointing foreign faculty members. The new VC should be a visionary to set a new course and goals. He should be capable of recruiting efficient faculty members in a transparent manner,” they said.
Pointing out the examples of previous vice-chancellors like M.Anandakrishnan and E.Balagurusamy, professors said that the VC should be a team player and easily approachable person.
