Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao personally interviews VC candidates for 5 hours
Chennai: Setting a new precedent, Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao on Friday personally interviewed the shortlisted candidates for the post of vice-chancellor in three universities, including Anna University and Madras University.
The appointment of vice-chancellors for the three premier universities of the state is expected in a day or two. “The Governor-Chancellor had interviewed all the shortlisted candidates of three universities. The process went on for five hours,” reliable sources said.
The Governor had interviewed each prospective candidate for 30 minutes. The interview started with VC candidates for Madras University at 10 am. Candidates for Madurai Kamaraj Univesity and Anna University were interviewed later.
“Basically, the chancellor asked us to explain our vision for the university and how we plan to source the funds for the new schemes. The interview was an informal one. He also asked some questions about our field of expertise,” a shortlisted candidate told Deccan Chronicle on condition of anonymity.
For Anna University’s VC post, three candidates, including the syndicate member of the University Professor L Karunamoorthy and Ebenezer Jayakumar, retired professor from Govt College of Technology attended the interview.
Three retired professors from the University of Madras attended the interview for the post of vice-chancellor. Madras University former vice-chancellor R Thandavan, P Duraisamy, retired professor from the Department of Econometrics, University of Madras and S Sachithanantham, the retired professor of Medical Biochemistry, University of Madras was interviewed by the Chancellor.
Usually, the governor will select one person from the shortlisted candidates and appoint him as a vice-chancellor. “The Governor-Chancellor wanted to know about the shortlisted candidates personally. He will choose the candidates based on their experience and merit,” one of the search panel committee members said.
There were allegations of high-level corruption in the VC appointments. The Governor’s attempt is being seen as the first step towards ensuring fair selection.
