Anna univ awaits govt nominee to recruit faculty

Anna univ awaits govt nominee to recruit faculty

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.10.2020

The state government is yet to appoint its nominee for selecting new faculty members for Anna University’s four campuses despite several reminders from the university.

The university has notified 312 vacancies – posts of 139 assistant professors, 106 associate professors and 67 professors after a gap of six years. The campuses including College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet, Alagappa College of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning have more vacancies due to retirement and no recruitment. At present, the campuses are using temporary faculty to conduct classes.

“As per the statutes, the university needs a nominee from the state government and a nominee of the chancellor to the selection committee besides subject experts. Considering huge vacancies, the state government should immediately appoint its nominee to the selection committee,” a senior professor from the university said.

Sources said the chancellor had appointed his nominee whereas the state government is yet to appoint its nominee despite several reminders from the university.

After scrutinising the applications, the selection panels need to be convened for interviewing candidates.

Anna University’s former vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy said the state government should support the university in filling the vacancies. “Unless there is a valid reason, the state government should not delay appointing its nominee. They should have their representative and make sure everything goes by the rules,” he said adding that so many vacancies would affect quality of teaching and research.

In a related development, some members of Anna University Teachers Association demanded the university to conduct a career advancement scheme for the university faculty members before the direct recruitment.