The Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) has recommended amendments to the constitution of the search committee for the selection of vice chancellors of State universities by proposing a nominee of the State government as the chairperson of the panel.
The amendments seek to remove the clause included in the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations 2010, which states that the nominee of the Visitor/Chancellor should be the chairperson of the search committee in respect of the State and Central universities.
The proposal for amendments to the provision concerned in the Acts of Universities in Kerala was made in view of the “persistence of anomalies in the Acts of universities of Kerala in relation to the stipulations regarding the selection of vice chancellor provided in the University Grants Commission Regulations 2010 and 2018,” according to the minutes of the Governing Council meet of the KSHEC held on October 25, 2021.
Nominee of Syndicate
The council has proposed a “nominee of the Syndicate of the University concerned” in the search committee instead of the clause in UGC Regulations 2010, which stated that it should be a ‘nominee of the Syndicate/Executive Council/Board of Management of the University’. There is no change in the clause that the search committee shall include a nominee of the Chairman, University Grants Commission, or the chairman/equivalent of any other body mandated in areas of knowledge that are exempted from the purview of the UGC.
The KSHEC has proposed the amendments exercising its powers provided for in the Act 2007 and (Amendment) Act 2018.
The objective is to unify the provision concerned in the Act of each and every university in the State. It also aims at satisfying the UGC’s requirement from the universities/State government to modify or amend the provision concerned in Act/Statutes of the universities in tune with the regulations by the commission.
Quoting the UGC Regulations 2018, the Governing Council said that the “nominating agency of the other two members of the search committee can be decided by the university/State government.”
Published - December 17, 2021 06:24 pm IST
