Prof P Raveendran appointed as Vice Chancellor of Calicut University
The Vice Chancellor’s appointment comes after prolonged controversy, with the university Senate initially refusing to nominate its representative to the search committee.
The Vice Chancellor’s appointment comes after prolonged controversy, with the university Senate initially refusing to nominate its representative to the search committee.
The Vice Chancellor’s appointment comes after prolonged controversy, with the university Senate initially refusing to nominate its representative to the search committee.
Kozhikode: Chancellor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Wednesday appointed Prof Poovathinthodiyil Raveendran as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calicut for a four-year term.
Prof Raveendran, a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry, has been serving as the Vice Chancellor in charge for the past one year and a half.
Arlekar picked him from a panel of five names recommended by the three-member search-cum-selection committee.
Prof Raveendran obtained his PhD from IIT Madras. Before joining Calicut University as a Reader in 2005, he was a postdoctoral visiting scientist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of North Carolina in the United States, and a scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.
His wife, Prof M R Rashmi, is Principal-in-Charge of Pattambi Government College.
Delays and controversies
The Vice Chancellor’s appointment comes after prolonged controversy, with the university Senate initially refusing to nominate its representative to the search committee. When a member was eventually elected, he resigned, citing personal reasons, an episode widely seen as a delaying tactic by the LDF amid fears that the Governor might propose a partisan nominee.
Acting on the Chancellor’s directions, the university convened at least four Senate meetings to nominate a representative. The Senate finally elected its member in compliance with a High Court directive.
The three-member search committee, comprising nominees of the Governor and the University Grants Commission, interviewed 35 applicants over Sunday and Monday and recommended a panel of five names to the Governor. The committee members met the Governor in person to submit the panel.
Meanwhile, the State government moved the High Court challenging the Lok Bhavan notification inviting applications for the Vice Chancellor’s post. The court declined to stay the appointment process and adjourned the petition to January 27. The Governor signed the appointment order, subject to the outcome of the case.
With Dr Raveendran’s appointment, four of Kerala’s 14 universities now have regular Vice Chancellors. The other three are APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU), Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (Digital University Kerala), and Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS)
The Governor has since directed the University of Kerala and Mahatma Gandhi University to nominate their representatives to the search committees for selecting their respective Vice Chancellors.