Did well in NIRF rankings despite having half the sanctioned faculty: Prof Renu Vig, PU Vice-Chancellor

The Tribune interview: Prof Renu Vig, PU Vice-Chancellor

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Panjab University’s place has dropped in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for the third consecutive year. The institution performed well despite having only half the sanctioned staff strength, says Vice-Chancellor Prof Renu Vig in an interview with Akashdeep Virk.

The university has lagged behind in the NIRF rankings this year too. What are the measures being taken regarding this?

We have analysed the data and I have been meeting various faculty members lately. We need to move ahead with a better focus and work on a lot of things. The research standards need to be taken care of as also the data capturing methodologies. This has been our weakness. We need a better mechanism at keeping a track of students when they complete their studies from here and venture in employment world. We are good in sciences but can perform better in social sciences. These departments have been told to ensure quality research and publishing paper in quality journals. Whatever we have achieved, this has been with just around 50 per cent faculty strength, and with more faculty members, we can do a lot. For better results, we have started hiring regular teachers. This will improve the quality of research practices as the number of PhD students will also increase.

Shortage of regular faculty has been a major issue in the university. What is the status of fresh inductions against the vacancies?

For the batch of teachers to be inducted from the first advertisement, we shall be able to complete the process by the end of this year. For most of the posts, the pre-screening process has already been completed and we are proceeding with further processes. Interviews have been scheduled for five posts while the process for nine posts has been completed. We understand that regular faculty is crucial for better research standards and we are making every effort possible to admit new teaching members.

The tenure of the Senate is going to end on October 30 and talk is that the body might get dissolved or its character may be changed. What is your take?

If this happens, it won’t be the first time that the university would be without a governing body. During Covid in 2020, the elections to the Senate could not be held and were conducted later in 2021. The university functioned sans the Senate then as well. Organising online classes, admissions, examination, etc was a challenge but everything was managed very well. Students were admitted in July 2021 and degrees were also awarded.

If the tenure of the Senate ends without new body being constituted, what will change? Will the powers and responsibilities of the Senate rest with the VC?

I think that according to the provisions, in case of emergency, the powers then will be with the VC. When the Syndicate elections could not be held, the provisions gave way to the VC assuming the role. Also, during the Covid period when there was no Senate for around one year, the VC had taken all decisions, which used to be taken by the governing body. Later, when the newly constituted Senate met in January 2022, the members had resolved that whatever decisions were taken by the VC during the absence of the Senate stood approved.

Since elections to the PU Student Council are around the corner, the issue of political leaders visiting the campus has taken centre stage. What is university’s stand on the issue?

We have always conveyed to the students and their leaders that the elections are for the campus and there is no need to involve mainstream political leaders in this. Regarding the NSUI’s claim that their national president was not allowed on the campus, no permission was sought for the same. They wanted to invite some mainstream political figures for a session in an auditorium, which was not allowed. The former PUCSC president visited the campus and interacted with students at the Student Centre.

Are armed security personnel accompanying political leaders allowed on the campus?

This is not a good practice. The political leaders come to the campus with their security but will they take responsibility in a situation when things turn wrong? Last year, a scuffle had taken place near the Student Centre between some students and security in-charge of an MLA from Punjab. We do not want any such incident to happen. It is better if political leaders refrain from visiting the campus and the student leaders should also stop encouraging their visits.