A week ago we had exposed how Tushar Desai, a physics professor and principal of DG Ruparel College, was holding the post of the chairperson of the prestigious Board of Studies of B Sc (IT). It has now emerged that Prof Desai is not the only person to have been appointed to such a prestigious post without having the requisite qualification!
Meet Prof Ancy Jose, the principal of Nagindas Khandwala College, Malad, amathematics professor, who has been chairing the board of studies of Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM), a domain completely unrelated to her qualifications!
Prof Jose was appointed to the post in 2011, almost at the same time as Desai, and has since been taking a call on all matters related to BMM curriculum, one of the most popular undergrad courses.
Asked if she deserved the chair which decides on important matters related to a course that is not her cup of tea, Prof Jose said: "Me being BoS chairperson is an old news. I have been a principal for the past 20 years. I have done my PhD in education and also keep a tab on the BMM department in my college. Of course I deserve it."
How does she, a mathematician, keep tab on the latest trends in the media sector?
"I keep getting information from everywhere," she says proudly. In fact, no one can challenge her as it's the university which has appointed her.
Similarly, as per the varsity website, R Sriram, professor of economics, heads BoS of Central European Studies, and Prof BB Sharma, principal of VG Vaze College, Mulund, who is a zoology expert, chairs the board of biotechnology.
These three boards are constituted on an ad-hoc basis. Though it may sound odd, varsity officials claim these subjects are "interdisciplinary". Academicians beg to differ, however.
"When the university has full-fledged departments in biotechnology and Eurasian studies, why do we need to hire people from other disciplines," asked a professor.
Senate member Sanjay Vairal says: "This only exposes the state of affairs in the university. These people are clueless about the subject and hence fail to provide adequate inputs to the board members on crucial matters like revision of curriculum and selection of text books, which directly affect the career of lakhs of students and academic output of the varsity."
As per Maharashtra Universities Act 1994, the major functions of the board of studies include designing curriculum, deciding on text and reference books, recommending suitable names for appointing paper-setters, examiners, moderators, and giving teachers guidelines pertaining to teaching the subject.
According to the Act, "To become a member or chairperson of the prestigious board of studies, one must have a PG degree with at least 10 years of teaching experience in a subject at post-graduation level, or, s/he must be an assistant director of some national lab, or a subject expert who has published a book on the core subject or three research papers in big journals."
However, for an ad-hoc board, there is no such rules. "These rules are not applicable to self-finance courses, for which the university constitutes only ad-doc boards. Moreover, appointing a chairperson for an ad-hoc board is the VC's prerogative. This gives him a free-run," says Ulhas Dixit, who recently retired as head of statistics department at the varsity.
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