The Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University Kalyani Mathivanan is gearing up for her first Academic Council and Senate meetings which would deliberate on crucial academic and administrative issues.
While the Academic Council will meet on September 21, the Senate meeting is being convened on October 8. For the first woman Vice-Chancellor of the university, who assumed charge in April, this will be the first time she would be chairing the two important meetings.
“I have been working on various issues concerning the university and whatever needs to be done for the benefit of students and others it would be implemented,” she said on Tuesday.
While the Academic Council is expected to ratify the syllabi formulated for newly introduced five-year integrated courses besides other academic agenda, the Senate members are likely to raise key issues pertaining to students, hostels and staff.
The two new courses -- Masters in Film and Electronic Media Studies and Master of Tourism and Hotel Management -- will be formally launched on September 26. “The student intake for film institute course is not what I had anticipated but we will get going and see that it attracts more numbers in coming years,” the Vice-Chancellor told The Hindu while expressing confidence that the courses would catch up in the days to come.
She is also laying thrust on ‘green campus’ initiatives for which a specially constituted panel is looking into the issue comprehensively.
“I am keen to have a biodiversity park-herbal garden. Members of the green campus committee have already met and their suggestions will be taken up for implementation in hostels and university hospital,” Dr. Kalyani Mathivanan said.
The university, at the moment, is also working out a proposal to have a tie-up with the Department of Posts for selling applications for distance education courses. “I had a discussion with postal officials and next week another meeting will be there with my people in the Directorate of Distance Education. Once this arrangement comes into vogue, students can collect and submit admission applications in post offices.”
