In at least two of the monthly review meetings with senior officials of universities conducted by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE), the idea of rotating heads of departments has been on the agenda.
According to sources, the idea was introduced by Higher Education Secretary Sunil Paliwal, the council’s head.
Conventionally, State universities appoint senior professors as heads of departments who hold the position till they retire.
However, Centrally-funded institutions have evolved their mechanisms offering all eligible professors a chance to head their department.
In the Indian Institutes of Technology, professors are elected as head and their performance is evaluated not just by teachers but by students as well.
The idea of giving headship in rotation was first suggested at the University of Madras by S. Ramachandran when he was the Vice Chancellor. But it was struck down by professors who pointed out that the University Statutes had no provision for it.
According to the Statutes, the head professor gets admitted to decision making bodies such as the Academic Council and the Senate. This membership also provides the opportunity to be elected to the Syndicate, the university’s policy making body.
A former department head of the university said, “There are associated issues. Can headship be given to assistant professors, associate professors or only professors?” Prof. Ramachandran believes giving headship to youngsters would develop the departments.
‘Decentralise powers’
“The idea was to bring young blood by restructuring the administration. HoDs are vested with so much power. Some powers must be decentralised. It is a healthy move to keep changing the heads as youngsters will also get opportunities to introduce something new,” he says.
“When you allow the HoDs to continue for years, the departments tend to stagnate. In international universities, views of students and faculty are taken while appointing heads. If you do well you can continue [as head],” Prof. Ramachandran says.
Gopal G. Malaviya, who headed the Department of Defence Studies for a decade at the university, agrees with him.
“In University of Madras, some professors have held the headship for decades. If the university does not fill vacancies then the reader automatically becomes the head. By virtue of being the head, the professor also gets appointed to various committees. The HoD has a lot of authority and some of them run an empire,” he said.
According to S. Krishnaswamy, former head of Biotechnology Department of Madurai Kamaraj University, if the government passes an order, State universities would have to abide.
“The TANSCHE is only a recommendatory body. It is up to the government to take up the recommendation. Rotation within the department will make the functioning more democratic,” he said.
