Quorum slashed to facilitate AU Academic Council meet

THE PROVISION of having a mandatory presence of at least 25 members for holding a meeting of the Allahabad Central University's Academic Council has now been amended. For the next three years, just 16 members will suffice as the quorum and empower those present to take decision on behalf of the entire Council .

The change, however, will be effective with respect to a meeting of only the first Academic Council that has been nominated by the Union Government for a period of three years. Following the appointment of the first regular Academic Council thereafter, the clause requiring 25 members to complete the quorum for a meeting will once again become effective.

These vital changes are being implemented on the instruction of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and will be reported as well as implemented at the much-awaited first meeting of the Allahabad Central University's Academic Council that has been convened at the Senate Hall on August 26.

As per the agenda of the first meeting of the Academic Council, the MHRD has asked the varsity administration to add— "Provided that the quorum for a meeting of the first academic council under section 45 (1) of the Act shall be majority of the total membership" to the Statute 11 of the University of Allahabad Act-2005.

Following the amendment, presence of 16 members amounting to 51 per cent of the total 31-member first Academic Council, will be enough to hold a meeting.

This change takes care of the major worry that the Council, having leading academicians from various parts of the country as members, failing to have the required quorum most of the times to actually be effective during a time when a number of vital decisions are to be taken by it.

The August 26 meeting will begin with the AU Vice-Chancellor Prof Rajen Harshe welcoming the members and sharing his views of the academic state of the varsity as well as the developments in the academic sphere since the restoration of the central status on July 14, 2006. He will also spell out the academic imperatives and objectives of the institution as a Central University.

This will be followed by the Registrar reporting all the notification of the Government of India received during the past one year. The Registrar will also report the decisions taken by the AU Admission Committee during its meetings on February 25, March 26, April 17 and May 12.

An important task that is expected to be achieved by the Academic Council is the recommendation of a panel of experts to the Executive Council for serving on the selection committees for filling up the 198 vacant posts of teachers in the varsity.

The Academic Council members will appoint a standing committee on admissions and another standing committee on research degrees in terms of statutes 19 (1) and 19(2).

This will enable the varsity to get on with many of its day-to-day activities without having to wait for a meeting of the Academic Council. The decisions of these standing committees will, however, be dependent on the formal approval of the Academic Council to be permanently effective.

The Council members will also assign the recently sanctioned 69 posts of teachers to various departments, institutes and independent centres of the varsity during the meeting.

The Registrar is expected to present a note on future academic contours, programmes and vision of the varsity too.

Though the Council is free to take up any issue coming within its domain with the permission of the AU VC, who will be chairing the meeting, the agenda as such makes no mention of any of the pending academic programmes like the five-year integrated LLB course that are continuing to hang in the balance for the past many months.