The first meeting of the Nalanda University (NU) governing board, constituted on November 23, 2016, on Friday set the ball rolling for the appointment of vice chancellor (VC) with the formation of a search-cum-selection committee.
The committee will be headed by chancellor Vijay Bhatkar. He was appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee in his capacity as the visitor of the university on January 25 following the resignation of former chancellor George Yeo.
At present, NU is under an interim VC, Pankaj Mohan, who also attended the meeting held in New Delhi. As the senior most dean in NU, Mohan took over the charge after founder-VC Gopa Sabharwal completed her six-year term with one year extension on November 24 last.
The NU was set up by an Act of Parliament with the objective of reviving the glory and academic excellence that the ancient Nalanda epitomised from 413 AD to 1193 AD.
The governing board also set up an executive committee for regular meetings to take up important work.
The governing board would meet soon to take various other decisions, university sources said from New Delhi.
The ongoing construction projects also came up for discussion during the meeting, which was the first interaction among governing board members. The last meeting of NU governing board was held in Rajgir on August 28, a day after the univeristy’s maiden convocation.
NU awarded the second contract worth Rs435 crore for construction of non-residential buildings on its sprawling 455-acre permanent campus in Rajgir on January 25 last.
The members underlined the need for fast forwarding infrastructure development to accommodate more students and faculty members for the much-needed expansion of university, which started its academic session in 2016.
Source: HindustanTimes