Employing requisite educational necessities like deans and professors is among the founding tasks of an institute’s management. But is it true for everyone? IIIT Vadodara (located in a transit campus on the outskirts of Gandhinagar) has been functioning since 3 years without the presence of full time deans, director or professors. In fact, the first batch of IIITV students has seen the institute in the trenches of almost ‘no educational facilities’.
Since its inception in 2013, IIITV has been under the
mentorship of DAIICT, a private engineering institute located approximately
10km from IIITV. “In 2013, the teaching faculty consisted of only one assistant
professor. Lectures were conducted part time by DAIICT professors,” says
Chintamani P. Joglekar, the institute Registrar, and the sole manager of the
institute’s daily operations. One of the second year students at IIITV,
says, “In the last two years, our lectures were scheduled at the convenience of
DAIICT professors, and any academic queries were solved by these professors
over email.”
Over the years, the
institute has expanded its full time faculty by 4 professors. It has also appointed
4 more professors who are expected to commence teaching after completing their
PhDs next year. However, the institute is still missing top level management.
So does the absence of a Dean or Director cause delays
in bureaucratic and management decisions? Students complain that the institute
faces a faculty crunch. As pointed out in an earlier article by Ahmedabad
Mirror (read here), the hostel accommodation two years ago was pitiable. Consider the
inconvenience faced by everyone when the management that takes decisions on such
issues is sitting kilometres away. Students say they usually have to wait for
weeks until their grievances are tackled by the In-charge Director.
Prof R. Nagaraj,
Director of DAIICT and In-charge Director of IIITV says, “All decisions to
appoint deans and professors are taken by the State Steering Committee, which
has representatives from both institutes and the MHRD.” However, the MHRD says
it has given full authority to DAIICT to take faculty appointment decisions.
While all concerned parties play ping pong with the responsibility
of managing IIITV, the institute itself is still hoping to become a firm ground
for quality education someday.