I've proved my academic management skill in past 5.5 years: LU VC Prof Alok Kumar Rai
Lucknow University
VC Prof Alok Kumar Rai said that he was selected purely on merit, and not due to some political connection.
Reacting to concerns shown by some faculty members of IIM–C on his appointment, Rai cited his accomplishments as LU VC and clarified that the post of director calls for supervising the academic management and not teaching.
"I will have to supervise academic management, which I have proved I am good at during 5.5 years of my tenure as LU VC," he told TOI's Mohita Tewari in a free-wheeling interview. Excerpts...
You are set to head a top B-school amid criticism from a section of academic fraternity, which call your appointment a political one.
They also talk about your non-IIM background, and your lack of experience in handling the IIM system.
It's not at all a political appointment but a procedural one. All laid down procedures have been adhered to.
Also, as such there is no 'criticism' but some disagreements or differences in opinion, which are always welcomed. I haven't applied for a professorial position there; IIM-C is an academic administration. You will have to evaluate me based on my competence of being able to perform as an academic administrator of the institute.
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The criteria should be: 'Will I be able to deliver the same way as I have done at LU. One should assess me on the basis of what I can; I have a list of accomplishments as an academic administrator.
During your term as VC, there were allegations that despite LU being a NAAC A++ University, it struggled with poor infrastructure, and your achievements were more about marketing.
LU has very limited resources. Till date, our priority is to pay salaries to our teaching and non-teaching staff; pay off electricity bills and clear Nagar Nigam dues.
Despite facing a severe financial crunch, there has been a lot of infrastructure augmentation. Our second campus revamp gives a feel of a new campus while at our old campus we have also improved our infrastructure with whatever money we had and from whatever sources we could arrange.
No system is foolproof. Whenever we track progress, we track it from base value -- where we were and where we have reached. We couldn't work for Lal Baradari and the Canning college building which houses several arts faculty departments.
We had plans to revamp it with help of Rs 100 crore sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM USHA), but the grant is yet to be received.
University Grants Commission (UGC) grants LU a category 1 status, which is given to only those that demonstrate high academic standards and are recognized for their quality and performance. Still, there are allegations that professors are not taking classes, and teaching is dependent on research scholars
When I joined LU as VC, there was a system of guest faculty/subject experts who were taking classes in most of the departments due to lack of teachers.
They would take one class of one hour someday and skip it on other days. They had no responsibility. This system was changed, and we recruited self-financed teachers after a rigorous recruitment drive. Assistant professors recruited since 2021 are known for taking regular classes.
In academic institutions, one can't stand with a stick to make professors teach…
What have been the major accomplishments in the past 5.5 years of your tenure?
I believe as a VC I have strengthened the academic ecosystem and have done research rejuvenation.
Now teachers publish research work they take pride in, communicate to social media, talk about the impact factor to the media.
When I joined, most of the teachers were not aware of the H index, a metric used to assess the scientific productivity and impact of an individual researcher or a group of researchers of the university. Today, the H index of LU has increased by almost 50%, which proves that there is a research culture inculcation.
Today, when most universities are thinking of implementing National Education Policy, our UG four-year NEP students have graduated, and we are pursuing one year PG under NEP.
Today, we have assistant professors who have brought projects worth crores in just one year, teachers with fellowship and awards, which reflects quality recruitment. Also, we have built a highly responsive system, even a complaint on X by a student is attended to and resolved in no time.
How do you see your new responsibility in comparison with your present term as state vice chancellor. When are you joining IIM-C?
I am supposed to join IIM-C before Aug 15. I am really excited to take up this new responsibility. In comparison to LU, IIM-C will be a place where I don't expect to face trivial issues. The kind of challenges there would be of different nature, like placement records.
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