CHENNAI: With vacancies of vice chancellors increased to fifteen in the state-run universities, academicians and educationists have once again urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately appoint heads for the institutions and fill registrar and finance officer posts with regular appointments, besides releasing sufficient funds to ensure timely payment of salaries and pensions.
On universities functioning without vice-chancellors, Anna University's former vice chancellor, professor E Balagurusamy, said, "This prolonged leadership vacuum has paralysed decision making, weakened accountability and eroded institutional credibility."
Pointing out that there have been no new faculty appointments and no promotions for years, resulting in several teaching staff shortages and overburdened teachers being demoralised, he said, "Universities were facing an acute shortage of funds and salaries were not paid on time, causing severe hardship to serving faculty members."
Balagurusamy also claimed that research infrastructure in many universities is "grossly inadequate or non-functional". "Labs are outdated and underfunded, and there is little institutional support for meaningful research and as a result, research output has declined sharply. Besides, doctoral programmes have weakened, which would possibly make the universities lose their standing in national and global academic rankings," he added.
Association of University Teachers (AUT) vice chairman and professor P Thirunavukkarasu reiterated that the government-run universities without vice chancellors cannot function effectively, though a committee, comprising the principal secretary and syndicate members, is in place for making decisions of the headless institutions.
Thirunavukkarasu said that though a few state universities have announced the much-awaited convocation dates for the students in 2026, the degree certificate will not carry the vice chancellor's signature, "which might also have issues".
PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System -Tamil Nadu, said receiving funds will be difficult for the state-run universities, especially from the Centre, in the absence of a vice chancellor.
He claimed that research projects will also be delayed as each innovation of the students has to cross several processes for approval. "The reputation of the university will also be damaged when the vice chancellor is not appointed for so long," he said, adding, "The degree certificates without the signature of the vice chancellor lose credibility in foreign universities as they cannot be trusted for research activities."