Mumbai: The process for appointment of a new and permanent vice-chancellor (VC) of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is underway, with 10 candidates shortlisted from a pool of a total 127 applicants. The final interview round is scheduled to take place on December 15. Sources close to the development have confirmed that at least five of the shortlisted 10 candidates are from TISS itself.
The prestigious institute has been without a permanent VC since September 25 last year, following the conclusion of Professor Shalini Bharat’s five-year term as the director of the institute. The post of the director was converted to that of a vice-chancellor as TISS came under the purview of the central government as it received over 50% of funding through the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Since Professor Bharat’s departure, Professor Manoj K. Tiwari, the Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai, has been serving as the interim VC of TISS. This has been an additional responsibility for Professor Tiwari, who stepped into the role after Professor Bharat’s resignation. Professor Tiwari’s term as the interim VC will come to an end once the new permanent VC of TISS is appointed.
Although it is not clear who among the TISS professors have been shortlisted for the interview round of the VC post, it is believed that professor Shankar Das, who is currently serving as the pro VC of the Institute, may be in contention. Recently, professor Das also assumed the additional charge as the VC of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune effective from November 8 this year.
According to the UGC guidelines, a VC is appointed by an executive council in the chairmanship of a government-appointed vice-chancellor (current or retired) of any central university.
Other current office bearers of TISS include Professor Sunil D. Santha (Dean, Academic Affairs), Professor Zubin R. Mulla (Dean, Office of Alum Affairs), Professor M. Mariappan (Dean, Students’ Affairs), and Dr Vaishali Kolhe (Associate Dean, Students’ Affairs). Most of them, however, are currently not in contention for the VC’s post, sources informed.
Professor Dhirendra Pal Singh, a former UGC chairman (2018-21), is serving as the current chancellor of the institute and a permanent VC is also expected to be appointed soon.
