THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mahatma Gandhi University has won the second Chancellor’s Award (2015-16) for the best university in the state.
Governor P Sathasivam on Wednesday accepted the recommendation of the selection committee to confer the award which carries a prize money of Rs 5 crore, a citation and a gold-plated trophy. The award is the brainchild of the Governor and the prize money is provided by the State Government from its budget. The prize money is meant for capital expenditure for major projects in the university. The ceremony will be conducted shortly.
The selection committee’s recommendation to institute another award for the best Emerging University will be forwarded to the Government for appropriate consideration. The inaugural Chancellor’s Award for 2014-15 was won by the University of Kerala.
Selection process
The selection was based on the marks, out of a total of 600, scored by the varsity for its performance in broad components such as academics (225), teaching & pedagogy; pedagogy methods (60), students profile and achievements (110), academic governance (80) and other achievements (125). The marks were awarded on the basis of a list of 37 criteria relating to the performance in these areas. The quality of performance of the Vice Chancellors before the selection committee also played a role in the award of final marks.
The five-member selection committee constituted by the Governor comprised B Srinivas, Principal Secretary (Higher Education) as Chairman.
The members were: Suresh Das, Executive Director, Kerala State Council of Science, Technology and Environment, Prof Kulbhushan Balooni, Director, IIM-Kozhikode, V Ramakrishnan, Director, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram, and Rose Varghese, Vice- Chancellor, National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi. Davendra Kumar Dhodawat, Secretary to Governor, was the convener of the committee.
Varsities thoroughly assessed
The period of assessment for this year’s award was from April 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. A total of 11 varsities participated. Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed University for Art & Culture and the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University did not participate in the assessment.