VC accused of favouritism in appointing guest faculty

The vice-chancellor of Bangalore University has been accused of favouritism in appointing guest faculty to the sociology department on the Jnanabharathi campus.

Some of the candidates selected through the interview have raised objections, saying candidates without the merit to teach the postgraduate classes have been considered for guest faculty positions.

They have also alleged that the guest faculty order has been changed at least 15 times in the past three
months.

“The earlier dean of the department didn’t sign the decision of the selection committee meeting held in August. Even the current dean has refused to sign the order, saying it is in violation,” said a candidate selected as guest faculty.

“Earlier, the workload distributed to four of us was 13 hours per week. Now, to favour a person taken from the waiting list, our workload has been reduced to six hours per week,” a candidate alleged.

Department dean BC Mylarappa said the frequent changes to the order and improper distribution of the workload has resulted in the department not completing the syllabus on time.

Refuting the allegations, vice-chancellor K R Venugopal said: “We have not favoured any candidate. Everything has been done as per the norms. We have appointed more guest faculty to balance the workload. If anyone has issues, let them meet me.”