COIMBATORE: The higher education department would start in November the ground work for setting up a search committee to select the vice-chancellor of the Bharathiar University , said principal secretary to the department of higher education Mangat Ram Sharma on Wednesday.Sharma was in the university on Wednesday for the first time after assuming charge as the principal secretary of higher education department last month. In his capacity as the principal secretary of the higher education department, Sharma is the convener of a three-member VC committee of the Bharathiar University.The search committee to select a VC would be constituted six months before the term of the incumbent VC ends. The term of the suspended VC, A Ganapati, ends in March 2019. Ganapati was suspended in February 2018, after being arrested for demanding and accepting bribe from an assistant professor aspirant.About calling for applications for the vacant administrative posts in the university, including that of the registrar, Sharma said the advertisements would be published in 15 days. "We would set up a panel consisting of the chancellor's nominee, two experts from outside, two syndicate members of the university and the convener of the vice-chancellor committee, to select the candidates for the vacant posts," he said.Currently, the posts including those of the registrar, controller of examinations, research coordinator and public relations officer are vacant and have been filled with in-charges.Sharma said discussions were on to identify areas which should be improved for the Bharathiar University to get a better NAAC score. After working on that, the university would apply for NAAC inspection, in a bid to get approval from the University Grants Commission to conduct distance education programmes. The university currently has a NAAC score of 3.11.

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