I strongly believe that the administration should be primarily run by faculty as they are traditionally identified as running the institute. Faculty always run administration with a view that the purpose of the institute is the promotion of education and research. Therefore, even as administrators, they are in touch with their own academic lives and, yet, perform functions that aid both the students and faculty.
When faculty run the institute, the institution does not just create new knowledge in the academic field but also provides new visions for the society because they carry the innovations in research into administration. Further, due to the scientific training, they are able to think through the problems efficiently and quickly.
I have devoted at least 2-3 hours per day for the last 20 years for administration. I was chairman of NCSI for three years and ICER for two years. In addition, I have served on numerous committees within IISc including being vice-chairman for GATE. I have also been handling library purchases, scientometric analysis for the institute and profiles of faculty.
I devised the admission procedure for the undergraduate program when it was first started in IISc. Subsequently, I have handled the admissions to both the undergraduate and graduate programs. I am aware of the legal aspects for these procedures.
I have also handled contracts (and sub-contracts) given for the maintenance of the institute, including house-keeping, security and catering.
As part of the administration, I have nominated numerous young faculty who perform well as young fellows of various academies. In fact, several faculty who have obtained their young fellowship of academies have been nominated by me. I feel this is important for the morale of the young faculty and also helps the growth and image of the institute nationally.
Nationally, I have been part of several technical committees. This includes serving on many program advisory committees in the department of science and technology. I have also served on committees for election of fellows to the academies, selection of faculty for the Swarnajayanthi fellowship and Bhatnagar award. In addition, I have helped many young faculty write proposals for funding to various governmental agencies and applications for the above awards.
Below is a list of committees that I have served.
COMMITTEES
Department of Chemical Engineering
Convenor - Department Workshop, 2000-2018
Convenor – Admissions, 2014-2017
Convenor - Department Curriculum committee, 2001-2006
Indian Institute of Science
Chairman – Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Research, 2016-2018
Chairman – National Center for Science Information, 2007-2010
Vice-Chairman – GATE, 2004-2007
Chairman - Library Purchase committee, 2009- 2014
Chairman - Undergraduate committee, 2009-2010
Member - Committee for infrastructure development in the Institute, 1999-2002.
Member - Committee for waste disposal in the Institute, 1999-2002
Joint Secretary - Faculty Association, 2000-2002.
Member - Committee for holidays in the Institute, 2000-2002
Member - Committee for safety and security in the Institute, 2001-2005
Member - Committee for medical policies in the Institute, 2001-2006
Member - Committee for heritage fund in the Institute, 2002-2006
Chairman - Committee on selecting security agencies, 2003-2004
Member - Committee on voluntary retirement scheme, 2004-2005
Member - Committee on planning of the Institute campus, 2004-2006
Member - Committee for the design of institute web page, 2006
Member - Committee for the change of designation of secretarial staff, 2004-2007
Member - Committee for the selection of library trainees, 2005-
Member - Committee for the selection of trainees for the digital library, 2005-
Member - Committee for the selection of temporary secretarial staff, 2005- 2007
Member - Committee for the disposal of laboratory waste, 2005-
Member - Committee for the evaluation of secretarial staff, 2004- 2007
Member - Committee for the Library, 2004-2007
Member – Committee for the design of vehicle security stickers, 2005-2007
Member – Committee for the implementation of RFID access cards, 2005-2007
Member – Committee for the procurement of spectroscopy equipment, 2006-2010
Member – Committee for quantifying academic excellence, 2006-2009
Member – Committee for computerization of academic records, 2006-2008
Member - Design of IISc web page, 2010-2013
Member - Undergraduate committee on admissions, 2010-2014
Member - Undergraduate committee on purchase, 2010-2014
Member - Contract and tender management, 2009-2014
National Committees
Project assessment committee (PAC) member for Department of Science and Technology (DST) for the following:
· Chemical Engineering
· Materials, Mining Engineering
· Swarnajayanthi fellowship
· FIST proposals
· Bibliometrics
· National post doctoral fellowship
· Early Career Scientist
· SAIF proposals