MJ Senate meeting postponed, teachers express displeasure

The annual meeting of the Senate of the University of Madras (UoM), scheduled to be held on Friday, was suddenly postponed hours before it was scheduled to convene. It was the first Senate meeting of Tamil Nadu’s oldest university in almost 18 months.

In the message of the secretary of the UO to the members of the Senate, it was stated that “the meeting of the Senate, which was scheduled for 28/08/2026, was postponed due to some urgent meetings of the authorities”. The revised date will be communicated soon, the letter added.

The postponement has sparked consternation among a group of academics in the university who said the authorities in question are bureaucratic heads of various departments who happen to be ex-officio members of the Senate. According to them, their absence should not lead to the cancellation of the Senate meeting, especially when it was convened after such a long time. The last meeting of the Senate was held on March 29, 2025.

While the Syndicate had the power to approve administrative and academic decisions, the Senate was the university’s highest governing body, made up of senior academics, and its approval of all Syndicate decisions was required by law, the member said. Bylaws require the university to hold two senate meetings each year. The financial estimate of the current year and the revised estimate of the previous fiscal year are approved by the Senate every year.

Since the Senate had not met for about a year and a half, at the end of each month the university circulated provisional minutes of the Senate’s meetings in circulation requesting the approval of an interim budget “to pay expenses for salaries, pensions and other mandatory expenses”. For the month of July 2026, a tentative Senate Circulation Minute was circulated to members on 30 July, seeking approval of ₹22.20 million to meet expenses. Members have a day to respond, otherwise the preliminary registration will be deemed to have been confirmed by them.

The absence of a Vice-Chancellor (VC) for over two years further added to the university’s woes. Routine administrative matters are conducted through a three-member convening committee that operates at the VC’s place, which has led to delays.

Published – 29 Aug 2026 02:07 IST