Deans’ award for CU’s top scorers stuck in uncertainty

An initiative to introduce a deans' award for top scorers at the undergraduate level at Chittagong University (CU) has remained stalled for over a year. It was first proposed in May last year.

CU has yet to honour any student with such an award since its establishment. Although a special allocation was included in the university's 2023 budget, it has not been used yet.

At the beginning of 2024, the university's deans' committee gave final approval for the award. However, there have been no further progress following the administrative reshuffle after the July uprising.

Officials said CU does not have a separate budget line for the award. Instead, it is considered part of the university's annual budget. Each faculty dean is expected to confer the award from their allotted budget based on students' academic merit and research excellence.

The award procedure suggests that each dean is responsible for selecting awardees, determining the amount, and organising the conferment from faculty budgets.

However, due to a lack of coordination among deans, administrative stagnation, and the absence of unified guidelines, the award programme has been repeatedly delayed.

Former dean of the Social Sciences Faculty, Prof Siraj-Ud-Doullah, said, "We had planned to introduce the Deans' Award to encourage students."

But, he said, it was not possible to proceed with the plan as the government changed.

Current dean of the faculty, Prof Enayet Ullah Patwary, said, "No decision has yet been made regarding when or whether the award will be launched."

Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Prof Shamim Uddin Khan said, "No timeline has been fixed yet. A meeting will be held soon, and a decision will follow."