CUET VC holds online syndicate meeting with six members; no other CUET teacher attends

Amid the ongoing deadlock at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam held an online syndicate meeting on Friday evening with just six members, while the other 11 remained absent.

No CUET teacher other than the vice-chancellor himself attended the meeting. The other five participants were external members.

The meeting discussed the overall situation at the university, the restoration of normal academic activities and ways to address communication gaps among the parties concerned. 

However, no major decision was taken, a syndicate member who attended the meeting said.

The member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said participants discussed the university’s current situation and shared their views on resolving any misunderstandings or communication gaps.

Another participant, Jahidul Rahman, a professor at Jahangirnagar University, confirmed that no CUET faculty member other than the vice-chancellor attended the meeting.

He declined to comment further, saying the vice-chancellor himself would provide details about the meeting.

CUET’s syndicate has 17 members, although the post of pro-vice-chancellor is currently vacant. Several absent members said they could not attend due to leave, illness among family members and personal commitments.

Meanwhile, Professor Sheikh Mohammad Humayun Kabir, the registrar (additional charge) and syndicate secretary, claimed that he had resigned from his registrar post earlier and was therefore no longer serving as the syndicate secretary.

Professor Shariful left the campus on Tuesday after being confined to the vice-chancellor’s building for nearly 30 hours. The district administration and police escorted him out of the building.

After receiving treatment at a hospital, he returned to Chattogram Circuit House around noon on Thursday.

Repeated attempts to contact him by mobile phone for details of the meeting’s decisions went unanswered.

On September 21, Professor Shariful was appointed CUET vice-chancellor, replacing Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem.

Protesting the decision, students have been enforcing an all-out shutdown since September 22. A section of the university’s teachers, officers and employees has also continued work stoppages and non-cooperation programmes over the same demand.

Most academic activities at the university, including classes and examinations, remain suspended.