Organisational glitches at convocation
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, DEC 10
The audience at the maiden convocation for awarding PhDs and degrees at the newly constructed Silver Jubilee Hall of the Goa University was not without its share of goof-ups and un-professionalism on part of the organisers.
Bad organisation was visible at the start with the collar mikes of both the Chancellor Dr S S Sidhu and the Vice-Chancellor Prof Dileep Deobagkar not functioning, thus making both of them non-audible to the audience.
Realising that the collar mikes were not functioning as expected, the person looking after the sound had to hand a cordless mike to the Governor to address the gathering. Seeing the Governor holding the mike, his ADC (aide-de-camp) Bosco George pitched in to hold the same for him for a short while.
What added further embarrassment to the event was the inability of the organisers to find the certificate of a student who came on stage to receive the same. While Chief Minister Digambar Kamat looked on, the Governor had to wait to do the honours till the certificate was found.
Two minutes later when another student walked on stage to receive the graduation certificate, again the organisers started scrambling for the document. As the organisers were taking long to find the certificate, this time the Chancellor was asked to sit.
At this moment, the Vice-Chancellor Prof Deobagkar moved from his place and approached the organisers to see what had gone wrong. Finally, after four minutes the oragnisers managed to save further embarrassment and the award ceremony began.
The Chancellor awarded around 47 PhD degrees and gave away prizes, scholarships and medals to more than 50 students.
