Rangpur Bureau

On the occasion of one year of successfully serving as the Vice-Chancellor of Rangpur Begum Rokeya University, Professor Dr. Mohammad Shawkat Ali was felicitated by various departments, offices and students at the Vice-Chancellor's Office in the administrative building of the university on Thursday.

On September 18, 2024, Prof Dr. Mohammad Shawkat Ali, Department of Applied Mathematics, Dhaka University, assumed office as the sixth Vice-Chancellor of Begum Rokeya University. To make the day memorable, the Vice-Chancellor cut a cake along with the teachers, officials and employees on this anniversary day. On this occasion, blood grouping, common room for female students and bus service for communication of all students have been inaugurated.

It is noteworthy that from the first day of his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, he took various initiatives to advance the university academically and administratively. Prof Dr. Mohammad Shawkat Ali brought students back to the classroom and activated their academic activities. He quickly started class examinations on the campus, which was closed for a long time due to the July 2024 movement. He also took effective steps to resolve the session jam of students. He took initiatives for changes, development and modernization in every academic and administrative aspect of the university.

 Among the various administrative and academic activities undertaken in the past one year, notable ones are - cooperation in the government initiative and investigation in the trial of the murder of Shaheed Abu Sayeed, taking legal action including cases by the university against those involved in the attack and murder of students, taking various initiatives including a book fair and sports competitions in memory of Shaheed Abu Sayeed, establishing security and discipline on the campus, providing proper medical care to the injured July fighters, giving Deans and Merit Awards and student priority, introducing modern curricula, research development and publications. 

To take the university forward, administrative reforms and digitalization, training and workshops have been carried out, IQACA activities have been accelerated, international seminars have been organized, training courses for students to develop merit and skills, and campus radio activities have been restarted. Students have been involved in sports and creative activities for their physical and mental development, and various types of sports competitions have been organized. Initiatives have been taken to organize the first convocation of Begum Rokeya University, preparations have been made to include it in the law and organize elections for the formation of the central student council of the university for the first time, and arrangements have been made for free consultation and services for students in health services.

To address the crisis of classrooms for students, the work of expanding the upper four floors of two academic buildings to six floors is underway. Along with this, tenders have been invited for the construction of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Treasurer, Registrar and Guest House on the campus. The work of expanding the 2nd floor of the central mosque of Begum Rokeya University and the 3rd floor of the cafeteria is underway. Considering the travel of students, teachers, officials and employees from far-off places, 7 new bus services have been launched in the neighboring upazilas. The work on the academic master plan is underway and is expected to be finalized next month. An allocation of 3 crore 91 lakh taka has been received for the preliminary work (feasibility study) of the academic master plan and engineering master plan to bring in an allocation of more than 1 thousand crore taka.

On the first anniversary of his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr. Mohammad Shawkat Ali inaugurated a common room with modern facilities built for female students. Also, on the same day, in the afternoon, he inaugurated a free blood grouping campaign for students of the 2024-25 academic year at the University Medical Center. This program will continue from September 21 to September 23, 2025.

On the occasion of the first anniversary, the Vice-Chancellor presented a speech at a press conference among journalists from various media in the conference room of the university's administrative building in the afternoon. The anniversary ceremony was attended by deans of various faculties, registrars, controllers of examinations, proctors, directors of the Student Counseling and Guidance Department, as well as teachers and officials.