Members affiliated with the United Democratic Front (UDF) have been chosen as chairpersons of the various standing committees in the Syndicate of the University of Calicut. P. Rasheed Ahammed, who has been a Syndicate member since 2019, has been appointed the pro Vice-Chancellor as well.Mr. Rasheed Ahammed, Professor, Arabic, K.T.M. College of Advanced Studies, Karuvarakundu, Malappuram, is also the standing committee convener on staff. T.J. Martin will head the panel on finance, C.P. Hamsa on planning and works, Jaison Joseph on staff of affiliated colleges, A.K. Shahina Mol on examination, T.M. Vasudevan on course and research, A.T. Abdul Jabbar on affiliation, press and publication, Lakshmi R. Chandran on university centres and chairs, P. Madhu on legal and sports, and M. Ahmed Kabeer on students’ welfare and open and distance learning. Mr. Ahammed will also chair the district-level inspection committee for Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Mr. Jabbar will be in charge of the committee for Malappuram, Ms. Chandran for Palakkad and Mr. Martin for Thrissur.Meanwhile, the university also decided to confer the honorary Doctor of Letters (D. Litt) degrees to film-maker Sathyan Anthikad and industrialist P.K. Ahammed, and Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree to scientist E.D. Jemmis. The proposal was put forward by the university’s Syndicate at a meeting held on the main campus at Tenhipalam in Malappuram on Thursday. Vice-Chancellor P. Raveendran said that the conferment of the degrees would be subject to the assent of Governor and Chancellor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.The Syndicate also decided to give admissions to a transwoman for a PhD in the Department of Sanskrit on the campus. A Directorate of Publication would be formed to professionalise the publication division of the university and its press. Published - July 10, 2026 01:11 pm IST