Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/A. A. Khan (academician)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep.  Sandstein  06:00, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

A. A. Khan (academician)

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I don't think WP:PROF is satisfied. The closest criteria to be satisfied is "6. The person has held a highest-level elected or appointed academic post at a major academic institution or major academic society." But I don't think Ranchi University qualifies as a "major academic institution". Muhandes (talk) 17:32, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Delete I think he doesn't reach the minimum notability. Capitalismojo (talk) 18:03, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of India-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 19:26, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 19:26, 22 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Comment. I contested WP:PROD deletion because I thought that there was an important issue of interpretation here that requires discussion. When WP:PROF criterion 6 refers to a "major academic institution" does it mean a world-renowned research institution, which Ranchi University may not be, or an institution that teaches lots of students, which it certainly is? Phil Bridger (talk) 17:02, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
 * To avoid WP:BIAS I don't think "world-renowned" is right. I interpret it as "renown in its country", maybe top-10 or top-20. Ranchi University is around the bottom of the top 50 in India, which in my opinion is not enough. --Muhandes (talk) 06:59, 24 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Keep From my experience with previous AfDs here, a large university like this one certainly qualifies as a "major academic institution". Meets WP:PROF#6. --Guillaume2303 (talk) 17:29, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
 * With all due respect to your experience with previous AfDs here, does this mean that you interpret "major" as "large", rather than "important"? Here is a list of past VCs of Ranchi University, minus the ones with proper articles and the ones which were "acting": Vishnudeo Narayan Singh, Sharang Dhar Singh, A. F. Markham, George Jacob,  B. N. Rohtagi, Nandeshwar Prasad, K. Abraham, R. S. Mandal, A. K. Dhan, Shaligram Singh, N. L. Nadda, K. C. Bose, Bishwanath Prasad, Sachidanand, Lal Saheb Singh, A. K. Singh, K. K. Nag, L. C. C. N. Shahdeo, P L. C. C. N. Shahdeo,  S. S. Kushwaha, A. A. Khan, L. N. Bhagat. Is it your opinion that Wikipedia should have a stub article on each of these with the only text as "X was the Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University from Y to Z"? --Muhandes (talk) 06:59, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I think that a university with 90,000 students certainly ranks as "major". My above "keep" !vote is based on the fact that I think that he's notable under PROF#6. However, we should indeed not ignore WP:V. If there are not enough sources to write an article, than we cannot have an article however notable the subject. In that case, merging may be the best option. But I find it difficult to believe that it would be impossible to find sources on somebody who heads such a large university. --Guillaume2303 (talk) 17:40, 24 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Comment Perhaps this should be merged. The University is certainly notable. I believe that a list of Vice-Chancellors, either included in the University's article or as a stand-alone, would be a better solution than a dozen stubs of Ex-Vice-Chancellors. Capitalismojo (talk) 13:53, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
 * A list is already included in the article. Indeed, the current article adds nothing to the list, except a wikilink to an article... which says the person is a member of the list. --Muhandes (talk) 06:41, 25 May 2012 (UTC)


 * As well as WP:PROF we need to consider whether Khan meets the general notability guideline. I don't have time to go through them all now, but there would appear to be plenty of coverage of his activities as vice-chancellor found by this search. Phil Bridger (talk) 11:53, 25 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Comment As Phil Bridger remarks, there does seem to be a fair amount of press coverage of the subject's activities as vice-chancellor. I would add that this article, on his appointment as vice-chancellor, mentions that he was previously pro-vice-chancellor at Ranchi University and that this one, on his appointment as pro-VC, gives his full name, Anwar Ahmad Khan, and details about his previous career - which, however, I have not been able to cross-reference with other sources. PWilkinson (talk) 15:25, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, → B  music  ian  22:09, 29 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Keep Head of a university meets WP:PROF. I interpret major" as ruling out presidents of small unimportant colleges and the like, but this is a university with 90,000 students.  DGG ( talk ) 04:22, 30 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Keep—Looks like he meets Prof#6 and possibly the GNG. Mark Arsten (talk) 17:23, 30 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Delete While I can see that a university with 90,000 students may be viewed by some as major, Ranchi U is hardly a good example (the books to student ratio is probably a good indicator here). Next, I don't trust that 90,000 number (which is uncited). Delhi University has 115,000 and is a much larger university. Then there is the fact that universities in India are organized differently from the universities in the US. They consist of independent colleges only very loosely affiliated with the central university body. And, when all we know about the individual is that he was the head of this regional university, I'd say we don't need an article on him. (it also makes it likely that the 'major' assumption is wrong. One would expect a major university to have an already notable head.). We could easily add his name to a "list of vice chancellors of Ranchi University" or some such thing. --regentspark (comment) 19:13, 31 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Even if not distinguished as a scholar, he would be as an adminsitrator.  DGG ( talk ) 17:58, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Other than the university's own website list of VCs, and a short piece in a parochial newspaper, there just doesn't seem to be any information about Khan. There are many newspapers in India and one would expect some mention in a newspaper, in a Calcutta one like The Telegraph perhaps, when his tenure ended in 2011.  --regentspark (comment) 18:25, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I linked above to over a hundred mentions in newspapers, the majority being in The Telegraph and many of the others in The Times of India. Phil Bridger (talk) 18:54, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I missed that and stand corrected. My search on The Telegraph website produced only one, peripheral, mention. --regentspark (comment) 19:04, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.