Vice-chancellor Amita Chatterjee after meeting the chief minister on Tuesday. A Telegraph picture

Presidency University could not recruit teachers right away because of some “technical problems” related to the institution’s transition from a college to a unitary varsity, vice-chancellor Amita Chatterjee told the chief minister on Tuesday.

The vice-chancellor said Presidency needed around 70 more teachers and would recruit them at the earliest after it emerged from its “very premature state” and started functioning as a full-fledged university.

“We will fill up the 70-odd vacant posts of teachers as soon as we can. The recruitment is one of the key things that featured in our talks,” Chatterjee said after meeting Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings.

“Basics like the statute, charter and the budget are yet to be finalised. I briefed the chief minister on the decisions taken by the Presidency council,” she added.

Presidency is exploring national and international options for recruitment. “We are in touch with prospective candidates in India and abroad. We have our doors and windows open,” Chatterjee said.

Bhattacharjee, an alumnus of Presidency College, urged the vice-chancellor not to compromise on quality and assured her of support in turning the College Street campus into a centre of excellence.

“He told me to go ahead and do all that is necessary to ensure quality is not compromised, especially in recruitment of teachers,” she said.

The vice-chancellor, who likes to call herself an “opening batsman”, met Bhattacharjee to give him an overview of her stint at the pitch since taking charge around two months ago.

“I wanted to tell him what the first two months were like, what I have achieved and the things yet to be done,” Chatterjee said.

She admitted that she had faced some “problems” during the transition phase of Presidency. “There are areas where I have faced problems. He (Bhattacharjee) gave me a patient hearing and had useful insights to offer.”

Has she been able to score as quickly as she would have liked to? “Not really. The rate of progress is slower than what I would have liked,” said Chatterjee.