New Delhi: Amid COVID 19 pandemic, the national economic activities has been halted. Job markets have been squeezed. It is a fact that major universities have paused on their hiring plan. However, once the nationwide lockdown lifted, many universities will join the recruitment bandwagon.
It is expected that a large number Universities, Colleges and other higher educational institutes will notify recruitment of teaching or faculty posts. For teaching level posts, the entry level posts in higher educational institutes is Assistant Professor.
For recruitment of faculty posts in Universities and colleges, the entire process governed by the UGC Regulations On Minimum Qualifications For Appointment Of Teachers And Other Academic Staff In Universities And Colleges And Other Measures For The Maintenance Of Standards In Higher Education, 2018. This regulation is popularly known as UGC Faculty Recruitment Regulations.
Here, Skilloutlook presents seven key points of the regulation, which may help aspirants to know where they stand the job market.
1.Eligibility in Brief for Assistant Professors: The Minimum Qualification for appointment as Assistant Professor is Master’s degree with 55% marks (or equivalent grade in a point-scale wherever the grading system is followed) in concerned / relevant / allied subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an foreign University.
A relaxation of 5% shall be allowed at the Bachelor’s as well as at the Master‘s level for the candidates belonging to Reserved categories (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Classes (OBC)(Non-creamy Layer)/Differentlyabled)
Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligiblity Test (NET) conducted by the UGC or the CSIR (exemption for NET & having acquired PhD shall be granted in accordance with UGC Regulations). PhD Degree holders are exempted from NET qualification requirement.
2.PhD Mandatory from 01 July 2021: The Regulations clearly mentioned that PhD Degree shall be mandatory requirement for Direct Recruitment to the post of Asst. Prof. in universities or colleges effect from 1 July 2021.
Hence, Masters degree with NET or PhD will continue to be minimum eligibility requirement for Direct Recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor in universities or colleges till 30 June 2021.
3.PhD Mandatory in Promotions: PhD Degree has been made mandatory for promotion to Assistant Professor (Selection Grade/ Academic Level 12) in universities and colleges.
The PhD Degree is a mandatory qualification for appointment and promotion to the post of Associate Professor.
The PhD Degree is a mandatory qualification for appointment and promotion to the post of Professor.
Hence, it can be concluded candidates with PhD degree holder or pursuing PhD Degree will have more edge in the faculty recruitment or teaching promotion in the long run. The intend of Faculty Regulations 2018 is very clear that PhD Degree holders will have more edge in the coming years in the recruitment process.
4.Teaching Experience: The time taken by candidates to acquire MPhil and / or PhD Degree shall not be considered as teaching/ research experience to be claimed for appointment to the teaching positions. Further the period of active service spent on pursuing Research Degree simultaneously with teaching assignment without taking any kind of leave, shall be counted as teaching experience for the purpose of direct recruitment/ promotion.
5.Promotion Levels for Assistant Professors: The entry-level Assistant Professors (Level 10) shall be eligible for promotion under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) through two successive levels (Level 11 and Level 12), provided they are assessed to fulfill the eligibility and performance criteria as laid down in Clause 6.3. of these Regulations.
6.Creation and Filling-up of Teaching Posts: Teaching posts in universities, as far as feasible, may be created in a pyramidal order, for instance, for one post of Professor, there shall be two posts of Associate Professors and four posts of Assistant Professor, per department. All the sanctioned/approved posts in the university system shall be filled up on an urgent basis.
7.Appointments on Contract Basis: The teachers should be appointed on contract basis only when it is absolutely necessary and when the student teacher ratio does not satisfy the laid-down norms. In any case, the number of such appointments should not exceed 10% of the total number of faculty positions in a College/University. The qualifications and selection procedure for appointing them should be the same as those applicable to a regularly-appointed teacher.
