New Delhi, 12 February 2018: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released Draft for the new norms for the recruitment of faculty and academic staff in universities and colleges. The new regulations will be known as UGC Regulations for (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities & Colleges and measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) 2018.
Under the draft proposal, the UGC has suggested many changes in minimum qualification, recruitment process, Career Advancement Promotions, Appointments on Contract Basis, Teaching Days, selection parameters, etc.
UGC has invited Feedback/Comments/Suggestions from the Stakeholders/ General public on Draft paper, which is uploaded in the official website of the UGC.
SkillOutlook here presents some key changes as per the Draft of the new norms.
Candidates having PhD exempted from NET for Assistant Professor: PhD degree holders will be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities / Colleges / Institutions.
Candidates, who have been awarded PhD Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil/PhD Degree) Regulation, 2009 or University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil/PhD Degree) Regulation,2016 and their subsequent amendments from time to time as the case may be, shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities / Colleges / Institutions.
NET & SET retains their status: The Draft clarified that the National Eligibility Test (NET), or an accredited test (State Level Eligibility Test SET/SLET) shall remain the minimum eligibility for appointment of Assistant Professor and equivalent positions wherever provided in these regulations. Further, SLET/SET shall be valid as the minimum eligibility for direct recruitment to Universities/Colleges/Institutions under the control of the respective state only.
PhD will have upper hand in both recruitment & promotion: In another new change, the Draft Report of the new Regulation said the PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for promotion to the post of Assistant Professor (Selection Grade/Academic Level 12) in Universities. The draft mentioned that the PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor in Universities with effect from 01 July 2021. For promotion to the post of Assistant Professor (Selection Grade/Academic Level 12) in Colleges, the PhD shall be a mandatory qualification if the date of eligibility falls on or after 01 July 2021.
The PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for the appointment and promotion to the post of Professors. The PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for appointment and promotion to the post of Associate Professors.
Promotion opportunities for Entry level teaching staff: Entry level Assistant Professors (Level 10) would 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 out in Clause 6.3. of these regulations. PhD Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for promotion to the post of Assistant Professor (Selection Grade/Academic Level 12) in Universities.
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. The fixed emoluments paid to such contract teachers should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly appointed Assistant Professor.
Teaching Days: The Universities/Colleges must adopt at least 180 working days, i.e. there should be a minimum of 30 weeks of actual teaching in a 6-day week. Of the remaining period, 12 weeks may be devoted to admission and examination activities, and non-instructional days for co-curricular, sports, college day, etc., 8 weeks for vacations and 2 weeks may be attributed to various public holidays. If the University adopts a 5 day week pattern, then the number of weeks should be increased correspondingly to ensure equivalent of 30 weeks of actual teaching with a 6 day week.
Time spent during PhD course will not be counted as Teaching Experience: The period of 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. The period of leave taken for pursuing Research Degree i.e. for acquiring PhD degree shall not be counted as teaching experience for the purpose of direct recruitment/ promotion.
Criteria for short listing of candidates for Interview for the Post of Assistant Professors: The regulations have clearly specified how the short listing of candidates should be carried out. The selection parameters are based on broadly three parameters: academic score (starting from graduation to PhD), research publications, and teaching experience.
The UGC has invited Feedback/Comments/Suggestions from the Stakeholders/ General public on Draft UGC Regulations for (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities & Colleges and measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) 2018.
Interested candidates can send their feedback/comments/suggestions on the above draft documents to UGC by email on : ugcregulations2017@gmail.com on or before 28 February 2018 by midnight.
