Plan Vacancies in advance, President asks VCs to address faculty shortage

NEW DELHI, MAY 2: President of India has asked all the central universities to find lasting solutions to address the faculty shortage issue. The President suggested that universities need to plan vacancies in advance and re-employ retired faculty members address the challenge.

The President in his capacity as the visitor of Central Universities held a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan today of the Vice-Chancellors on the issue of promotion of research and innovation.

One of the key challenge faced by central universities discussed during the meeting was of the shortage of faculties as it is nearly 30 percent in case of central universities. President Ram Nath Kovind said, “It is observed that filling up of faculty vacancies is a challenge faced by many of you. This is a common issue faced by several of our higher education institutes and we need to find lasting solutions to address it.”

The new central universities are facing an even severe crisis when it comes to recruiting senior-level faculty staff. There have been suggestions from various stakeholders to solve this problem that include recruitment of visiting faculty and other measures like taking help of new technologies.

President suggested, “There are some steps that you can take to address the shortage of faculty in your universities. For instance, you can develop a robust visiting faculty program, use online teaching tools, re-employ retired professors. Also, planning for vacancies well in advance can help.”

He added that the ability of each university to attract talent also depends upon its own reputation and quality. "So, compete to become the best among your peers and your success at hiring and retaining talent will automatically improve," he said.

“Universities should play a leading role in addressing the specific challenges faced by our nation. Many of these challenges require creative and innovative solutions. It is your paramount duty to ensure that your campuses emerge as spaces that nurture free expression and ideas, where experimentation is encouraged and failure is not ridiculed but is seen as learning,” President added.