UGC plans to recruit serving, retired professions as faculty members in HEIs: Report

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) is planning to amend its regulations and recruit serving and retired professionals as faculty members in colleges, universities and higher education institutions, the Indian Express reported.

The UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar discussed the proposal in a meeting with the vice chancellors of universities on Thursday, the report said. A committee will be formed to finalize the modalities to implement the proposal, it said.

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At present, the minimum qualification of UGC for appointment of teachers and academic staff is a PhD degree.

“There was a consensus in the meeting that the regulations are too restrictive. Once these are amended, professionals who have retired excelling and developing expertise in various fields, ranging from diplomatic services or the media for example, can join as faculty members. Even serving professionals can join and for that a separate category will be introduced,” Kumar was quoted as saying.

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The Commission is planning to create two new posts - professor of practice and associate professor of practice for retired professionals and visiting will be used for serving professionals, the report said.

Kumar reportedly said that the UGC is considering creating a central integrated portal for recruitment of faculty. The portal will have all the information regarding vacancies in HEIs and work as a nexus between applicants and colleges.

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“Applicants who sign up will have to create their profiles with details like their academic records. It will essentially be their CV. Once they decide to apply for a certain advertised position, they will just have to indicate that and the application form will get automatically transferred to the prospective employer,” Kumar was further quoted as saying.