New UGC Policy Exempts PhD Holders from Assistant Professor Recruitment

UGC’s new policy has exempted PhD degree holders from the minimum qualification for assistant professor recruitment.

23^rd July 2018: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has rolled a new policy according to which PhD degree holders shall be exempted from the minimum eligibility condition for Assistant Professor Recruitment which is qualifying the National-level (NET) or State-level (SLET/SET) tests. The UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education 2018 states minimum qualification for recruitment of Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Professors, Senior Professors, Principals, Librarians, Deputy Librarians, Assistant Librarians, Assistant Directors of Physical Education and Sports, Deputy Directors of Physical Education and Sports, and Directors of Physical Education and Sports. The draft for the policy was released in the month of February 2018, for which suggestions from the stakeholders were also invited.

The policy reads, “Candidates who have been awarded a PhD Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil./PhD Degree) Regulation, 2009, or the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil/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 an equivalent position in any University, College or Institution.”

One of the eligibility criteria for Assistant Professor recruitment is “'PhD degree from a university/ institution with a ranking in top 500 in the World University ranking (at any time) by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the Times Higher Education (THE) and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai).”

Graduation Marks

As per the new policy, marks obtained in graduation will also be considered for Assistant Professors’ selection. Following scores will be awarded as per the graduation marks:

• 80% and above in graduation – 15 score
• 60% to 80% in graduation – 13 score
• 55% to 60% in graduation – 10 score
• 45% to 55% in graduation – 5 score

Earlier for the short-listing of candidates for interview, Universities used to consider marks in post-graduation, NET with JRF, M.Phil., PhD, NET/SET, and experience.

Teaching-learning Workload

The new policy has also lined some criteria for minimum teaching-learning workload. It states that the minimum teaching-learning workload should not be less than 40 hours in a week for 30 working weeks in an academic year. For Associate Professor/Professor post, the workload should be 14 hours per week and for Assistant Professor, it should be 16 hours per week.