UGC sets new norms for promotion of teachers

Just as it prepares to implement pay reversals for college and university teachers, the UGC (University Grants Commission) issued a notification on Tuesday about new regulations on the qualifications needed for their appointment and promotions.

Faced by opposition from teachers’ association, the commission, however, has given up the idea of performance review (of teachers) by the students and has stuck to the self-assessment model.

For the first time, research publications will be considered a yardstick for college teachers, though it will be valued at 20 per cent in a 100 point scale. For university teachers, the points has been equally divided—50 per cent for teaching and 50 per cent for research.

As part of the revised package, the starting salary of teachers freshly joining service will be more than a UPSC Grade A probationer, as they will receive Rs 7,000. “It was a consensus that with an improvement in the package, there should be more stringent regulations and new benchmarks for appointment and promotion of the faculty,”UGC chairperson Sukhadeo Thorat told reporters here.

In all these, teaching contribution receives the highest weightage of 70 per cent for a college teacher seeking promotion to associate professorship.

Their performance will be assessed on the basis of a transparent system called performance-based assessment system (PBAS) in which scores have been assigned to each sub-dimension or academic performance indicator like the number of published articles or participation in international conferences.

After 12 years of being an assistant professor, three years of which has to be in the pay grade of Rs 8,000, a teacher is eligible to seek promotion as an associate professor.
Although a PhD will no longer be a mandatory requirement for promotion as associate professor, college teachers with MPhil or PhD require a minimum of two and one publication respectively during their tenure as assistant professors.

New package

* Teachers freshly joining service will get Rs 7,000.

*  Performance of teachers will be assessed based on self-assessment reports