University Grants Commission (UGC)
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The draft University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, released on Monday (January 6, 2025) by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have revised the selection process for Vice-Chancellors. Clearing the ambiguity, the UGC draft has given the powers to Chancellors or Visitors to constitute the three-member search-cum-selection committee to appoint Vice-Chancellors. The guidelines also warn that non-implementation of it may result into debarring an institution from participating in UGC schemes or from offering degree programmes. The UGC has given 30 days for the stakeholders and public to offer comments on the draft.
The governments in several Opposition-ruled States such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala were on a conflict with the Governors — also Chancellors of several State-run universities — over appointment of Vice-Chancellors. So far, the governments used to constitute the search committees for appointing Vice-Chancellors, and if approved, the draft allows Governors (if they are Chancellors) to appoint the search committees for the process.
“The selection for the Vice-Chancellor post shall be through an all-India newspaper advertisement and public notification. Applications can also be sought through nomination or a talent search process by a search-cum-selection Committee,” the draft regulations say. A nominee of the Visitor/Chancellor will be the Chairperson of the search-cum-selection Committee. A nominee of the Chairman, UGC and a nominee of the apex body of the university such as Syndicate/ Senate/Executive Council / Board of Management/ Equivalent Body of the University will be members in the committee. The State Cabinets used to recommend the chancellor’s nominee for this committee, but in many States the Governors changed this norm and started nominating their person for the committee, leading to conflicts with States.
Flexibility for appointing faculty
Releasing the draft, Mr. Pradhan said the guidelines would infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility and dynamism in every aspect of higher education, empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic standards and pave the way for achieving educational excellence.
Explaining the provision, UGC Charman Jagadesh Kumar said individuals could qualify for faculty positions based on their performance in a subject of their choice in UGC – National Eligibility Test, even if their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees were in different disciplines. “Also, the subject of the Ph.D. degree precedes the disciplines studied in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for faculty selections. This is an important flexibility to remove rigid subject boundaries and allow faculty applicants to transition across disciplines, creating a more multi-disciplinary eco-system within university campuses as envisaged in NEP 2020,” Prof. Kumar said. The guidelines also emphasise on Indian languages in publishing books, book chapters, and academic qualifications.
A relaxation of 5% marks shall be allowed at the undergraduate (National Credit Framework level 5.5/6) or at the postgraduate (NCrF level 6.5/7) level for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Classes (OBC) (Non-creamy Layer)/EWS/Persons with Disabilities category. Innovative Teaching Contribution, Research or Teaching Lab Development, Consultancy / Sponsored Research funding as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator or Teaching contributions in Indian languages will also be considered as “notable contributions” by candidates to be appointed as assistant professors.
Published – January 06, 2025 10:05 pm IST
