The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced new guidelines pertaining to the ‘professors of practice’ posts, making it not mandatory for the candidates to have a BEd degree or be NET qualified to apply. The only thing that will be taken into consideration is a minimum of 15 years of experience in his/her area of expertise.
Experts who have made a contribution to fields like engineering, media, literature, science, entrepreneurship, fine arts, civil studies, social sciences, and armed forces will be considered for recruitment based on their experience and will be eligible to teach at universities across India.
“The maximum duration of service of Professor of Practice at a given institution should not exceed three years and is extendable by one year in exceptional cases and the total service should not exceed four years under any circumstance.” “A formal academic qualification is not considered essential for this position if they have exemplary professional practice in lieu. These experts will also be exempted from the requirement of publications and other eligibility criteria stipulated for the recruitment of faculty members at the professor level. However, they should possess the skills to carry out the duties and responsibilities," read the UGC guidelines.
The announcement further clarified that the number of recruits for Professors of Practice shall not exceed 10 per cent of the sanctioned posts in the concerned university, without affecting the number of sanctioned posts of the regular faculty.
According to UGC, the professors of practice “will help to take real world practices and experiences into the classrooms and also augment the faculty resources in higher education institutions. In turn, the industry and society will benefit from trained graduates equipped with the relevant skills." They will need to design courses and curriculum concerning to their respective fields themselves.
