For the first time in higher education, the post of Professor is being created in arts and science colleges as per the recommendations of various committees and guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The nomenclature of various teaching posts in colleges has also been changed. Based on the UGC guidelines, the State Higher Education Department issued a G.O. (MS. No: 350 ) on Wednesday (September 9), stating that there would be only three designations in universities and colleges henceforth — Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors.
The post of Reader in colleges has been changed to Associate Professor while the post of Lecturer is redesignated as Assistant Professor, according to the UGC guidelines. The G.O. stated that posts of Professor equivalent to 10 per cent of the total strength of Associate Professors in each college would be created.
Official sources told The Hindu in Madurai on Friday that a decision with regard to the change of nomenclature and change in designations was taken by the UGC to boost the image of the teaching fraternity and were in tune with international standards in higher education. Persons entering the teaching profession in universities/colleges shall be designated as Assistant Professors.
Till now, the post of Professorship is confined only at the university level. The Tamil Nadu government formed an official committee last year to go into the revision of pay scales and allowances of teachers in universities, Government and aided colleges governed by the UGC.
It focused on the recommendations of the Professor G.K. Chadha Committee. The issue of pay scale/nomenclature was also discussed during a UGC committee meeting held in Chennai on September 6 and 7 to look in to “regulations on minimum qualification for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and also measures for maintenance of standards in higher education.”
I. Singaram, Registrar of Madurai Kamaraj University, who is one of the members on the UGC committee, said that the final report was forwarded to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The committee was headed by S. P. Thiyagarajan, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Madras.
“The UGC is introducing a concept of Academic Grade Pay, which will be fixed on the basis of Academic Performance Indicators. Number of seminars attended by a particular teaching faculty, the papers presented by him and the publications will be some of the things that will be factored in hereafter,” Dr. Singaram said.
