UGC launches drive to replenish faculty supply

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a programme to increase the supply of faculty in the country and augmenting research and teaching resources of universities. The programme called Operation ‘Faculty Recharge’ will create 1,000 faculty positions nationally and offers a mechanism to address the problem of lack of research and upgrade faculty resources in their science related departments.

“The supply of teachers in science education has declined and we want to catch PhDs and bring them back into research to make them potential candidates for teaching. They can then be placed with university departments and be absorbed as faculty,” said UGC chairman Sukhadeo Thorat.

The operation was launched more than six months back and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been selected to setup the Faculty Recharge Cell which will identify 40 professors, 80 associate professors and 80 assistant professors on an all India basis for training. In fact, to impart a distinct identity to these specially selected faculties, a prefix ‘UGC’ will be added in each of these categories.

Thorat explained that lack of availability of faculty besides other problems associated with hiring of faculty are often cited as causative factors of this malady.

The new inductees will be selected through a nationally conducted competitive process and placed as lecturers, readers and professors.