UGC clarification on conferment of autonomous status upon colleges and other regulations 2023

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday issued a clarification regarding the UGC (Conferment of Autonomous Status Upon Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Autonomous Colleges) Regulations, 2023.

The UGC had notified the regulation on autonomous colleges in supersession of the Regulations, 2018. A section of media reported that UGC in its Regulations 2023 removed the cap on appointment of contractual faculty for autonomous colleges.

This erroneous conclusion has been drawn in comparison to the Autonomous Colleges Regulations of 2018 which had a provision that the number of contractual faculty in an autonomous college should not be more than 10 per cent of the total number of sanctioned faculty positions.

“It has been provided in clause 3.9 of Regulations that the teaching staff and Principal in all the autonomous colleges shall be appointed as per the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018 as amended from time to time or any regulations notified,” the clarification read.

The UGC Regulations on the appointment of teachers issued in 2018 lay down comprehensive provisions on the appointment of teachers on contract basis and is applicable to all universities and colleges, including autonomous colleges. These include:

The teachers should be appointed on contract basis only when it is absolutely necessary and when the student-teacher ratio does not satisfy the laid-down norms.

In any case, the number of such appointments should not exceed 10 percent of the total number of faculty positions in a college/ university.

The fixed emoluments paid to such contract teachers should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly-appointed Assistant Professor. Such appointments should not be made initially for more than one academic session, and the performance of any such entrant teacher should be reviewed for academic performance before reappointing him/her on contract basis for another session.

Such appointments on contract basis may also be resorted to when absolutely necessary to fill vacancies arising due to maternity leave, child-care leave, etc.