Professor of Practice in Universities: UGC Approves Guidelines

The University Grants Commission (UGC) approved the draft guidelines for engaging ‘Professor of Practice’ in colleges and Universities. At the 560th meeting of the UGC, this decision was made. The draft will be made available to the public to get feedback from the stakeholders.

With this decision, UGC aims to promote the National Education Policy 2022. The goal of the policy is to focus on skill-based education to transform the higher education standard in the country and meet the requirements of the economy and the industry.

In a statement made by Mamisala Jagadesh Kumar, UGC Chairman, he said that in order to provide optimal-level skills to the youth, learners must think like employers, and employers must think like learners. UGC has taken this initiative to ensure that academic institutions have access to professional and industry expertise. The ‘Professor of Practice’ positions are exactly what the institutions need to achieve that. He further added that these new positions would augment the higher education institutions’ resources.

‘Professor of Practice’ will be bringing their experiences and real-world practices into the classrooms. It will result in trained students with relevant skills that can benefit society and the industry.

UGC draft guidelines

The aim of the new UGC draft guidelines are to ensure that there are curricula and courses in higher education institutes to meet the needs of the industry and the society. These institutes will get an opportunity to get the consultancy services of industry experts and even let them collaborate on joint research projects. These will be beneficial for the institutions as well as the industry experts.

Institutions will be bringing in experts from a wide range of fields, such as science, engineering, technology, commerce, entrepreneurship, social sciences, literature, media, legal, public administration, fine arts, armed forces, and civil services. Experts who will be eligible to become a Professor of Practice will be the ones who have made remarkable contributions to their field. Their duration of service won’t exceed three years. In exceptional cases, it can be extended by one year, but under any circumstances, it won’t exceed the period of four years. Also, the number of Professors of Practice won’t be more than 10% of the sanctioned posts.