New Delhi: Varsities under the University Grants Commission might soon be able to recruit foreign faculty without any hassles. If the Human Resource Development Ministry gives “UGC (Categorization of Universities Only for Grant of Graded Autonomy) Regulation 2017,” a go ahead, the graded universities will have the freedom to hire foreign faculty without approval from the Commission.
“Foreign faculty will be hired over and above the determined faculty strength —the reservation policy in faculty hiring won’t be disturbed at all. It is a supernumerary hiring. For the foreign faculty to teach in India, we need to have institutes that are excellent — the grades will depend on their ranking and score under NAAC,” a source in UCG told News18.
According to sources, UGC had approved the draft framework for categorization of universities as under Grade I, II and III for the grant of graded autonomy and the document was with the HRD ministry for approval.
Interestingly, once the regulation is cleared by the government, such universities will not be subject to inspection from the Commission and can start new courses, programs, departments, schools, without approval from UGC. The degree program shall be consistent with the approved nomenclature of the UGC.
With regards to foreign faculty, the draft says, “Universities, subject to the Rules, Regulations and Guidelines of Government of India, may hire, without approval of the Commission, foreign faculty having taught at any institution appearing in top five hundred of any of the world renowned ranking frameworks, such as the Times Higher Education, World University Rankings or the QS Rankings, up to 20% over and above of their total sanctioned faculty strength.”
The universities can hire foreign faculty on ‘tenure/contract’ basis as per the terms and conditions approved by their Governing Council/Statutory bodies. It will also give freedom to the universities to admit foreign students on merit, subject to a maximum of 20%, over and above of the strength of their approved domestic students. They would be free to fix and charge fees from foreign students without any restriction.
The Commission reserves the right to remove ‘difficulties’ in the course of implementation of these Regulations in consultation with the ministry.
According to the draft, a university shall be in category of Grade I if it has been accredited by NAAC with a score of 3.5 or above; or if it has received a corresponding accreditation grade score from a reputed accredited agency empaneled by the UGC or if it has been ranked among top 500 in reputed world rankings, such as Times Higher Education or QS. These universities may select candidates for admissions to PhD programs without NET/SLET qualification a being mandatory prerequisite for application.
A university shall be in Category II if it has been accredited by NAAC with a score higher than 3.0 and below 3.5 or it has received corresponding accreditation grade/score from a reputed accreditation agency empaneled by UGC. A university shall be in Category III if it does not come under either I or II.
These Regulations shall apply to all universities established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act, or a State Act and any institution deemed to be a university under section 3 of UGC Act 1956. They shall come into force from the date of their notification in the official gazette of India.
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