TIRUCHY: In a violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, no eligible professor in Bharathidasan University (BDU) has been promoted to the post of senior professor in the past three years. While professors were screened for eligibility during the period, a delay by the state government in announcing a nominee to the seven-member selection committee that appoints senior professors has left their promotion hanging in the balance, sources said.
According to the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) under UGC regulations, universities have to call for applications from eligible faculty members working as full-time staff for promotion every six months. Accordingly, Bharathidasan University issued notification for promotion of teaching staff on three occasions -- 25.04.2019, 04.06.2020 and 16.05.2022.
While promotion for posts such as professors, assistant professors and associate professors were already conferred in the notified years, promotion to the post of Senior Professor was kept pending, despite 14 professors deemed eligible, a university professor on condition of anonymity said. This has left Bharathidasan University, which has permanent faculty strength of 146, with no Senior Professors for the past three years.
Pointing out ten years of experience and being in active service being among the requisites for a professor to apply for Senior Professor, a faculty member at the university who had applied for the post and was awaiting the promotion said most applicants would now be on the verge of retirement. Due to this many professors with more than 30 years of experience have lost on a chance of being promoted to senior professors, the professor added.
“When the university issued a circular in 2019, 14 professors applied for promotion as senior professor. In the meantime 10 professors, however, retired, without promotion,” the professor said. Those professors who cleared the screening test are waiting for the interview by the seven-member committee for three years and counting.
The seven-member committee to appoint senior professors comprises a government nominee, a governor nominee, three subject experts, the vice chancellor and the dean. However, the ongoing tussle with the governor is making the state government to sit on announcing its nominee, a source said. Further, the absence of senior professors could dent the university’s NIRF ranking, the source pointed out.
When enquired, University Vice Chancellor M Selvam also pointed to the delay by the state government in naming its member to the appointment committee as cause for the promotion process to be put on hold. The university urged the state government for a member multiple times but did not receive any response, he added.