Presently, NET is mandatory for appointment as assistant professor. The UGC has also proposed revising regulations to attract the best talent in fields such as Yoga, Music, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Sculpture, and Drama, for this post.
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The UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025 issued now will replace the 2018 guidelines. The new guidelines have been uploaded on the UGC website for inviting feedback and suggestions.
The draft guidelines were launched by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who said that they will infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility and dynamism in every aspect of higher education. “They empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic standards and pave the way for achieving educational excellence,” the minister said.
Also Read: ‘MPhil not a recognised degree’: UGC cautions students, tells universities to stop offering course
Direct entry of industry experts as V-Cs
The revised guidelines issued by the UGC seek to broaden the criteria for appointing Vice Chancellors at universities.
At present, candidates for the position are required to be distinguished academicians, with at least 10 years of experience as a professor at a university or in a prominent research or academic administrative role, demonstrating academic leadership.
Under the new norms, UGC is proposing an additional eligibility criterion.
Once the revised guidelines come into force, individuals with at least 10 years of senior-level experience in industry, public administration, public policy, or public sector undertakings, coupled with a proven track record of significant academic or scholarly contributions, will be also eligible for the post.
“These regulations also facilitate the selection of faculty members from multi-disciplinary backgrounds. The primary objective of these regulations is to broaden the horizon and freedom and flexibility so that faculty members can excel in areas they are passionate about,” UGC chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar had told ThePrint earlier this month.
The proposed guidelines come months after economist Ajit Ranade was removed as V-C of Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) due to lack of the required 10 years of teaching and academic research experience, despite his extensive expertise in his field. Ranade was later reinstated by the Bombay HC, though he resigned in November.
Revised guidelines also seek to change the composition of the selection committee for V-C role, making it a three-member panel comprising nominees from the Visitor or Chancellor, UGC, and the university’s apex body. Earlier, it was a three- to five-member panel.
Additionally, the guidelines explicitly specify that if an applicant for the V-C position is a member of the university’s apex body, they must recuse themselves from the meeting when nominees are being discussed. “Any violation of this rule will result in the applicant being disqualified as a candidate for the Vice Chancellor position,” the guidelines state.
This provision was not previously formalised in writing, leading to numerous complaints to UGC from universities where nominees participated in meetings to decide on members for the selection committee. In Ranade’s case too, there were allegations that he was present during meetings of the board when the selection committee was constituted.
New norms for faculty recruitment at all levels
The new norms seek to broaden the recruitment criteria for faculty selection at all levels, aligning it with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
For instance, at assistant professor level, which is the entry level, anyone having a four year undergraduate degree with 75 percent marks or a postgraduate degree with at least 55 percent marks (or an equivalent grade) and a Ph.D. degree will be eligible.
Besides, anyone with a PG degree with at least 55 percent marks and qualification in NET conducted by UGC, CSIR, ICAR etc. or a similar test like SLET/SET, or PG degree equivalent to ME, MTech with at least 55 percent marks (or an equivalent grade) will be eligible.
The regulations also seek to introduce specialized recruitment pathways to attract the best talent in fields such as Yoga, Music, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Sculpture, and Drama, for assistant professor level.
For instance, anyone with an undergraduate degree and with five years of professional experience, having commendable professional achievement at the state- or national-level through authenticated proof, and adequate knowledge of theory and ability to teach with logical reasoning and illustrations in the discipline, can be hired at assistant professor level.
“These pathways recognize professional accomplishments and national or international achievements. This flexibility ensures that practitioners with exceptional skills in these traditional art forms can contribute to academia, preserving India’s cultural heritage. Recognising the value of physical education and sports, the new regulations provide accomplished sportspersons opportunities to join the teaching profession,” the UGC chairperson said.
The guidelines outline criteria for consideration by the selection committee when recruiting and promoting university and college teachers.
These include innovative contributions to teaching, development of research or teaching labs, securing consultancy or sponsored research funding as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator, and making teaching contributions in Indian languages.
Other areas of significance are involvement in teaching, learning, and research related to the Indian Knowledge System, supervision of student internships or projects, and the creation of digital content for massive open online courses (MOOCs).
The new guidelines also seek to do away with the Academic Performance Indicator (API) system, used earlier for promotions of faculty members.
“The 2025 regulations move away from the API-based shortlisting used in previous guidelines, focusing instead on a more holistic, qualitative assessment. Selection committees will now evaluate candidates based on their broader academic impact, including innovation in teaching, technology development, entrepreneurship, book writing, digital learning resources, community and societal contributions, promotion of Indian languages and knowledge systems, sustainability practices, and the supervision of internships, projects, or successful startups,” the UGC chairperson had told ThePrint.
For promotion to associate professor level, UGC has sought to revise norms for the following disciplines: Arts, Commerce, Humanities, Education, Law, Social Sciences, Sciences, Languages, Library Science, Physical Education, Journalism & Mass Communication, Engineering/Technology, Management, Drama, Yoga, Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts, besides other traditional Indian art forms like Sculpture etc.
Once the new guidelines come into effect, anyone with a minimum of eight research publications in peer-reviewed journals or publication of eight book chapters or publication of a book as an author or two books as a co-author by a reputed publisher or eight granted patents is eligible for assistant professor level role. A combination of research publications, book chapters and granted patents totalling eight can be considered.
Similarly, for promotion to the professor level in the above mentioned disciplines, anyone with a minimum of 10 research publications in peer-reviewed journals or publication of 10 book chapters or publication of four books as an author or eight books as a co-author by a reputed publisher or ten granted patents will be eligible. A combination of research publications, books, book chapters and granted patents totalling 10, can be considered.
“Besides, those who worked as a sole supervisor, one doctoral candidate was awarded a Ph.D. degree, or as a co-supervisor, two doctoral candidates were awarded Ph.D. degree, can also be considered,” say the draft norms.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)