Odisha to appoint retired professors and associate professors to vacant university positions

The Higher Education administration has created a plan to address the situation starting with the current academic year, as the Supreme Court’s ban on faculty appointments at public institutions has been in effect for over two years.

The department has chosen to replace open professor and associate professor positions with retired associate professors, professors, or adjunct professors emeritus/professors of practice in an effort to guarantee high-quality instruction. The department has made the decision not to oppose the positions with guest professors, in contrast to the former arrangement.

Officials said that UGC criteria would be rigorously adhered to under the arrangement, and retired faculty members may come from government, assisted, or private higher education institutions throughout the nation. That being said, hiring guest academics may help fill the open assistant professor positions.

According to officials, guest lecturers who were previously hired by colleges before the decision would continue to work at the current rate and according to the previous procedure in lieu of open authorized positions. The honorarium for retiring associate professors and professors as well as guests has also been updated. Retired faculty members are permitted to work until they become 70 years old.

Arvind Agarwal, the department’s commissioner-turned-secretary, has instructed all institutions to form a screening committee in order to hire retired and visiting academics. Six people will make up the committee, which the vice-chancellor will chair. The heads of departments within a university will determine their workload and present their demands to the vice chancellor in accordance with that calculation.

In addition to teaching 35 seminars a month, retired professors and associate professors will be expected to assist with research projects and handle administrative duties. In a similar vein, visiting faculty members must assist the institution with administrative duties in addition to teaching a minimum of 40 courses.

Approximately 70% of the professor vacancies across 17 institutions within the Higher Education department’s purview are open positions.