UGC directs universities to adopt ‘professors of practice’ guidelines

New Delhi, Nov 15, 2022: On Monday, the University Grants Commission (UGC) directed universities and colleges across the country to initiate necessary steps to enable the engagement of professionals and industry experts as ‘professors of practice’ in their respective institutes.

As per the draft guidelines for engaging “professor of practice” in universities and colleges, those eligible to be engaged as ‘professor of practice’ include distinguished experts who have made remarkable contributions in their professions from varying fields including engineering, science, technology, commerce, social sciences, media, fine arts, civil services, legal profession, public administration and so forth.

In a letter addressing to the vice chancellors of all universities and principals of all colleges, UGC stated, “One of the recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 is to impart holistic and multidisciplinary education in higher educational institutions. This may require the participation of experienced practitioners/professionals/industry experts etc. in the teaching-learning process. To enable HEIs to hire professional experts the UGC has created a new position called “Professor of Practice” and already published the guidelines for engaging Professor of Practice. Guidelines for engaging Professor of Practice.”

Further, the letter said, “Vice-Chancellors of Universities and Principals of Colleges are requested to initiate steps to make necessary changes in their statutes/ordinances/rules/regulations to enable the engagement of Professor of Practice in their institutions and an action taken in the matter to be uploaded in the university activity monitoring portal of UGC.”

According to the guidelines, the maximum duration of service of ‘professor of practice’ at a given institution should not go beyond three years and can be extended by one year in exceptional cases. The entire duration of service should not exceed four years under any circumstances.