Univ eases faculty norm for private colleges

CHENNAI: An intense faculty crunch plaguing the Madras University and its affiliated colleges is forcing the varsity to take some extreme measures, that have come under criticism by experts.  At the Senate meeting held on Saturday, it had been decided to exempt private colleges under the varsity’s affiliation from the UGC rule making it mandatory for its teachers to have passed NET/SLET/PhD. The exemption will be active for a period of one year and will be implemented only for nine to 12 courses which are facing extreme teaching talent crunch.However, speaking to Express, Madras University Vice-Chancellor G Thiruvasagam said that it was not an exemption as stated in his Senate speech document, but only a provision allowing colleges to appoint temporary guest faculty. “We do not have the authority to make exemptions to UGC norms. But since many students will be affected, we have decided to allow guest/temporary faculties for a period of one year,” he told Express. “Private institutions have time and again expressed difficulties in identifying teachers who meet the prescribed qualifications, especially for courses like Computer Science, Visual Communication, Library Sciences, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology,” the V-C said. “Hence they requested for relaxation of these rules for a certain time period and the Syndicate decided to relax the rules, which was also endorsed by the academic council.”