‘Appointments in architecture dept violate UGC, COA rules’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK 25.11.2024
Vadodara : Prof Satish Pathak of M S University has filed a complaint with chief minister Bhupendra Patel against university vicechancellor Prof Vijay Kumar Srivastava. Pathak has alleged that Srivastava appointed five persons as “professors of practice” in the architecture department by violating statutory provisions. Pathak stated that the appointments violate the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Council of Architecture (COA).
The architecture department is part of MSU’s Faculty of Technology and Engineering (FTE). The department of architecture, like architecture colleges in the country, is regulated by COA. “Like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the regulatory body when it comes to technology and engineering colleges, COA is the regulatory body for architecture colleges. Currently, COA has no provision on the appointment of professors of practice,” he stated in his complaint.
The complaint also states that according to the UGC norms, the number of professors of practice in a higher education institute, at any point in time, should not exceed 10% of the posts sanctioned in the institute. “When it comes to the department of architecture, there are 17 sanctioned posts. These include three posts of professors, six posts of associate professors, and eight posts of assistant professors. Against this sanctioned strength, only one in the form of the current head of department is filled while another teacher retired two years ago. This leaves 16 posts vacant,” he said. “So, appointing five ‘professors of practice’ is not just a violation of the COA provisions but also a violation of UGC guidelines.” Pathak alleged that these appointments were done while cutting short the number of temporary teaching positions, some of whom were teaching in the department for a long time. He demanded a thorough inquiry into the appointments.
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