Professors of Practice
- PC : MRP Graphics
Professors of Practice Portal: More than 4,300 industry experts and professionals have applied to be professors of practice, a new category of college teachers proposed by the higher education regulator, and at least 140 higher education institutions have expressed interest in engaging these experts, a top official said on Saturday.
UGC's Professors of Practice Portal Receives 4300+ Applications
The portal was launched on May 16 by the University Grants Commission to bridge the gap between academia and industry by facilitating the hiring of experienced professionals in different domains. The commission introduced the professor of practice scheme for higher education institutions in August last year as part of the National Education Policy 2020.
The concept of professors of practice is gaining popularity across the country, according to UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar. "Many universities, including colleges, are now appointing PoPs. This is an opportune time for experts in different sectors to mentor and train our students in HEIs. PoP can also result in great industry-academia collaborations. UGC is proactively promoting the PoP concept by reaching out to industry bodies," he said.
Also Read:
Transforming Higher Education: UGC Launches New Website, UTSAH Portal, and PoP Portal
Also Read:
Transforming Higher Education: UGC Launches New Website, UTSAH Portal, and PoP Portal
As of Saturday, 4,346 experts or professionals and 140 universities, colleges, and institutions had registered on the portal. Among those who have registered for teaching positions are experts in the fields of engineering, science, technology, entrepreneurship, commerce, social sciences, media, and literature.
The commission will now analyse the data to understand what other types of professionals are registering for the positions, Kumar said. "We are also checking if all those who have registered meet all the required criteria. In addition, we are modifying the portal and adding automatic filters, including years of experience, to prevent ineligible individuals from registering," he added.
Experts with proven expertise of at least 15 years will be eligible for the posts. No formal academic qualification will be considered if the candidate has exemplary professional practice.
Several institutions have also started advertising vacancies for these posts on the portal. For instance, Government Degree College in Andhra Pradesh has published a vacancy to engage the services of a professor of practice in entrepreneurship, and MVN University in Haryana has posted four vacancies, two each in the fields of public health and legal.
"The experts who have registered on the portal can now directly apply to these advertised positions," Kumar said. "They don't have to search for jobs on individual portals of the universities."
