Bangalore: Professors and all university teachers now have to clock 40 hours a week. Moreover, it's mandatory for them to be 'physically' available on campus for at least five hours a day.

The UGC has a fixed workload for lakhs of professors/assistant professors and all university teachers under the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2009.

The commission ruled that the workload of university teachers in full employment should not be less than 40 hours a week and for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days) in an academic year. To promote research, every teacher must earmark a minimum of 6 hours per week for research activities. However, there is a relaxation of 2 hours in the workload for professors actively involved in extension and administration. These rules come into force immediately.

Meanwhile, there's a diktat for V-Cs too. No second-term, fixed tenure of five years and no holding office beyond the age of 70 and an 'integrity' report if the V-C joins another university. That's UGC's message to vice-chancellors of nearly 400 universities across the country. In fact, the UGC wants uniform regulations for V-Cs. Hitherto, different universities had different tenure and rules.

The UGC has decreed that the term of office of the V-Cs in all central and state universities will be five years. More importantly, there will be no second term in the same university. Another term as V-C is admissible in another central or state university subject to performance evaluation of the candidate by the search committee and credibility/integrity report from appropriate agencies.

The UGC has also laid down the selection process for V-Cs. A search committee comprising persons of national eminence through a public notification will come up with a panel of names. The committee must give proper weightage to academic excellence, exposure to higher education system in the country and abroad, and adequate experience in academic and administrative governance, and adopt a transparent process.

source: TOI