Chandigarh : Dr.Rajat Sandhir,PUTA president says “We have come to know that some fellows representing colleges have requested to accommodate college Professors (about 65 made by Punjab Govt. recently) in the University’s Academic Council and in different faculties by way of an amendment in the regulations of University Calendar. Any move to include college Professors in this body would make these bodies heavily college-centric and in terms of comparison the presence of University teachers would become rather negligible in the body”.
There is already an overwhelming presence of college teachers (Principals, teachers and fellows from college constituencies) in these bodies. The University has the mandate to provide academic leadership. If all college professors are allowed to become members of AC, the matters pertaining to academics would then solely be determined by the colleges. While we acknowledge that college professors/ teachers have every right to aspire, but in this process the basic structures of the University should not be altered. Similarly if in the faculties too college professors are given ex-officio membership, the presence of university teachers would become meaningless as they would be outnumbered by the sheer volume of Professors that come from colleges. If faculties and AC are made open to every college Professor, the University would forfeit its bounden duty to provide leadership in the domain of higher education. Already, a lot of academic ground has been conceded to the colleges, any move to amend the regulations would virtually make the role of the university departments and its Professors redundant.
PUTA vehemently opposes any move to amend the regulations that seek to expand the scope of Academic Council (AC) and faculties. In its executive meeting on 25.08.14, PUTA leadership has decided to convene a special meeting of all University Senators to discuss the issue. We would request that PUTA leadership should be engaged in any such moves.