DUTA Letter to VC. 27.05.2019

                                                                                                                                             
To
Professor Yogesh Tyagi
Vice Chancellor
University of Delhi
Delhi 110007

27.05.2019

Sub: Regarding revised guidelines for appointment of Guest Faculty and their service conditions

Dear Professor Tyagi,

As you know, the revised guidelines under 7 CPC for guest faculty was issued by the UGC on 28.01.2019. This notification provides guidelines for their appointment, revised rate of honorarium and other service conditions. The Registrar’s office has subsequently notified the same to all Deans/Heads/PICs/Directors on 10.04.2019.

The fact that the revision of the service conditions and terms of appointment of guest faculty has been notified in the form of UGC guidelines (and not as part of the UGC Regulations 2018) should be taken to mean that Universities are to adapt it in a form most appropriate for their contexts and structure. We wish to bring to your notice certain issues that need to be kept in mind while adapting the Guidelines to make it suitable to the context in which Guest Faculty is appointed in Delhi University.

1. Clause No 1 stipulates the revised honorarium for Guest Faculty to be enhanced to Rs. 1500 per lecture. As the UGC regulations 2018 define direct teaching hours to include lectures, tutorial and lab periods, the University must clarify that party must be maintained between all these forms of direct teaching for the grant of honorarium.

2. Clause No 2 stipulates that the Guest Faculty be appointed only against sanctioned posts. At Delhi University and its colleges, the preferred mode of appointment against sanctioned posts is permanent, temporary and ad-hoc. The use of guest faculty is mostly restricted to short leave vacancies (less than a month) and against vacant posts of Associate Professors and Professors in Departments. The University must ensure that this Clause is not misinterpreted by departments/colleges to replace appointment of Assistant Professors on adhoc basis by guest faculty. This will disrupt the teaching-learning process and academic and corporate life of institutions, as the major share of the teaching load is borne by full time teachers appointed on ad-hocbasis.   

3. Clause No 4 stipulates that the selection process for appointing guest faculty shall be the same as those of regularly appointed Assistant Professors. The Clause also lays down the composition of the Selection Committee. The nature of the composition is such that most colleges would find it impossible to make short term appointments to cope with emergency situations. The needs of NCWEB and SOL also need to be taken into account of the teaching in these institutions is largely carried out by Guest Faculty. In view of the above, it is imperative that the University adopts an EC Resolution keeping in mind its federal character, its vastness and its needs.

4. As the UGC guidelines come into force w.e.f. 28.01.2019, it is important that the EC resolves to implement enhanced rates of honorarium from the said date (as was done in all earlier Pay Revisions). Guest Faculty working in Colleges, Departments, SOL and NCWEB should be paid arrears at the earliest.

As the new academic session is about to commence, any delay in adapting the Guidelines to suit the conditions under which Guest Faculty is appointed in Delhi University and its colleges would lead to academic chaos and loss of precious teaching time. Hence, we urge you to immediately bring the matter to the Executive Council so that appropriate decisions on this matter can be taken.

Regards,