BHUBANESWAR: Utkal University, the oldest and premier university of the state, is facing acute shortage of faculty members. Out of 27 departments, 17 departments do not have professors. More than half of sanctioned teaching posts are lying vacant in the university.
According to the official data, the university has 75 percent of vacant professor posts.Similarly, 58 percent of sanctioned posts for associate professors are lying vacant. Library and information science department does not have a regular faculty. Some departments are run by assistant professors only.
Prabodha Kumar Hota, retired professor of commerce, Utkal University, said this shortage of faculty is affecting the quality of education and research in the university. The shortage of faculty is also affecting the student-teacher ratio in the university, he added.
“A professor can guide eight PhD scholars, while associate professor and assistant professor can guide six and four scholars respectively. Guest faculties cannot guide the research scholars. Huge shortage of regular faculty members means poor research output. This research parameter will affect the NIRF ranking of the university in future,” said Hota.
Sumanta Kumar Satapathy, an alumnus of the university, said the institution has been trying to manage the situation by hiring guest faculty and visiting professors, but this is only a temporary solution. “State govt needs to take urgent steps to address this issue. It should expedite the recruitment process,” he added.
Recruitment for vacant teaching posts at state public universities has been stalled for the last two years due to a pending court case challenging the Odisha Universities Amendment Act, 2020. With the change of government in the state, academicians hope that the recruitment issue will be resolved soon.
Sabita Acharya, vice-chancellor of Utkal University, said they have recruited guest faculty members against the vacant posts to manage the teaching activities due to shortage of regular faculty members. “We are managing the research works through our Centres of Excellence (CoEs). Apart from the regular faculty members, we are taking post-doctoral fellows and visiting professors to run the research activities. State govt will take a call on recruitment of regular faculty members for universities,” she added.
Around 1,000 regular teaching posts are lying vacant in 12 state public universities under the jurisdiction of the higher education department. Over 57 percent of the teaching posts of the sanctioned strength are lying vacant in these state public universities.
According to the official data, the university has 75 percent of vacant professor posts.Similarly, 58 percent of sanctioned posts for associate professors are lying vacant. Library and information science department does not have a regular faculty. Some departments are run by assistant professors only.
Prabodha Kumar Hota, retired professor of commerce, Utkal University, said this shortage of faculty is affecting the quality of education and research in the university. The shortage of faculty is also affecting the student-teacher ratio in the university, he added.
“A professor can guide eight PhD scholars, while associate professor and assistant professor can guide six and four scholars respectively. Guest faculties cannot guide the research scholars. Huge shortage of regular faculty members means poor research output. This research parameter will affect the NIRF ranking of the university in future,” said Hota.
Sumanta Kumar Satapathy, an alumnus of the university, said the institution has been trying to manage the situation by hiring guest faculty and visiting professors, but this is only a temporary solution. “State govt needs to take urgent steps to address this issue. It should expedite the recruitment process,” he added.
Recruitment for vacant teaching posts at state public universities has been stalled for the last two years due to a pending court case challenging the Odisha Universities Amendment Act, 2020. With the change of government in the state, academicians hope that the recruitment issue will be resolved soon.
Sabita Acharya, vice-chancellor of Utkal University, said they have recruited guest faculty members against the vacant posts to manage the teaching activities due to shortage of regular faculty members. “We are managing the research works through our Centres of Excellence (CoEs). Apart from the regular faculty members, we are taking post-doctoral fellows and visiting professors to run the research activities. State govt will take a call on recruitment of regular faculty members for universities,” she added.
Around 1,000 regular teaching posts are lying vacant in 12 state public universities under the jurisdiction of the higher education department. Over 57 percent of the teaching posts of the sanctioned strength are lying vacant in these state public universities.
