Professors: Underutilised treasure in our universities?

June 12, 2012, 7:26 pm , the island


by Professor Ranjith Senaratne,

Vice Chairman, University Grants Commission

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies from country to country.  "Professor" derives from Latin as a "person who professes", being usually an expert in a particular branch of learning. The Oxford Dictionary defines "professor" as a university academic of the highest rank or the holder of a university chair. Thus a faculty member of the highest academic rank at an institution of higher education can be called Professor.

In North America, a teacher in a college or university begins the career as an assistant professor, then becomes an associate professor, and finally a full professor; thus a teacher belonging to any of the said three categories is generally called professor. On the other hand, in the UK, a teacher in a college or university starts the career as a lecturer, then becomes a senior lecturer, then sometimes a reader, and finally a professor. In many English-speaking nations, barring North America, the title "Professor" is used only for senior academics holding a departmental chair (especially head of department) at a university, or an awarded chair specifically bestowed in recognition of a particular individual’s achievement. Sri Lanka is following a model similar to the British System where the most junior academic title is lecturer with promotional prospects to the posts of senior lecturer grade II, senior lecture grade I, associate professor and finally full professor. However, promising senior lecturers with impressive academic credentials can often become professors straight away without going through the above trajectory. A lecturer with a postgraduate degree with a substantial research component and a minimum of 15 years of academic or research experience could be eligible to apply for promotion to the post of professor.

Outstanding academics could reach the highest echelon of their academic career by their mid forties, and in view of age of retirement for academics being sixty five, such academics could reach the maximum salary point within 10 years, i.e. in their early fifties. To avoid stagnation of salary and resulting frustration, the title of "Senior Professor" was introduced in 1997 as per circular no. 723 of the UGC, which enables academics to earn salary increments almost up to their retirement. However such a title is non-existent in other countries including the UK, and looks out of place in the context of globalization of higher education. This is because even in top-flight Universities in the world such as MIT, Yale, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge, the highest academic title is Professor. Even the Nobel laureates from Universities use the title professor. This title of senior professor is presently under review by the UGC.

Are we getting the most out of our Professors?

There are around 500 full professors, including senior professors, and around 200 associate professors in the higher educational institutions in Sri Lanka, which come within the purview of the UGC. A sizable proportion of them are accomplished scholars and scientists of international repute, and are engaged in cutting-edge research. Needless to add they possess considerable knowledge, experience and expertise and have made a significant contribution to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in their respective fields. They are in a unique position to provide mature leadership, wise counsel and able direction in intellectual, academic, administrative and research spheres. They have a particular contribution to make to the development of the Departments and Faculties, and to the career progression and professional development of junior academics and technical staff.

However, perusing the data in Table 1 reveals that of the 418 departments of study in the higher education sector in the country, only 90 (21%) of the departments are headed by professors. A considerable variation from university to university is evident in this regard, with the highest (36%) and the lowest (0%) being at the University of Colombo and the Universities of Uva Wellassa and South Eastern, respectively. If this information is further dissected faculty-wise within a university and across universities, it is apparent that mainly Faculties of Management which are noticeably lacking in professors and are headed instead by senior lecturers.

A total of 168 departments (40%) do not have a single professor, and thus have no alternative but to appoint a senior lecturer as Head of Department (HoD). However, there are 143 Departments (34%) headed by senior lecturers despite the availability of professors.. The situation may be very much the same even today.

How did such a situation come about?

Such a situation was almost non-existent in the not so distant past, but became pronounced following the introduction of UGC circular no. 723 on 12th December 1997 (replaced by circular no. 916 on 30th September 2009). The circular made it mandatory that, in order to become a Professor, an academic should earn marks not only in the field of research, but also in other important spheres such as administration, student counselling, career guidance etc. This was necessitated by the fact that some academics were fully engaged in research and publication for career progression, and kept aloof of matters vitally important to the smooth functioning of the university and its development. On the other hand, when it came to academic promotions, those who were toiling hard and engaged in fire fighting for institutional functioning and development were not getting any credit for their contribution to institution building. Thus it came to a point where many academic were reluctant to accept non-credit bearing roles such as Head of Department, Director of Student Affairs, Senior Student Counsellor, Staff Development Officer etc. This posed a problem even for day-to-day university administration. The above circular was issued to address this issue, striking a balance between research and institutional development.

However, this new circular has created an unhealthy and unwarranted competition among academics for positions, which now bear credit, including Head of Department, Directors of the Staff Development Centre, Career Guidance Unit, Student Counselling Unit and Warden. This is not mainly because of love for, or talent or interest in, performing such roles, but for the sake of collecting points for academic promotions. Because of this scramble, rivalry has developed among university colleagues to secure such positions. This has even led to the "election" of the Heads in some Departments of Study, which has further exacerbated the situation, since some resort to unacceptable and unprofessional manoeuvring and manipulation.

This situation has prompted and even compelled professors who have been providing administrative and academic leadership to relinquish such roles, thereby paving the way for junior staff to assume them. For instance, prior to the issue of the circular in question, 71 out of 169 Departments of Study (42%) were held by Professors (as in 1991), but in 2010 this had been reduced to only 21%. I fully recognize the need to provide opportunities for truly outstanding senior lecturers to serves as Heads of Departments. However the "systemic change" seen above is disconcerting, and inimical to maintaining high academic standards and the intellectual stature of Departments since it tends to put academic and intellectual pursuits on the backburner.

Moreover, when a professor is heading a Department, it facilitates high leverage activities such as forging links with industry, developing academic cooperation with foreign institutions, safeguarding and promoting the interests of the Department, and better representation of the Department in important forums, thus giving a higher standing to the Department.

In my opinion, the above circular has resulted in a new "academic disorder" and erosion of academic standards, adversely affecting the values, norms and traditions that have been cherished and upheld for many decades by the seats of higher learning in our country. Stated differently, this situation has undermined the academic climate and intellectual atmosphere in the universities.

However, while the opinion I have been expressing above, of courses, is subscribed to by many a senior don, it is not based on the findings of a careful study. Fifteen years have passed since the introduction of the circular, and, in view of its apparent detrimental effects on the academic vitality and intellectual vibrancy of Departments of Study and through them whole



University, it is surly now appropriate to objectively examine its implications and impact on academic standards, research output, postgraduate programmes, quality of publications, team work, and the values, norms and traditions of the universities. Such a study will also prove important because of the increasing challenges and threats that the national universities have to confront, following the establishment of off-shore and satellite campuses of world renowned foreign universities in the USA, UK, Australia, and elsewhere. In my opinion, it will be useful to actively reflect and deliberate on this aspect through well thought-out and carefully planned workshops with active participation of key stakeholders. The aim will be to bring about the necessary amendments to relevant circulars so as to strengthen the leadership of heads of departments of study — the basic academic units — whose optimal performance is critically important to taking our universities to greater heights. This is particularly relevant to the national policy of enhancing the world ranking of Sri Lankan Universities and transforming Sri Lanka into a regional, and desirably global, ‘Educational Hub’, through improving academic excellence, high impact research, University-Industry partnerships, creative enterprise, international cooperation and other pursuits befitting universities of repute.