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.
