SRINAGAR: Cluster University, Srinagar (CUS), will carry out maiden autonomous academic arrangement from the upcoming academic session.
Since its inception in the year 2017, the Higher Education Department has been appointing contractual staff at the five constituent colleges of the CUS from amongst the teachers applying for the general advertisement issued by Director Colleges for the purpose ahead of each academic year.
However, in a recent notification, the CUS has autonomously sought applications from eligible candidates for engagement as Assistant Professors and Teaching Assistants on academic arrangement basis for teaching 45 undergraduate, integrated, Honor’s, professional and post graduate programmes at its five constituent colleges for the academic session 2020.
The notification read that candidates applying for AP posts must possess NET/SLET/Ph D with 55 percent marks (50% for reserved categories) at post graduation level in the concerned subject.
Aspirants for TA posts must possess post graduation degree with 55 percent marks (50 % in case of reserved categories) in the concerned subject, it added.
The notification further said that Teaching Assistants shall be engaged in case of non-availability of candidates as assistant professors.
Earlier, the advertisement notification for the academic arrangement for the year 2020-21 issued by Director Colleges on January 3 had excluded the constituent colleges of the CUS namely Amar Singh College, S P College, Women’s College M A Road, Abdul Ahad Azad Memorial Degree College Bemina and Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) M A Road.
The independent academic arrangement at the CUS from this year is in the direction of giving as much autonomy required for academic functioning and excellence at the varsity, said Commissioner Secretary Higher Education ,Talat Parvez Rohella.
He said the autonomous academic arrangement at the varsity now on will enable the administration to hire teachers required for teaching vocational and skill based programmes.
“More so, they will also require research fellows for such post graduate and research programmes,” Parvez added.
Although the additional staff required at the CUS’s constituent colleges was, last year also, drawn from the general merit list prepared by the department, it will be for the first time that the varsity will recruit the staff on its own for which it will shortly issue an advertisement notification.
Parvez said that the objective of setting up the Cluster University in Kashmir was primarily to produce skill force for industry readiness and also to provide opportunities for pursuing PG and Integrated programmes.
He hoped that students passing out from the varsity “will find solutions for social issues and economic growth and will work on applied research projects”.
Meanwhile, a top official at the CUS told Kashmir Reader that they were mulling to do away with the Teaching Assistant’ posts in the academic arrangement and hire only lecturers possessing higher qualification for academic excellence.
“But, if need arises, we can hire Teaching Assistants as well,” he added.

Irshad Khan