UGC’s new draft guidelines give powers to Chancellors to constitute panel to appoint Vice-Chancellors

The draft University Grants Commission Regulations, 2025, released on Monday by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have revised the selection process for Vice-Chancellors. Clearing the ambiguity, the UGC draft has given the powers to Chancellors or Visitors to constitute the three-member search-cum-selection committee to appoint Vice-Chancellors. “The selection for the Vice-Chancellor post shall be through an all-India newspaper Flexibility for appointing faculty Releasing the draft, Mr. Pradhan said the guidelines would infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility and dynamism in every aspect of higher education, empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic standards and pave the way for achieving educational excellence. Explaining the provision, UGC Charman Jagadesh Kumar said individuals could qualify for faculty positions based on their performance in a subject of their choice in UGC - National Eligibility Test, even if their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees were in different disciplines. This is an important flexibility to remove rigid subject boundaries and allow faculty applicants to transition across disciplines, creating a more multi-disciplinary eco-system within university campuses as envisaged in NEP 2020,” Prof. Kumar said.