Hyderabad: Expert committee uncovers deviations in OU senior professor promotions

The committee that recently submitted the report to the government pointed out these “deviations” with respect to at least four to five professors, who got promotion as a senior professor.

Hyderabad: A three-member expert committee constituted by the State government to enquiry into allegations of not fulfilling criteria by the Osmania University (OU) while giving out senior professor promotions is learnt to have found some “deviations” in the selections.

According to sources, there was a mismatch of dates of publication of the research papers published and mentioned in the application by some professors, while a few published their research papers after interviews under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS), which is conducted for promotions.

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The committee that recently submitted the report to the government pointed out these “deviations” with respect to at least four to five professors, who got promotion as a senior professor.

The OU had awarded promotions to as many as 51 professors as senior professors as part of CAS 2021, 2022 and 2023. Ten years of experience as a professor and 10 research publications in peer reviewed or UGC listed journals are mandatory for promotions apart from two PhD degrees awarded under his/her supervision during the assessment period.

“The committee did not go into all applications that have been received for promotions. That is the job of the scrutiny committee, which did not do it correctly,” sources said.

The issue came into the light with OU Teachers’ Association (OUTA) flagging off at least 10 “ineligible” professors including some in the top positions who were granted promotion. One of the professors who were part of the promotion list requested for withdrawal of his promotion citing discrepancies in the research publications, which occurred due to oversight and unintentionally. Accordingly, the university administration withdrew the promotion.

“The committee has not resolved anything and suggested the government for the constitution of a broader committee,” sources said.