Mumbai varsity staff to go on phased protest from today

One of the service-related issues include delay in implementation of the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). Balaji Kendre, president of UMASA, said, “Multiple staff members from aided and unaided posts have been waiting for promotions for over a year. This delay impacts not just teachers but students as well as it reduces the number of approved PhD guides available for research students. The waiting list of students seeking PhD guides is considerably long.”

Another major concern is the delay in issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for foreign academic travel. According to Kendre, several faculty members have been unable to attend international conferences due to lack of timely approval. “Even the UGC has said that professors should be allowed to participate in such events. Participation of professors in such academic events can only enhance varsity’s profile, especially for ranking scales such as NIRF and QS etc. wherein varsity’s low rank has always been a topic of concern,” said Kendre.

Apart from flagging absence of full-time deans in four major faculties — humanities, science and technology, commerce etc., in its letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Mumbai University Dr Ravindra Kulkarni, UMASA has also highlighted lack of coordination between admissions and examinations processes. According to UMASA, prolonged delay in admissions impacts the academic calendar which percolates into delay in exams and declaration of results. “Due to these procedural issues, many students are turning away from Mumbai University which is a cause of concern,” said Kendre.

University administration was not available to comment on this matter.