The Indian Institutes of Technology will now recruit assistant professors and put them on the tenure track, with a provision for a rigorous performance review and possible dismissal after five-and-a-half years. Currently, assistant professors – the junior-most teachers – are put on a year’s probation after appointment at these institutes, at the end of which they are almost always confirmed after an internal assessment.
Under the tenure track system, they will be safe for five-and-a-half years before facing a sterner test by external reviewers, with a presumably higher likelihood of the sack. The decision was taken on Friday by apex body IIT Council, headed by human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
There will be no changes to the norms for associate professors, who will continue to be virtually assured a promotion to professor after the stipulated eight years. Nor will the tenure track apply to the existing assistant professors.