Faculty Development Schemes

It is the policy of the Institute to permit its current faculty to pursue higher qualifications on a part time basis from renowned and accredited Universities. However, the following conditions must be complied with

1. Once approved a faculty member can avail one day a week to dedicate in the pursuit of that higher degree. The teaching load must be adjusted within the remaining days of the week.
2. The faculty member must spend the allotted day conducting research in their research center.
3. The faculty must make themselves available for routine administrative tasks such as examinations, inspections etc.
4. No more than 3 faculty from each department can avail of one day leave at a time as this would affect the smooth functioning of the department.
5. Faculty member should have received admission into a reputable college or university in Mumbai.

Procedure

1. Faculty member must make an application to the Principal with a copy to the HOD.
2. The Principal and HOD will review the application and check whether the policy guidelines are met.
3. The Principal will make the final decision and communicate that to the concerned faculty member, HOD and registrar.

Faculty are free to take any training or certification courses of their choice during their free time, online or after college hours. In case, the faculty wishes to take leave to attend or complete the training or certification course the following conditions must be met.

1. The training or certification should be relevant to the department or subjects being taught.
2. No more than 3 days can be given in one semester or more than 5 days in one year.
3. The lost days should not adversely affect the teaching load or syllabus completion of the faculty.
4. The training or certification is conducted by a reputable organization or Industry association.

In addition, the faculty may apply for full or partial funding upto Rs. 10,000/- from the department budget for the training or certification provided the following additional conditions are met.

1. Department has not exhausted its budget for the academic year.

Procedure

1. Faculty member must make an application to the Principal with a copy to the HOD.
2. The Principal and HOD will review the application and check whether the policy guidelines are met.
3. The Principal will make the final decision and communicate that to the concerned faculty member, HOD and registrar.

From time to time faculty may want to work on different research oriented projects or purchase equipment or develop software that can be beneficial to the institute or can be a new exploratory project. The faculty may propose purchase of new equipment or software or support from the MES management for their projects. Following are the guidelines for this scheme.

1. A total amount of upto Rs. 1,00,000 can be sanctioned for an individual faculty member for a specific project or facility or a total amount of upto Rs. 10,00,000 can be sanctioned for any piece of equipment that would lead to research.
2. Faculty member should make a concrete proposal with details of proposed equipment needed. This should include associated costs of the equipment, how it will benefit the institute or contribute to the faculty members research.
3. This scheme cannot be used to purchase equipment to upgrade laboratories due to change in syllabus etc. Faculty and HODs should use regular departmental funds for such projects.
4. Once the purchase is made the faculty member will maintain records of the purchase of the equipment, any and all research, patents or other benefits of the project and submit it to the principal.

Procedure

1. Faculty member must make an proposal to the Principal with a copy to the HOD and Dean Research and Development.
2. The Principal, HOD and Dean R&D will review the application and check whether the policy guidelines are met.
3. If approved the Principal will forward the application to the MES management board.
4. The Management Board will consider and approve the proposal.
5. The Principal will communicate that to the concerned faculty member, HOD, Dean R&D and registrar.

Faculty members are actively encouraged to participate in conferences and workshops to present and disseminate their research. In case funds are required for conference expenses such as travel or conference registration, faculty members may apply to the department for the funds. Principal may sanction partially or completely the faculty request provided the following conditions are met.

1. A total amount of upto Rs. 50,000 can be sanctioned for each faculty member.
2. The faculty member can avail this facility once every 2 years.
3. Department has not exhausted its budget for the academic year.
4. The conference is conducted by a reputable organization or Industry association or university.
5. In case leave is required then no more than 3 days can be given in one semester or more than 5 days in one year.
6. The lost days should not adversely affect the teaching load or syllabus completion of the faculty.

Procedure

1. Faculty member must make an application to the Principal with a copy to the HOD
2. The Principal and HOD will review the application and check whether the policy guidelines are met.
3. The Principal will make the final decision and communicate that to the concerned faculty member, HOD and registrar.

Pillai College of Engineering (PCE) has expertise in various research areas to provide knowledge and intellectual inputs which are of interest to the industry and other organisations. As a policy PCE encourages its faculty members to take up consultancy projects. Following are the guidelines for consultancy projects for the faculty members.

Consultancy

1. A consultancy project / task / work is one where faculty and research staff provide knowledge and intellectual inputs to industry or other organisations (within India and abroad), primarily for their purposes. The requirement may originate from the industry / other organisations, or faculty could approach industry / other organisations.
2. The concerned faculty member has to inform the Principal in advance before accepting the consultancy work. The proposal from the faculty member should clearly indicate the effort involved (in terms of use of office time) and the extent of use of infra-structure of the institute.
3. Faculty member should also submit the budget to the principal where details of fees received (or to be received) and details of expenses towards travel etc are given. In general college would not pay for of travel or cost of equipment (specific to the project). Faculty member would be allowed to use available infra-structure of the institute.
4. Faculty member should pay 30% of the consultancy fee (and GST if applicable) to the college, if he / she uses college infrastructure for implementation of the project. However, if faculty member does not use college infrastructure, he should pay 10% of the consultancy fee (and GST if applicable) to the college. The Principal is the final authority to decide the quantum of consultancy fee, which a faculty member should pay to the college.
5. Paid consultancy assignments must have a letter or purchase order from the organization, clearly mentioning the work carried out, timeline and amount of consultancy, people involved.
6. MES will raise an GST invoice for any consultancy project and raise an invoice containing 18% GST as per the existing rates.

Unpaid Consultancy / Projects

In certain circumstances, faculty members may be requested by government agencies or non-profit organizations to conduct consultancy on an honorary basis. In such cases, faculty members should try to obtain a letter or request from the requesting agency in writing wherever possible. The faculty may carry out such projects after notifying the principal.

Industry MOUs

Faculty are encouraged to pursue formal tie-ups with genuine industries or companies which can be in the form of MOUs. The MOUs can have the following goals

1. Provide industrial or skill development training for students and faculty.
2. Use of laboratories, libraries, classrooms and equipment of the institute.
3. Use of equipment and facilities of the industry.
4. Collaborate on research and consultancy projects.
5. Sponsorship of college activities such as conferences, seminars etcs.
6. Provide internships and employment.

Procedure

1. Faculty can reach out to industries to initiate discussions on signing MOUs.
2. Faculty can then notify the HOD and the principal about the specifics of the industry and the nature of the MOU and interaction.
3. A internal committee constituting the principal, HOD, Dean R&D and member of MES management board will consider the MOU and the draft terms and conditions.
4. If the internal committee approves the draft MOU it will be sent to the MES legal department for review.
5. Once approved the MOU will signed and implemented. The faculty who proposes the MOU will be responsible for its follow up and smooth implementation.

For time to time, faculty members may want to organize colloquiums, conferences, seminars or workshops on special topics which are of research or industry relevance. Faculty member may invite experts from various fields for these events to the college campus. The guidelines for this scheme are as follows

1. There should be a clear focused area of interest for the seminar / workshop / conference / colloquium.
2. Ideally a committee of a few faculty members would organize the event.
3. Funding will be derived from the departmental budget and will depend upon the level of support required. The funds can be used for pay TA / DA / Honorarium to the invited speakers, food or refreshments, banners and printing.
4. It can be done in collaboration with some professional society or organization or industry.

Procedure

1. A single or group of faculty members can propose the event deciding the date, time and quantum of funds required for such an event.
2. An application can be sent to principal for approval.
3. Principal will review it along with the Dean R&D and Member of the Management board for approval.
4. Once approved the faculty may proceed to organize the event. Once completed an event report should be submitted to the principal.

Faculty during the course of their employment with the institute might generate a novel and patentable products. In such cases, MES owns 100% of all the rights to the invention and it is the faculty’s duty to disclose the nature of the patentable invention to the principal. MES will pay for 100% of the charges associated with filing the patent provided the invention is useful, novel and non-obvious.

Procedure

1. Faculty will disclose potential patents to the principal in the prescribed format.
2. The IPR committee will review the patent and recommend to the MES management board whether to file the patent.
3. If approved by the management board, the patent filing process can start.
4. If the patent is approved and subsequently licensed MES will initially recover all of its expenses from the licensing fees.
5. For any fees over and above the expenses, MES will retain 50% of the fees and distribute the remaining 50% amongst the inventors.
6. In case the patent is rejected by the IPR committee or the management board the faculty can apply to MES to release any MES claims on the patent. After it is approved the faculty is free to file the patent by paying the patent filing charges on their own.

Intellectual Property

During the course of their employment, faculty members may generate intellectual property such as lecture notes, video lectures, pictures, software etc. MES will own 100% of the rights to any and all intellectual property generated and will be free to license this material to any and all third parties.

Faculty members with specialized skills or knowledge may conduct independent workshops with students to improve their knowledge and employability. The faculty member may charge a nominal fee per participant to cover any expenses associated with conducting the workshop. These workshops should fulfill the guidelines below.

1. Should impart specialized training that would not normally be part of normal coursework.
2. Should be conducted outside of regular college hours.
3. Should utilize on campus classrooms and labs.
4. Faculty members can take 50% of the student fees as honorarium for conducting the workshop.

Procedure

1. Faculty member must make an application to the Principal with a copy to the HOD.
2. The Principal and HOD will review the application and check whether the policy guidelines are met.
3. The Principal will make the final decision and communicate that to the concerned faculty member, HOD and registrar.

Faculty members may propose new initiatives to the Principal than fulfill the institutes mission and vision. These initiatives can enhance any of the following:

1. Teaching learning process (ex. New Labs, Meditation etc.)
2. Research and Consultancy (ex. Centers of Excellence in various fields)
3. Environmental initiatives (ex. clean campus, nature clubs, recycling programs, energy savings)
4. Cashless Campus
5. Sport Facilities
6. Cultural Activities