This petition is regarding the inclusion of industrial experience in the point system for screening of candidates for the post of Assistant Professor at your esteemed university. As candidates with industrial experience, we strongly believe that the industrial experience provides a lot of insight into the concerned subject. Today, a wide gap exists between what students learn during their academics and what is expected from them when they step out in to professional world. This gap can be bridged in two ways– by inviting guest lecturers from relevant fields or by appointing people with relevant experience in the academics to inculcate their perspective to the students.

We have often heard from students and indeed have experienced ourselves that concepts learnt at college immensely help when one joins the industry. The correlation between the theory and its practical application, however, is a bit vague.

There are many fields like Computer Science, Management, Physics, Statistics, Biotechnology, Life and Sciences, Operational Research where relevant industry experience exists. The university itself provides campus placements in most of the fields, but when these people turn back to serve their alma-mater better, their experience is termed as void. Employing Assistant Professors with prior industry experience could help bridge the gap between academics and industry in many ways as listed below:

· The first-hand experience of their teachers would give the students a holistic understanding of the subject. This, in turn, would certainly help them understand the concepts better and apply those concepts while dealing with problems at their work place.

· Students would be able to develop a sense of visualization to the theoretical concepts learned in classroom teaching.

· First hand experiences would certainly bring to life the whole classroom teaching.

· Teachers with relevant practical experience would bring to their students practical, real-world examples of the principles and theories discussed in textbooks, thereby sparking interest, and even motivating some students to pursue the field as a career.

Having cited various reasons above, we would be gratified if practical experience of the eligible candidates for the concerned post is given some points in the selection process. The number of points may depend on the tier of the organisation, the years of experience of the candidate and the position held by the candidate or any other criteria as the concerned selection committee deem fit.