FACULTIES' PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION OF NEPAL: EXPLORING PRACTICE CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

The University Grants Commission has provisioned to make policies and programs for faculties' professional development and universities are enacting professional enrichment program in higher education in Nepal. The faculties are seeking higher attention in pedagogical advancement and technology driven instructional strategies. The professional tenure lacks in accelerating with great momentum despite the higher education policy and provision in Nepal. The insight and prospects from the university faculties can promote structural reframing of professional developmental opportunities to combat global challenges in education promoting quality education. This study intends to explore the experience of faculties in the constituent campus of Tribhuvan University concerning professional development policy and practices employing the qualitative case study (Yazan, 2015) constituent colleges of Tribhuvan University were taken purposively as research sites. Four faculties from each college were selected voluntarily. Semi-structured interviews were taken with faculties who have more than ten years of experience and responses were transcribed as verbatim. The data were thematically analyzed by generating code through in-depth immersion in the information. The study examined the challenges such as pedagogical innovation being pressurized by societal engagement, lack of technology integration with administrative hurdles, limited training and seminar attendance opportunities, unable to balance teaching research and academic tasks, and lack of Interdisciplinary collaboration. Based upon the above findings the university can design effective strategies and support systems for empowering teachers in their professional careers.