‘Falling short of requirements’: After plagiarism, QAU finds itself amid possible nepotism scandal

Dr Lubna Ali was made a professor and appointed head of department against one of her referee’s recommendations.


Peer Muhammad April 08, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


Just two weeks after the theses of four M Phil students were found to be plagiarised, an instructor at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) was made professor against one of her referee’s recommendation. Moreover the professor, Dr Lubna Ali, was also appointed as the head of the university’s newly-established School of Politics and International Relations.


According to sources in the university, the administration did not show the referee’s letter highlighting her shortcomings to the selection committee at the time of promotion. The source claimed the decision was taken as a “special favour” to her.

They also pointed out that the foreign referees’ opinions are compulsory to evaluate eligibility of any associate professor who is being considered for a promotion.

According to a letter available with The Express Tribune, Dr Robert G Wirsing, a visiting professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service at Qatar, wrote to the QAU registrar, “I do not support Dr Ali’s bid for promotion to the post of Professor of International Relations.”

The letter points out that she falls short of meeting the quantitative minimum qualification for promotion, which includes at least 15 years of teaching/research and 15 research publications (with five of them in the past five years) in HEC’s recognised journals.

It indicates that Dr Ali lists a total of 13 published works and only two of them (including her book on post-revolutionary Iran) carry dates after 2004.

Dr Wirsing also says that most of Dr Ali’s works fail to meet scholarly standards she set in her dissertation.

“I did not detect a clear and focused research agenda or good prospect of future productivity. Nor was there visible in the work the required commitment to objectivity and rigorous analysis,” he writes.

A professor at QAU who wished not to be named commented that the administration’s decision is a “clear indication of prevalence of nepotism” in promotions of faculty members. He said such controversial promotions have been a part of the university for long but they were always buried under the carpet by the authorities.

The professor added that a student of PhD, who was supervised by Dr Ali, was caught red-handed in a plagiarism case. However, so far no action has been taken against the student or the instructor.

“There should be at least a negative Annual Confidential Report against the instructor and the student should be banned from pursuing the programme,” he added.

However, according to QAU Registrar Dr Shafiqur Rehman, the instructor was promoted based on a decision taken by the syndicate on the recommendations of two referees who were in favour of her. “Our rules allow us to ignore negative remarks of one of the three foreign referees,” he said. However, he evaded further questions on the issue.

Dr Ali, when contacted, said she was busy in a meeting and would call back within two hours. She never called back.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2012.

 

COMMENTS (5)

zaheer | 11 years ago | Reply we should look up our matters self without any enterventions of foreign it is a healthy sign
Hafiz Saud Azhar | 11 years ago | Reply

I feel shame being X graduate of QAU. If this is the leadership of our top ranked university, then Zardari sahib and Gilani sb are the best choice for country leadership. The current corruption is an outcome of the corruption committed and taught in our educational institutions. Some one in HEC should take a disciplinary action against the people involved in this case of nepotism.

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