Varsity heads selection: Interviews from today

QAU, AIOU, IIUI without heads for over four months.

ISLAMABAD:

Interviews of shortlisted candidates to head three federal universities will start at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training from Thursday.

A seven-member search panel tasked with recommending vice-chancellors for Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and a rector for the International Islamic University (IIUI) will interview the candidates.

Call letters have been dispatched to 30 candidates shortlisted from among 369 applicants.

The committee has held two meetings during last two weeks at the ministry to shortlist candidates and set interview criterion.

“Many of the candidates have applied for all three positions. They will not be interviewed separately for each post,” said State Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Balighur Rehman, the head of the search committee, which also comprises the education secretary, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman, former federal secretary Dr UAG Isani, economist Dr Ishrat Hussain, COMSATS Rector Junaid Zaidi and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission member Dr Sara Safdar.

Rehman refused to share the names of the shortlisted candidates but said the selection process will be completed in a few days.

The appointment of heads of three varsities has been pending for more than four months. Earlier, the HEC had shortlisted candidates before the selection process was shifted to the ministry and the process started afresh.

Former Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) vice-chancellor (VC) Dr Masoom Yasinzai was appointed acting rector International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) in February. Yasinzai had been holding the additional charge of IIUI rector for the last two years.

Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) VC Dr Nazir Ahmed Sanghi retired in March 2014 and Dr Asghar Ali Chishti has been the acting VC ever since. Similarly, senior QAU faculty member Dr Etizaz Ahmad has been filling in as VC on acting charge since Yasinzai retired in February.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2014.