CM’s committee finalises report for VCs’ appointment

10-member committee has suggested some major changes

LAHORE: A committee tasked with outlining fresh criteria for the appointment of vice chancellors at Punjab’s public sector universities has finalised its recommendations.

Its report will be presented to the Punjab chief minister in the coming week.



The 10-member committee was formed by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on June 21 and has held several sessions to finalise changes to the current requirements for vice chancellors’ posts. It was given a week to submit its final report to the CM after taking a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling on the matter into account.

The members of the committee included Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanauallah, Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani, Finance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairperson Dr Umar Saif, Law and PA Department secretary, Higher Education Department (HED) secretary, Finance Department secretary, S&GAD (Regulations)secretary, Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairperson Dr Nizamuddin and Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi.

According to an official familiar with the matter, the committee has finalised that the age limit of 65 years, prescribed in the current rules, should be abolished. The official said another major change decided by the committee was to make PhD degrees preferred for vice chancellor candidates, but not compulsory. The committee also hoped to attract international academics and decided to reduce the minimum number of required papers from 15 to 10, giving importance to international exposure and research awards in the appointment process, the official added.

He revealed that the body had finalised its recommendations and was preparing a report to present to the chief minister in the coming week.

Teachers’ reaction

Academic circles expressed their concern over the changes being proposed to the hiring criteria for vice chancellors. Federation of all Pakistan Academic Staff Association’s (Fapuasa) Punjab chapter held a meeting to discuss the matter in Punjab University on July 7. The teachers demanded that the Punjab government take all stakeholders, including teachers, onboard before finalising the process for appointment.

The meeting was presided by Fapuasa Punjab Chapter President Dr Javed Ahmad. The federation requested the chief minister and law minister to finalise the criteria for the appointment of VCs after consulting all stakeholders, especially Fapuasa Punjab. The major demand of Fapuasa was that the VC should hold a PhD degree and be a full professor, while his or her research publications should be given due importance.



Furthermore, Fapuasa demanded the selection process be undertaken by “an independent search committee comprising of reputed senior academicians with special screening for the possibility of conflict of interest”.

Talking about the reservations of academics, Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairperson Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin said “We believe in the autonomy of universities and they have supreme bodies (syndicates) to deal with matters”.

He said PHEC was a supervisory body that dealt with policy matters of Punjab’s varsities. About the demand of taking academics on board, Dr Nizam said authorities were working closely with vice chancellors and other academicians. “I am available for any discussion”.

“The minister for higher education is also always ready to hear academicians and their concerns,” he added.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2017.