Illegal postings: UoP rejects reports of hiring professors on administrative posts

Varsity’s senate to reconstitute selection board

PESHAWAR: The University of Peshawar on Sunday claimed that all the key administrative positions at the varsity were held by officers from the administrative cadres, rejecting reports that professors had been appointed to these posts.

In an official statement issued by the University of Peshawar (UoP) Media Officer, the varsity claimed that it was the only the only university in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where all the key administrative positions including those of the registrar, treasurer, controller examination, provost, administration director, P&D director, sports director, and IT services director are held by officers from the administrative cadre.

Moreover, it said that UoP had followed the spirit of the Universities Act and had advertised for the permanent positions of the registrar, controller examinations and treasurer. The process of selecting successful candidates, it said, was currently underway.

The varsity’s Senate is due to reconstitute the Selection Board.

Certain positions, such as the ORIC director and QEC Director, which were considered to be academic in nature and were proposed by the varsity’s syndicate in a December 5, 2016, meeting, to be filled by officers from the faculty.

These proposals were subsequently presented to the varsity’s Senate just days later on December 27, 2016. The statutes were approved.



The statement added that in order to promote research and facilitate graduate students, a new Directorate of Advanced Studies has been created in the varsity, separating it from the over-burdened Directorate of Admissions.

In the past 10 months, it said, this directorate had processed 471 cases of Masters in Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) synopsis approval and 290 cases for MPhil and PhD examinations.

Moreover, the Advanced Studies and Research Board (ASRB) continues to scrutinize PhD-level studies and research proposals. In this regards, nine faculty-level ASRBs have been constituted for the MPhil and Masters of Studies (MS) programme, enabling over 80 faculty members to become experts on these boards directly involved in administering the graduate research programme at the university.

As a result of this bifurcation, it said that graduate students who used to wait for up to a year for the approval of their synopsis, are now receiving approvals within two to three weeks.

Further, it said that rooms which had been occupied by illegal occupants were being retrieved. Similarly, unauthorised occupants are being evicted from the varsity’s shops and other commercial entities and re-auctioned at optimal commercial rates.

“The rents of banks have been recently revised which has improved the revenue collection from these entities by a handsome amount,” it added.

It also backed the Sports and Sanitation Directorate, crediting it for maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness and garbage disposal on campus despite the enormity of the task and meagre resources. Last week, there were reports that the directorate had been unable to adequately address the garbage issue owing to internal fracturing.

To retrieve occupied varsity property, it said that a deputy-director administration has been assigned the task of Estate and Assets. Through a high-level committee, specifically constituted to investigate and re-occupy the university assets and properties, has made progress.

Further, the varsity has approached the Sardar Abdul Rashid Trust, which had first donated land for building the university in the city back in 1972. The trust has been urged to redesign the construction of a commercial plaza.

The income from this trust is to be dedicated to financial aid for the needy students.

Properties donated by Durrani family and Malik Ummar Hayat Trust are being investigated by the same committee for their retrieval.

Further, the Peshawar University Teachers Foundation (PUTF), which has been suffering losses for over a decade, had been recently revived and in past two months, it has raised over Rs300,000 in funds.

Moreover, proceeds from the Baragali Campus have crossed Rs8 million in about a year against negligible amounts in recent years.

Meanwhile, the new administration is taking up the accreditation of the disciplines on a holistic basis for the first time through QEC office while ORIC and QEC are together building ranking and industrial linkages.

Directorate of Planning and Development is efficiently executing all the developmental projects sponsored by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the provincial government.