Govt College University without deans

Despite presence of eligible professors, no academic heads appointed since varsity's upgrade; ex-VC silent on delay

HYDERABAD:

Government College University Hyderabad — the only public-sector university in the city — has been operating without Deans of Faculties since its inception, with all academic departments lacking officially appointed academic heads for over four years.

The institution, formerly Government College Kali Mori, was granted university status by the Sindh government after completing a century of its establishment.

Professor Nasir Ansar, then the college principal, served as the university's acting Vice Chancellor for nearly two years. Subsequently, the provincial government appointed Dr. Tayyaba Zarif as the university's first permanent Vice Chancellor following a formal selection process. She recently completed her four-year term and is once again in the running for reappointment. In the interim, Dr. Amjad Arain is serving as the acting Vice Chancellor.

Sources in the Sindh government told The Express Tribune that throughout Dr. Zarif's tenure, no summary was submitted to the Chief Minister of Sindh — the university's controlling authority — for the appointment of Deans, even though qualified candidates were available. As a result, all three academic faculties — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Computing & IT — have continued to operate without formal academic leadership. Key academic decisions, including those made by the Boards of Faculties, were taken without officially designated Deans.

Currently, six professors are serving across the three faculties. These include Dr. Abdul Mannan Shaikh, Dr. Altaf Ahmed, Dr. Shakeel Ahmed, Dr. Amjad Ali, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Lark, and Dr. Imtiaz Ali Brohi — all of whom were promoted to full professor between 2022 and 2024. However, no summary for their appointment as Deans was initiated during that period.

Following Dr. Zarif's departure, sources say the university's Director of Human Resources, Najam-ud-Din Sahoo, has now submitted a summary to the Department of Universities and Boards for the appointment of Deans.

Efforts were made to contact Dr. Zarif for her comments on the matter. She was approached via phone and WhatsApp, but no response was received.