Search committee: Meeting for selection of varsity heads on 15th

QUA, AIOU and IIUI without heads for over four months.

ISLAMABAD:

The newly-formed search committee to appoint heads of the three major universities will meet on Tuesday, July 15.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training on Thursday, the search committee will consist of the education minister and 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 Safder.

The committee is tasked with appointing vice-chancellors at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and a rector for the International Islamic University (IIUI).

Former QAU vice-chancellor (VC) Dr Masoom Yasinzai was appointed as the acting IIUI rector in February this year. Yasinzai had been holding the additional charge of IIUI rector for the past two years.

Dr Nazir Ahmed Sanghi retired as AIOU VC in March 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.

An earlier HEC committee had vetted and shortlisted some 300 applicants, including the three who are holding the acting charge. HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad had said that the committee received 150 applications for the AIOU job, 129 for the QAU vice-chancellorship and about 90 applied for the post of IIUI rector.

The committee was later reconstituted by the ministry.

Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Balighur Rehman told The Express Tribune that the committee will decide whether to again shortlist the applications received or consider the names finalised by the HEC.

Last year, the minister had told the higher education body to start the selection process of a new VC two months prior to retirement of the previous one, but nothing has been done so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2014.