Varsity heads: Search committee to shortlist candidates on August 12

Minister says committee now a permanent body to select federal varsities’ vice-chancellors .

ISLAMABAD:


A search committee tasked with the selection of candidates to head up three federal universities will meet on August 12. They will build a shortlist from 300 candidates.


The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training says that the shortlisted candidates will be interviewed on August 20 and 21, and if need be, on the 27th and 28th as well.

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


Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Baligur Rehman says the search body is now the permanent committee for selection of heads of federally-chartered universities.

The committee consists 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 Safdar.

Former QAU vice-chancellor Dr Masoom Yasinzai was appointed 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 acting charges. 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 for the post of IIUI rector.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2014.
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