Walkout from KU syndicate meeting over professor’s appointment

Faculty members walked out of the University of Karachi’s (KU) syndicate meeting on Saturday over a controversy on the appointment of a professor.

The syndicate meeting, which was chaired by KU Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Khalid Iraqi, also approved the termination of services of four teachers of the varsity, including Hafsa Nasar, Saba Masood, Asma Khan and Tasneem Akhter as they had been absent from the service for long. It was also decided that the varsity would make recovery from them within six months.

Heated arguments, however, were exchanged between syndicate members over the selection of Dr Saleha Rehman who had applied for the post of professor in the zoology department. Some of the syndicate members were of the view that the number of Dr Saleha’s publications appeared in the BASR and HEC journals was 12 till the last date of advertisement, and hence, she could not be hired as a professor.

Karachi University Teachers Association President Prof Dr Shah Ali Ul Qader, Dr Mansoor Ahmed, Dr Mohsin Ali, Atiq Razzaq and National Assembly member Shahida Rahmani walked out from the meeting in protest against the vice chancellor.

Later, Dr Atta-ur-Rehman intervened and brought back the protesting members. A committee headed by Dr Rehman was constituted with Dr Qader and Dr M Taha as its other members to determine the qualifications of Dr Saleha.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr Tahseen Ahmad Jilani and Assistant Professor Dr Muhammad Sajjad Haider Naqvi were told to join their respective departments within two months or else they would be removed from the service, and a relevant office would be directed to make recovery from them within six months.

The syndicate approved the request of Assistant Professor Dr Hamida Sultan for joining her department. The meeting also decided that the applicants who had applied for teaching under the 2019 advertisement would have to submit the result of GRE subject tests.

The meeting decided that officers who had been appointed through the selection board would be considered eligible for the elections of the syndicate. The members also approved the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning and appreciated the initiative taken by the KU VC in this regard.

The KU syndicate approved the appointments of Prof Dr Moazzam Ali Khan as the director of the Institute of Environmental Studies and Prof Dr Anjum Parveen as the director of the Centre for Plant Conservation for three years.

Furthermore, the meeting approved the appointments of Prof Dr Iqbal Azhar in the department of pharmacognosis, Prof Dr Erum Bashir in the department of geology, Dr Arif Khan Saqi in the department of Islamic learning, Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Taha in the department of history and Dr Iftikhar Shafi in the department of English as chairpersons for a tenure of three years.

Meanwhile, Prof Dr Mansoor Ahmed was nominated as the representative of the KU Syndicate in the Board of Secondary Education Karachi for two years.

The meeting also approved the names of Prof Dr Samina Bano of the biochemistry department, Prof Azhar of the pharmacognosy department and Prof Dr Nasira Khatoon of the zoology department for the post of meritorious professor.

The members also approved the decisions and actions of the VC as well as gave approval to the minutes and reports of the syndicate meeting held on November 14, 2020. The syndicate also approved the minutes of the Academic Council meetings held on November 22, 2019, and June 05, 2020.