After a long delay, President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday appointed Dr Muhammad Tabassum Afzal as the new rector of COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI).
“President of Pakistan in his capacity as Chancellor of CUI has been pleased to appoint Dr Muhammad Tabassum Afzal as Rector of the university with immediate effect. He will hold this office for the period of five years from the date of his joining, while the terms and conditions of this appointment shall be issued separately,” reads a notification singed by Khan Muhammad Wazir, deputy scientific advisor, Ministry of Science and Technology.
Currently Dr. Muhammad Tabassum Afzal is serving as Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Canada.
The minister for science and technology Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, who is pro-chancellor of the varsity, had earlier proposed three names to President that included Prof Dr Muhammad Tabassum Afzal, Prof Dr Mohammad Asif, Prof Mohammad Sohail Ghani and Dr Asad Hussain for selection of one of them for this post.
The position of rector fell vacant since March 2017 afterwards the interim charge was assigned to the senior most professor, Dr Raheel Qamar. It was intended that within the prescribed period of six months, a permanent rector would be in place in accordance with para 15 of Employees Service Statues 2009, which says the interim charge can only be given for six months.
Not only officer employee association, staff association and Academic Staff Association but pro-chancellor office also showed serious concern over this delay.
A few months ago Fawad Chaudhry, through a letter, informed Dr Alvi that COMSATS Institute of Information Technology was upgraded to COMSATS University through an act of parliament in March 2017. “After which the first meeting of the university senate could not be held until April 2019 and appointment of the full-time rector was kept on delaying for one reason or the other”, he recalled.
“Although the senate formally constituted a search committee for the appointment of the full-time rector it could not finalize its recommendations because of the so-called technical hitches,” the minister observed.
“The extended tenure of the interim rector beyond six months is a serious violation of the statutes,” he claimed, adding during this extended 33 months’ period, no extension beyond six months was given by any statutory or non-statutory body of the university.
Subsequently, Alvi chaired the meeting of the CUI in February this year and finalised three shortlisted candidates for the post of rector amongst them Dr Mohammad Tabassum Afzal, Dr Zabita Khan Shinwari and Dr Mohammad Bilal were included.
The well informed sources disclosed to Daily Times that it was decided at the meeting that the process of background checks of the shortlisted candidates would be completed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Higher Education Commission (HEC), after consultations with other government departments and agencies, within a month.
The University has been facing issues that have worsened over the last three years because of such appointment. The absence of the academic council was another cause for occurrence of the administrative issue in the varsity. Moreover, registrar, directors of six campuses and all the faculties’ deans and department chairs are working on acting charge, which is also major reason for administrative disturbances.
