KARACHI, Oct 21: Though the teachers of Karachi University are still against the Model University Ordinance, the administration appears to implement the part of the ordinance which calls for appointment of teachers on a contract basis on high salaries.

Sources told Dawn that in response to a Higher Education Commission directive the university syndicate was likely to consider the controversial system of appointments, referred to as “Tenure Track Scheme” (TTS) in technical parlance, at its next meeting.

Though the HEC proposal paper has been made available only to syndicate members, groups of teachers on the campus have been studying it. Most of them believe that they should have been taken into confidence first.

The secretary of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA), Sarwar Nasim of the University of Karachi, has informed the HEC chairman, Prof Atta- ur-Rahman, that the Karachi University vice-chancellor has been urged to take the item about the discussion on TTS off the meeting’s agenda.

He has requested the HEC chairman to advise the Karachi University vice-chancellor to keep the item off the agenda till the matter was discussed at a meeting between the HEC and FAPUASA.

The sources said the HEC had sent “Model Tenure Track System Statutes” to the university, which could modify them according to its specific requirements in consultation with the HEC.

They added that these modifications would be minor in nature and would not alter the spirit of the tenure track process, which, being based on merit alone, guaranteed employment only to those who could demonstrate excellence in their fields.

The performance of candidates would be judged by a body of international experts, the sources said. Quoting a letter written by Dr Rahman to the Karachi University vice-chancellor in early October, the sources said special pay scales for faculty members appointed on TTS had been prepared in consultation with the finance division of the government of Pakistan.

They added that the HEC chairman had also informed the Karachi University vice-chancellor that the recurring grant of his university for the year 2003 contained an additional grant of about Rs38.6 million for hiring new tenure track faculty or conversion to tenure track up to 10 per cent of the existing faculty staff.

In the letter, the HEC chairman also made clear that Karachi University must approve and implement TTS by Nov 30 or else the additional funds would be re-appropriated to those institutions which were able to implement the scheme.

“It is envisioned that all new appointments at the Assistant Professor level will be done on Tenure Track. Existing faculty members may also be given option to resign from their current position. The faculty members opting for the Tenure Track option who do not receive a positive tenure review will be no longer employees of the University,” wrote Dr Rahman.

The HEC has also made a limited offer, titled “Better incentive for faculty members”, under which the university may award three or more monthly salaries in a year to regular faculty members based on their research performance profile.

The sources said TTS would be applicable to faculty members in science, engineering, agriculture and medical disciplines as already specified by the finance division. However, additional disciplines of social sciences might be included in the package, says the HEC paper.

In addition to assessment or evaluation, which would be carried out by an independent committee of eminent experts including representatives of HEC, regular review of the performance of faculty members would be carried out by a Peer Review Committee, including representatives of the HEC.

Under the proposed package, a professor is likely to get a monthly package ranging from Rs82,500 to Rs134,000 and an associate professor from Rs51,750 to Rs72,500 and an assistant professor from Rs36,250 to Rs50,850.

The proposed statutes emphasize that new faculty members may be appointed either as temporary appointments or as tenure track appointments in three stages: first term appointments, second term probationary appointments and tenure appointments.

Faculty members initially appointed at a junior rank will work normally for six years before a final tenure decision is made. In the case of a faculty member appointed at a senior rank (associate and full professor) the probationary period will normally be three years for associate professor and two years for a full professor.

The joint meeting of the Karachi University Teacher’s Society and KU Syndicate members has demanded the withdrawal of the item from agenda of the syndicate meeting, saying that the proposed TTS would be bad for teachers as well as for higher education in the country.

In the Oct 20 meeting, the joint council rejected the proposals and proposed that a new scheme for the improvement of working in the universities of the country be worked out through a discussion with FAPUASA.