LAHORE: A five-member search committee interviews today (Friday) senior-most professors of Punjab University and Lahore College for Women University to select their acting vice chancellors.

This will be the first time that a search committee will pick an acting VC as well. According to a senior Higher Education Department (HED) official, they are doing so to ensure transparency. However, under the universities act, the chancellor/governor has the power to pick an acting VC.

The HED has constituted a five-member search committee led by Razak Dawood as convener. Its other members are PITB Chairman and founding VC of Information Technology University (ITU) Dr Umar Saif, Punjab Accreditation Committee Chairman Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, Punjab Commission for Women Chairperson Dr Fauzia Waqar and HED Secretary Nabeel Awan.According to a senior official, the court had tasked the HED with conducting interviews for acting VCs of PU and LCWU.

He said five senior-most professors from PU and three from LCWU would appear before the committee.

According to a notification issued by the HED to registrars of both the universities, the search committee will interview five senior-most academics from the Punjab University and three from the LCWU.

It asked LCWU’s Prof Dr Bushra Khan, Prof Dr Shagufta Naz and Prof Dr Farkhanda Manzoor to appear for the committee at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore.

For the PU, the department summoned Prof Dr Taqi Zahid Butt, Prof Dr Shahid Kamal, Prof Dr Fakhrul Haq Noori, Prof Dr Nasira Jabeen and Prof Dr Saleem Mazhar.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had suspended last week LCWU’s VC Prof Dr Uzma Qureshi while Prof Dr Zakraya Zakir had tendered resignation as acting VC of PU during hearing of a suo motu about the hiring of public sector universities.

The CJP had directed the education minister and secretary to appoint senior most professor of PU as acting VC till the selection of a regular incumbent and gave the authorities six weeks to select a regular VC.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018