ISLAMABAD: Comsats University Islamabad (CUI) Rector Dr Mohammad T. Afzal stepped down from his post on Monday, a day before his one-month leave was set to expire, without giving prior notice.

Officials said that the rector was in Canada on a one-month leave that would have expired today, but he tendered his resignation via email as well as WhatsApp. Dr Afzal, who joined Comsats in April 2020 for five years, went to Canada last month where he had been living before joining the university as its head.

University officials claimed that they had expected the resignation as before leaving for Canada, Dr Afzal had “taken his personal belongings from the university with him”.

Meanwhile, President’s Secretariat also issued a letter which stated that the resignation was received by the secretary to the president on WhatsApp. The letter said that the resignation case had been submitted to President Dr Arif Alvi, who is chancellor of the CUI, for his approval.

Dr Afzal is in Canada on one-month leave

Three-month notice

As per the CUI Act 2018, the rector may resign from the position by giving notice three months in advance, and in case of immediate resignation, three months’ salaries would have to be deposited by the rector. Since the rector did not give a prior notice, he would have to pay the amount if his resignation is accepted by the president.

It is relevant to note here, CUI – one of the leading public-sector universities in the capital – has been operating without several key functionaries for quite some time, affecting the quality of education and governance at varsity.

It became a full-fledged university in 2018 but it is functioning without a pro-rector and a regular registrar, while the appointment of the treasurer was also questionable.

According to CUI Act 2018, the pro-rector, who provides support to the rector in the planning and execution of assigned functions, would be appointed by the university senate while the registrar and treasurer were to be appointed by the senate on the recommendations of the rector. However, the university’s senate – the supreme decision-making body – is itself dysfunctional for the past year.

Some officials alleged that due to “mala fide intention the senate was being kept dysfunctional”. However, an official rejected this claim and said that the appointment of members of the senate was “under process”.

Currently, Prof Dr Sajjad A. Madani is managing the office of the registrar for the past four years on a temporary basis, and a recommendation made in July last year to hire a new registrar has not been complied with either.

Treasurer Mohammad Azam was appointed in 2018 for three years when Comsats was an institute, but five years have passed and he is still in charge of the finances. A new treasurer should have been appointed for three years after Comsats was upgraded to the status of a university in 2018, according to officials, but it did not happen.

A few months ago, the CUI management in response to the tenure of the incumbent treasurer said, “The treasurer was appointed…in 2017 when it was Comsats Institute and the treasurer’s position was in grade OG-IV. After approval of the Comsats University Act, this position was converted into a tenured position of three years.”

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2023