MULTAN, Feb 18: In a 'surprise' academic move, the Bahauddin Zakariya University's Institute of Management Sciences is offering four hard-core subjects of social sciences and that, too, without having any permanent faculty.

The subjects of sociology, psychology, philosophy and fine arts are the recognized disciplines of the faculty of social sciences and arts the world over, but the BZU administration has put them under the IMS, which is a part of the faculty of law, commerce and business administration.

In a recent press briefing, the faculty of law, commerce and business administration dean, Prof Dr Zafarullah Khan, had described the teaching of the subjects of pure social sciences at the IMS as a 'unique experience' as in his view all the four subjects were in one way or the other a part of evolving business strategy.

It is pertinent to mention that the university has a full-fledged faculty of social sciences and arts where economics, political science, history, education, international relations and mass communication are being taught at the postgraduate level.

When talked, senior teachers at the university claimed on the condition of anonymity that an institute within a university should have to offer studies in more than one discipline whereas the IMS offered only business administration.

Therefore, they disclosed, the university administration had come out with a unique idea to launch new disciplines at the IMS to justify its existence.

They also said the disciplines such as public administration, transport management and hospital management, besides the business administration, were introduced in the universities here and abroad where the management sciences had been institutionalized instead of borrowing disciplines of other faculties to make a justification.

The chancellor office had time and again directed the universities not to introduce new disciplines without having a permanent faculty, buildings, libraries and laboratories so that the quality of education might not suffer.

But, none of the four disciplines of social sciences introduced through the IMS fulfilled any of the prerequisites laid down by the chancellor office to start new courses, they added.

Some part-time teachers were running all the four departments of social sciences at IMS.In the absence of any permanent faculty, the departments of sociology, psychology, philosophy and fine arts have no chairmen as well.

Dr Zafarullah Khan, the dean of the faculty of law, commerce and business administration is, therefore, the chairman of all the four departments of social sciences being taught at the IMS, besides holding the offices of the IMS director and the business administration department chairman.

"The vice-chancellor has encompassed too many offices in the person of the dean faculty of law, commerce and business administration," remarked a senior BZU teacher, who added that the situation had affected the standard of education.

It is leant that the university management has not bothered so far to get approval of the new disciplines and their respective courses from the board of faculty and the academic council.

There has been no meeting of the BZU's academic council for the last three years, though the university calendar says that it should be held thrice a year to decide all the academic matters.

Sources in the university told Dawn that VC Prof Dr Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry took all the decisions on behalf of the academic council through emergency powers entrusted to him through article 16(3) of the university act despite standing orders by the chancellor/governor that unnecessary use of the emergency powers should be avoided.

Prof Dr Shahnawaz Malik, dean of the faculty of social sciences and arts, said he had raised on many occasions the issue of the teaching of social sciences subjects at IMS before the authorities, but to no avail.

Dr Malik said had he been in charge of the affairs as a dean of the relevant faculty he would not have launched the new subjects without a permanent faculty and proper facilities.

The four social sciences subjects being taught at the IMS are on a self-finance basis and each of them cost at least Rs24,000 a semester to a student only as tuition fee.