KARACHI, July 24 The faculty of arts in Karachi University seems to be facing an acute academic and administrative crisis these days, as the faculty's dean is currently holding seven posts, including the directorship of two institutes and the chairmanship of three departments, on the grounds that “eligible candidates” are not available, Dawn has learnt.

According to sources, the KU dean faculty of arts, Dr Shamsuddin, is currently working as the chairman of the philosophy, general history and Islamic history departments.

He is also holding the posts of director of the Institute of Clinical Psychology and the Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC), besides being the dean of faculty of education and special adviser to the vice chancellor.

Although KU officials state the unavailability of associate professors and professors as the primary reason for such an administrative arrangement, the sources say that the excuse is not entirely based on facts.

The university code states “Provided that where there is no professor or associate professor in a department, it shall be looked after by the dean of the faculty with the assistance of the most senior teacher of the department.”

Removals and resignations

At AERC, Prof (Dr) Shahida Wizarat and Prof (Dr) Nuzhat Ahmed, being the only two professors at the centre, remained its director, by turns, for many years till 2005 when the latter went abroad and the former assumed the charge of the centre.

In 2007, Prof (Dr) Wizarat was removed from the post when she allegedly refused to comply with the vice chancellor's orders.

Dr Shamsuddin took over the AERC as there was no professor or an associate professor available at the centre at that time.

Dr Nuzhat Ahmed has now returned and joined the centre a few months ago. But Dr Shamsuddin still continues to lead the centre.

At the Islamic history department, Prof (Dr) Nigar Sajjad Zaheer, the only full professor at the department, reportedly developed some differences with her colleagues a year ago.

A fact-finding committee was set up to probe into the alleged charges of “attitude problem and misbehaviour” that had been levelled against her.

But, before the report could be presented at any statutory forum, she was removed from her post and the dean of the faculty was given the charge of the department, as there was neither an associate professor nor a professor available at the department.

Assistant professor Shakeel Siddiqui was made the “in-charge” without any notification.

In February this year, Prof (Dr) Nigar wrote a letter to the vice chancellor, who also heads the Board of Advanced Studies and Research, about Dr Shamsuddin. She wrote in her letter that Dr Shamsuddin had supervised his own sister-in-law in doing her PhD thesis, which she said was unethical. His sister-in-law, Uzma Perveen, was a lecturer at the Islamic history department.

At the general history department, Prof (Dr) Nargis Rasheed left the chairpersonship after developing differences with other teachers last year. She left the post, stating that she was unable to fulfil her duties due to health reasons.

The other professor and associate professor, Prof (Dr) Javed Hussain and Prof (Dr) Shama Habib, respectively, who were technically eligible to be made chairperson, declined to take the responsibility.

The situation at the philosophy department is, however, different. The department has no professor or associate professor since 2004 and the dean is looking after the affairs of the department. An associate professor, who applied for the post in 2004, was appointed in the department in July this year.

Prof (Dr) Seema Munaf, who headed the Institute of Clinical Psychology, reportedly left her post under pressure over a year ago.

In the absence of any associate professor or a professor at the centre, the dean assumed the responsibility of the director of the department.

It is important to mention here that all these professors who left their administrative posts due to some conflicts still serve at their respective departments as teachers with the exception of Dr Wizarat, who is now retired.

The aggrieved teachers have expressed grave doubts about the dean's impartiality and his role in their conflicts.

Dr Shamsuddin also serves as the dean of the faculty of education, as there is no full professor at the education department to work as dean.

It is worth mentioning that the faculty of education is basically meant for attending to matters relating to colleges affiliated with Karachi University. The past practice was to appoint a full professor from either of the departments of education and special education, which are under the faculty of arts, as dean of the faculty of education.

Commenting on Dr Shamsuddin's case, Dr Aqeel Ahmed of the Karachi University Teachers' Society (Kuts) said that the society had always condemned the appointment of teachers on more than one post.

“I think the disputes among teachers need to be resolved instead of giving charge of many posts to one person. There is one or two departments where there is a genuine problem of not having eligible persons, but in other departments there are conflicts which need attention,” he said.

This is the second tenure of Dr Shamsuddin as dean who is retiring in November this year.

According to the sources, his first tenure ended on Dec 1, 2007, but he continued as dean without the governor's orders till his extension orders were issued on January 1, 2008.

Defending his position, Dr Shamsuddin said “I have been assigned all these posts as there was no associate professor or professor available in the relevant departments. In case of AERC, I have already sent a letter to the VC in this regard that Dr Nuzhat be given the charge of the centre.”

KU Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui admitted that the faculty of arts faced a major deterioration of standards. He said that the situation was the result of a lack of planning in the past.

“There was a time when there used to be 11 PhDs in the general history department that had produced many renowned historians. The sorry state of affairs has come about because our predecessors did not make any plans for the faculty's development and it has been only two years since we took up the task. There is also a lack of motivation on the part of teachers to pursue higher studies and acquire foreign fellowships which could help them hone their skills.”

About the disputes among teachers, he said “Every teacher cannot do an administrative job and, unfortunately, we don't have the good manners to say no when we are unfit for a job. Being the head of a department, you have to take everybody on board, which everybody cannot do. The administration has to intervene if a department is paralysed by conflicts.”