A flurry of senior postings in the supreme bodies of the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), including Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council, have raised many a few eyebrows as appointments to key jobs fail to keep in view the prescribed laws, Daily Times has learnt. Located in Chak Shehzad about 20km away from main capital city, the varsity has five campuses across the country. As per the CUI Act, 2018, there are three bodies in the university to formulate laws and regulations known as Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council. The Academic Council and the Syndicate prepare draft laws forward it to the Senate to vet drafts accordingly for final legislation. Well-informed sources in the CUI disclosed that the Syndicate had no elected representation, which was against the prescribed law. Besides, they said that several members of the Syndicate were working on ad hoc basis. According to the rules, ad hoc employees can’t be made part of the Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council. CUI Registrar Dr Fahim A Qureshi admitted that there was ad hocism in the varsity but defended it, saying: “If Pakistan can be run on (an) acting process, then why it should not be exercised in institutes like CUI.” The clause 43 of the CUI Act states that the formulation of the Syndicate is the main authority of the Senate. The Syndicate consists of the rector, who shall be chairperson, pro-rector, joint secretary concerned from the Ministry of Science and Technology, all directors, all faculty deans, three professors from different departments, who are not members of the Senate, to be elected by the university teachers in accordance with the procedure to be prescribed by the Senate, principals of the constituent colleges. According to the information available, apart from ex-officio members of the apex body all other members are holding temporary charge in the university. Those holding temporary charge include Rector Dr Raheel Qamar, Registrar Dr Fahim Qureshi, Examination Controller Sohail Ghani, Faculty of Information Science and Technology Dean Dr Syed Asad Hussain, Faculty of Science Dean Dr Arshad Saleem Bhatti and Faculty of Architecture and Design Dean Dr Samra. An official, wishing not to be named, said that Dr Bhatti and Dr Shahid Khan had been holding the charge of deans for the last 10 years, while the maximum term to serve at the posts is six years. Moreover, the list of acting directors includes Dr Qaisar Abbas, Dr Arshid Pervaiz, Dr Tayyab Akram, and Dr M Abdul Rehman Khan. All the above mentioned directors are in-charge of regional campuses. The Academic Staff Council (ASC) of the varsity believes that the Syndicate is working in violation of the prescribed rules. “Since there is no permanent rector, registrar and treasurer; the interim administration lacks the authority to make decisions.” CUI Professor Mahnaz Haseeb in a written statement, said, that that the Syndicate meeting had drafted laws under an unnecessary veil of secrecy without the feedback from the CUI faculty, which is the primary stakeholder in the university. When contacted, Rector Dr Raheel Qamar refused to comment and referred the matter to the registrar. Registrar Dr Fahim Qureshi told Daily Times that the meeting of the Syndicate was convened by the rector so that the proposal draft regarding legislation over representation committee could be made. Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2018.