The interviews of shortlisted candidates for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) could not be held on Friday due to absence of the Convener of the Search Committee. Sources said Saturday that a total of 30 candidates were shortlisted and it was decided to interview the candidates, 15 each, on March 29 and April 1. They said all the 15 candidates reached the venue for the interviews but the process could not be held as Dr Khalid Hameed Sheikh, Convener of the Search Committee, who was supposed to chair the proceedings, did not show up.
According to information received, other members of the committee, including former Principal of Kinnaird College Dr Mira Phailbus, former Principal of NCA Prof Dr Nazish Attaullah, Secretary Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab Momin Agha who is also holding additional charge as Chairperson of Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) had made it to the venue to conduct the interviews.
It is learnt that Dr Khalid Hameed Sheikh had informed the HED high-ups the night before that since he was also member of the LCWU Syndicate it was better if he could stay away from the interview process to avoid ‘conflict of interest’. However, the department officials convinced him that there was no conflict of interest as he was just a member of the university’s syndicate and had good knowledge of the university affairs which could be seen as a positive aspect. The Search Committee members waited for its convener for few hours, the candidates, some of whom had come from outside Lahore, were informed about the postponement of interviews.
It is pertinent to mention here that with the interviews for the post of VC LCWU, the HED Punjab has started process of appointment of VCs at 12 public sector universities of the province. These include four women universities i.e., LCWU, Women University, Multan, GovernmentCollege for Women University, Sialkot and GovernmentCollege WomenUniversity, Faisalabad. The general universities include Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB), Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU)Multan, University of Gujrat, University of Narowal and GovernmentCollege University, Faisalabad. The specialised universities include University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore, Universityof Home Economics Lahore and UET Taxila. Dr Khalid Hameed Sheikh is convener of Search Committees for all the above mentioned women universities as well as the University of Home Economics while former VC of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore Dr Khalid Aftab is the Convener of Search Committees for rest of the universities, including UET Lahore and UET Taxila.
The composition of these Search Committees has been recently challenged in the Lahore High Court. Sources said that better sense should prevail among the high officials of Punjab Education Department and they should appoint 12 different Search Committees with different members instead of naming same members or controversial persons. Presence of technical person is must in the Search Committees, but there are no are technical persons in the Search Committees appointed by the Punjab Government. It is pertinent to mention that many faculty members and senior professors of different universities have voiced serious concerns over the formation of the Search Committees.