Daily Times

It seems that new administration of the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) never believes in rules, as six out of nine academic faculties are filled provisionally, while many departments have no permanent chairpersons, which is a sheer violation of varsity charter and rules, Daily Times has learnt.

Dr Hathal Homoud Alotaibi resumed the charge of president a couple of months back when the post fell vacant after superannuation of Dr Ahmed Yousaf Al Darvesh on completion of his tenure. As per documents, the president appointed some faculty deans in different areas on a temporary basis/until further orders. Appointment in such a way contradicted the varsity rules and regulations.

According to the IIUI rules, there shall be a dean of each faculty who shall be chairman and convener of the board of faculty. “The dean shall be appointed by the rector on the recommendations of the president amongst three senior most professors in the faculty for the period of three years,” reads clause 2(II) of the IIUI rules. It added that if there is no professor in the faculty, the president shall look after the affairs of the dean of such faculty.

While using discretionary power, Dr Hathal Homoud Alotaibi appointed seven faculty deans against vacant slots on a temporary basis: dean faculty of Arabic, dean faculty of basic and applied sciences, dean faculty of engineering technology, dean faculty of Islamic studies, dean faculty of management sciences, dean faculty of sharia and law and dean faculty of social sciences.

A senior administrative official who is privy to the development said while wishing anonymity that only dean faculty of basic and applied sciences has been appointed in accordance with law. “The appointed dean in this faculty was among three senior professors and he (Dr Muhammad Irfan Khan) fulfils all other legal requirements,” he said.

Besides faculty deans, many chairpersons also have been given provisional status, saying it was ’till further order’. Of total 30 departments each for male and female students, many don’t have permanent legal heads. Some of the departments included computer sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics, management sciences, sociology, international relations, anthropology, sharia and law, Islamic studies, Arabic, economics, history and Islamic architecture and design.

Moreover, there is no provision in the law to appoint two separate chairpersons at any male department and female department.

According to the rules, only a senior most professor/associate professor would be appointed as chairperson on the recommendations of dean concerned only for a three-year term. In case of non-availability of an associate professor, the relevant dean will look after the charge. There was no provision of granting acting charge or ’till further order charge’ to any faculty member.

Furthermore, Vice President of Finance and Planning Dr Nabi Bakhash Jumani also works on a temporary charge and he doesn’t even have relevant qualifications. Instead of a financial career background or qualification which is a fundamental requirement of this position, he holds PhD in education from Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Islamabad.

IIUI Rector Dr Masoom Yasin Zai confirmed the appointments and claimed that as the president is the most competent person and only believes in merit, he followed this practice merely to evaluate the performance of appointed deans/HODs. “Although the practice of give acting charge does not exist in the rules, the president intends to evaluate the performance of appointed officials for some time. If any of them doesn’t perform satisfactorily, he/she would be replaced,” he committed, adding that only the dean with satisfactory work progress would be given legal term.

To a question, the rector recalled that the president is new in the university and is not familiar with the officials’ track record, due to which he personally wants to evaluate their performance.

Dr Yasin Zai maintained that the fundamental purpose of this practices it to boost the varsity’s educational standard. “I assure you that it would enhance the varsity development by yielding better academic results,” he claimed.

Varsity spokesperson Nasir Farid, however, claimed that as per section 13(III-b) of the university rules, it is prerogative of the president to take any kind of decision in the institute’s interests.

When asked about the university’ interest in such appointments, he claimed, “The president deemed that it was in the best interest of the university to fill the posts on a provisional basis instead of laying them vacant.”

He also maintained that the president wants merit and transparency at the institute to raise the educational standards.