‘Teachers should be consulted on VCs criteria’

LAHORE: Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA), Punjab chapter, has demanded the provincial government that criteria for appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs) should be finalised after consulting all stakeholders, including the FAPUASA and specially its Punjab chapter. 

An emergency meeting of FAPUASA, Punjab chapter, was held at Punjab University here on Friday to discuss and deliberate over one-point agenda regarding formulation of criteria for the appointment of the VCs in the public sector universities of Punjab. 

The meeting was presided over by FAPUASA Punjab chapter President Prof Dr Javed Ahmad and attended by Dr Mehboob Hussain, ex-general secretary of FAPUASA and other members. They also demanded that VC must be a PhD degree holder who was or remained a full professor of a university. Similarly, due weight must be given to research publications. A person who has not published reasonably, how can he/she patron research activity in the higher education institutions, they questioned. The participants observed that VCs' appointment process should be undertaken by an independent search committee comprising reputed senior academicians with special screening of possibility of conflict of interest. 

The meeting participants resisted the alleged mindset of the government that teachers could not run universities, observing that shortfall of any individual should not become basis for discouraging applicants from academia. Similarly, a politician who is corrupt cannot become reflection of the whole political community, they added. The FAPUASA Punjab president emphasised that if the demands would not be met, the federation and the university faculty all over province would not have any other option except to protests to safeguard the universities.

PhDs: Punjab University (PU) has awarded PhD degrees to three scholars.

Sumera Siddiqui, daughter of Abdul Ghaffar Siddiqui, has been awarded a PhD in zoology after approval of her thesis entitled “Low Cost Single Cell Protein Based Fish Feed For Early Culturing of Labeo Rohita”, Sabin Fatima, d/o Mian Muhammad Ramazan, in agriculture (plant pathology) after approval of her thesis entitled “Management of Fusarium Wilt in Tomato Using Non-Pathogenic Indigenous Pseudomonas Strains” and Ali Kamran son of Muhammad Ikhlaque, in environmental science after approval of his thesis entitled “A Study of Municipal Solid Waste Management with Emphasis on Material Flows and Potential Key Parameters in Environmental System Analysis”.

Medical course: Advance Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course has started at College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) with the collaboration of American College of Surgeons. 

According to a press release, 16 senior doctors are participating in the course from across Punjab. The 156th Advance Trauma Life Support Course (ATLS) will continue for three days at CPSP Regional Centre, Lahore. Course coordinators Prof Muhammad Farooq Afzaal, Prof Ahsan Nazir Ahmed and Dr Khalid Cheema demonstrated the medical treatment and the precautionary measures.