KU faculty members concerned at ‘irregularities’ in scrutiny process

KARACHI: Faculty members of Karachi University have raised concerns over the alleged irregularities in the scrutiny process for the positions of professorship and appointments of chairmen at departments.

They accused the varsity administration of nepotism and said some blue-eyed faculty members had been appointed to important positions while those who fulfilled the same criteria were ignored by the top management.

The Department of Zoology’s Assistant Prof Dr Sumera Farooq, while submitting an application on June 1, 2020, had demanded justice in the scrutiny process for the position of associate professor, and also called for an investigation of the irregularities observed in the same search procedure; however, no action was taken by the varsity high-ups.

“Now the case of Dr Solaha for the post of zoology professor is progressed and will soon be placed in the forthcoming selection board meeting. My dossier was still not sent to referees. It will be a clear injustice if both the faculty members are not treated at par. Therefore, I request you to take immediate action to provide justice in my case and hope that you will also place my reports in the meeting along with the reports of Dr Solaha,” Dr Sumera wrote in the application.

In a separate application, Dr Sumera has written that she had written an application regarding the injustice in the scrutiny process for the post of associate professor and violation of rules and regulations in the scrutiny process. She added that neither any information had been communicated to her on the progress of the case, nor had any corrective measures been taken in this regard.

“In 2019, I was declared eligible for the post of associate professor, but in the selection board meeting held on May 3, 2019, I and Dr Solaha were declared ineligible. Now, it has been learnt that the dossier of Dr Solaha was sent directly to the referees in violation of the rules and regulations without observing the prescribed procedure, neglecting the chairperson of the zoology department and the Dean Faculty of Science,” reads the application she has written to the KU administration.

“It will be a clear injustice if both the faculty members are not treated at par and if Dr Solaha’s ineligibility was condoned, why not my candidature can be considered for the post of the associate professor,” she wrote.

Also, another influential faculty member, who is a close relative of a former VC of the varsity, had been appointed chairman of the Karachi University Business School (KUBS).

The KU administration also intends to promote him as professor against the rules set by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. One of the faculty members appointed at the KUBS said that the present chairman had produced 150 research papers from 2015 to 2020. It means that he was producing more than three papers every month. Despite investigating the case, the varsity administration assigned him an important position.

‘Nothing new”

However, the KU spokesperson said on Wednesday that such allegations were not new, and some faculty members rather than resolving the matters provided false information to media.