LAHORE: The Higher Education Department (HED) has forwarded summaries of candidates for the appointment of vice chancellors of three universities to the chief minister office.

The search committees have conducted the interview of the candidates for the post of VC in three universities - Government College University (GCU) Lahore, University of Narowal (UoN) and Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) - last week.

The delay in the regular appointments against the top varsity slots is further contributing to the uncertainty in these institutions. The situation is also fueling concerns about the management of these universities, already grappling with academic and administrative challenges.

The GCU VC post had fallen vacant after the tenure of Prof Asghar Zaidi ended on Oct 23, 2023, following his four-year service as vice chancellor. Since then, the post had been occupied by interim appointees, starting with (former) pro-vice chancellor Prof Ahmad Adnan, who retired on April 19, 2024. Subsequently, Prof Shazia Bashir, a dean at the GCU, held the additional charge of the VC office until Oct 21, 2024, before her appointment as vice chancellor of Government Women University, Sialkot.

From Nov 23, 2024, Punjab University VC Prof Muhammad Ali Shah was given additional charge of the VC office but his tenure also ended on Jan 23 and the GCU is currently working without a VC.

IUB is also performing without a regular VC after Prof Athar Mahboob completed his tenure on July 25, 2023. Following his departure, Pro-VC Prof Naveed Akhtar assumed the charge but retired from service on Sept 16, 2024. Prof Muhammad Kamran, the VC of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering, Multan, was given the additional charge of the post for four months, but his tenure ended on Jan 16.

The University of Narowal has been working without a regular VC for the last 18 months.

HED secretary Dr Farrukh Naveed told Dawn that the interviews of the candidates were completed last week and summaries containing the names of the top three candidates for each post of VC were sent to chief minister office for appointment.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025