QAU gets acting vice chancellor after two-month vacancy

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday appointed Professor Zafar Nawaz Jaspal as acting vice chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU).

President Zardari, who serves as the university’s chancellor, gave the additional charge to the senior dean and faculty member for a period of three months or until a regular vice chancellor is appointed.

The office of the vice chancellor had remained vacant for the past two months, and the university had continued to function without even a temporary head during that period.

The vacancy had created administrative difficulties at the university. More than 200 students had been unable to get their degrees signed in the absence of an acting or permanent vice chancellor. Visiting faculty members were also waiting for payments, with their dues pending for a long time because matters requiring the vice chancellor’s office had not been processed.

QAU was also facing a financial crisis, and there had been no one available to properly pursue funding-related cases with the federal government.

The previous vice chancellor, Professor Niaz Ahmed Akhtar, stepped down from the post on February 6 after he was appointed chairman of the Higher Education Commission. Since his departure, the university had been operating without either a regular or acting vice chancellor.

Interim arrangement at the university

The appointment of Professor Jaspal provides an interim administrative arrangement at the university while the process for selecting a regular vice chancellor remains pending. Under the order, he will serve in the acting role for up to three months unless a permanent appointment is made earlier.

The development comes after a period in which academic and administrative matters had remained affected by the absence of a head of the institution. The issue had particularly impacted students awaiting signed degrees and visiting teachers whose payments were still outstanding.

The university’s financial difficulties were highlighted, saying the lack of a vice chancellor had affected efforts to take up funding matters with the federal government.

With the acting appointment now made, the university has received a temporary administrative head after two months without one.