ISLAMABAD, JULY13: The International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), whose president, Saudi national Prof. Dr. Hathal Homoud Alotaibi, is set to finish his term on July 16, has been instructed by the Ministry of Education and Professional Training not to make any significant decisions at this time.
“Considering the administrative and financial challenges that the Higher Education Institution faces, it is recommended that the IIU administration refrain from making hasty decisions about temporary hiring, staff transfers and postings, power delegations, etc. for the duration of the current President’s term, and in the event that the office of President is not retained,” Secretary Federal Education Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani wrote in a letter.The recipient of the letter was Dr. Prof. Dr. Samina Malik, Rector IIUI.
A four-year appointment as a Saudi professor began on July 17, 2020, and will end on July 16.The secretary stated that it is advised that a goodbye celebration be planned by the IIU administration before the current President’s term ends in order to honor the services he provided while he was employed there.”This gesture is expected to be replicated in the future and will not only send a positive message to the higher education fraternity to honor the services of their leadership.”
The letter also stated that the procedures for the appointment of a new President may be developed and finalized through the Board of Governors of IIUI, in accordance with the decision made at the 14th meeting of the IIU Board of Trustees, which took place on June 30, 2020. This will allow the appointment process to be completed as soon as possible in an orderly and transparent manner.
Despite the Board of Trustees’ 2020 decision, the IIUI management made the dubious decision to withhold the guidelines for the appointment of the university’s president from the BOG. This action has drawn criticism from faculty members who see it as a calculated attempt to obstruct the appointment process.
In addition to bringing up the adhoc in the university, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, a member of the BOT, voiced his concerns on multiple times on the non-implementation of the BOT decision regarding the appointment of the President, but to no avail. The Chief Justice informed President Asif Ali Zardari last month in a letter about problems at IIUI, including the failure to carry out the 2020 BOT decision.
President Zardari, the chancellor of IIUI, was notified by the Chief Justice in a letter that the BOT had instructed the university “to propose the criteria for the appointment of the president of the university, but this decision has not been implemented and the criteria are still awaited after over four years” at its June 2020 meeting.
He had declared, “A meeting of the board be called to consider steps to be taken to stem the rebellion by the university’s administration and to consider the appointment of a new president of the university in order to arrest the further decline and destruction of the university.”
The Chief Justice further noted that although the minutes of the meeting held on December 11, 2023, are still pending, it had been six months since the BoT met. The administration of the university has disregarded reminders. He stated that although the Board had resolved to have its next meeting in April 2024, it has not yet been called.The speaker expressed worry that the board had seen various aspects of the university’s decline and maladministration, such as its rating. The speaker also mentioned that the university’s ordinance requires regular meetings of its statutory bodies, but these have also not been held.
The ordinance’s section 20, which stipulates that the board of governors’ meetings must take place at least every three months, has been broken by the board’s nine-month absence from meetings. Additionally, no other legally required meetings are conducted. In direct contravention of the ordinance, the university’s laws, and best practices, [the] director general, deans, and chairpersons continue to act as needed and until additional directives.
The administration is stubbornly pursuing and maintaining the injustices, which were also brought to the attention of the board at the meeting, rather than making amends. “This approach is inappropriate for managing any kind of organization, much less a public university that receives substantial funding from the public coffers,” he had declared.
When reached, IIUI spokesman Nasir Farid stated that technical issues prevented the 2020 BoT decision from being put into effect. He explained that the University Act stipulates that a three-person panel is forwarded to the Board of Trust to select the IIUI President rather than an open competitive process. He said that the IIUI Ordinance and the 2020 BoT ruling were at odds.
