Multan: Disparities in the recorded minutes of a recent council meeting have caused significant worry among several professors and Academic Council members at Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) in Multan.
In a letter to the council secretary, who also serves as the university’s registrar, 80 of the 116 council members signed, requesting that the minutes of the October 16 meeting be corrected. They said that many important council votes and actions are misrepresented in the recorded minutes.
The recorded minutes do not adequately represent the council’s choices, especially when it comes to the agenda on faculty workload and credit hours.
A vote on the faculty workload issue was requested by the council members, but the credit hours issue was considered settled.
The council was unable to come to a consensus, so the issue remained unresolved even though the chair allowed voting.
However, the members decided to form a review committee to look into the workload issue more thoroughly, with the promise that the group’s conclusions will be presented at the next meeting of the Academic Council.
Also read: Gandapur Highlights KP’s Commitment to Educational Advancement
The professors claim that the vice chancellor was not permitted by the council to speak for them at the next Syndicate meeting.
There was also disagreement about the proposed reorganization of seven academic departments.
The professors contended that the VC’s comments and the council’s position are misrepresented in the minutes.
The council did not support the vice chancellor’s independent decision-making on the restructuring proposals, even though they suggested a committee to assess them.
Instead, they asked that before final recommendations are made, other governing bodies, specifically the Board of Study, the Board of Faculty, and the Academic Council itself, conduct a thorough assessment.
These errors could hinder the Academic Council’s ability to function, the academicians emphasized. They demanded that the minutes be updated to reflect the council’s resolutions and debates and sent back to the members for approval.
Also read: Teachers Stand Together to Oppose School Privatization Efforts
Vice Chancellor Prof. Zubair Iqbal responded by calling the professors’ observations “routine matters” and promising that the next meeting of the Academic Council would address these issues.
He stated, “We are committed to reviewing all the apprehensions raised by the professors and ensuring the minutes accurately reflect the council’s decisions.”
The BZU issue demonstrated how crucial it is for academic institutions to maintain accurate records and transparent decision-making, as faculty members worked to maintain effective governance and procedural integrity.