DU probes plagiarism
Dhaka University has formed two committees to probe into allegations of plagiarism brought against five of its teachers.
The decision to launch the investigation was made at a meeting of the university's syndicate on Wednesday.
The editor of the Chicago Journal alleged that an associate professor of mass communication and journalism department and a lecturer of criminology department copied from the journal's articles without proper citations, two DU syndicate members told The Daily Star.
Allegations of plagiarism were also brought against three assistant professors of tourism and hospitality management department. Two teachers of the same department brought the allegations against their colleagues, sources said.
The syndicate, headed by newly appointed acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Akhteruzzaman, also appointed Prof Sadeka Halim as the acting dean of the Social Science faculty, replacing Prof AJM Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan.
Several teachers questioned this move as Bhuiyan had become the acting dean only on July 2. They said the syndicate could have extended Bhuiyan's term until the university could hold an election to the post.
"Replacing an acting dean with another acting dean without holding an election to the post is a violation of Dhaka University Order, 1973," claimed Bhuiyan, adding that such a decision was nothing but a ploy to “illegally remove” those who had been appointed during the tenure of the previous VC.
Prof Akhteruzzaman, however, claimed that Halim would be acting dean for no more than three months and by that time election to the dean post would be held.
Prof Bhuiyan assumed the office as acting dean after his predecessor Farid Uddin Ahmed went on leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) on June 30.
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