Students have raised allegations of academic misconduct against Professor Naadir Junaid of the Mass Communication and Journalism Department of Dhaka University.
Postgraduate students at the department alleged that Professor Naadir intentionally gave them unusually low grades in a course, acting out of personal vendetta.
In a complaint letter submitted to university’s Vice Chancellor Dr ASM Maksud Kamal on Wednesday, the students said Prof. Naadir ‘threatened’ them earlier several times as they didn’t show any interest to take his optional course in the last semester of their masters.
In the result of the batch’s comprehensive course, which includes 50 marks written and 50 marks viva, 35 out of 54 students received below CGPA 3.00.
In the three other courses of the semesters, most of these 35 students secured CGPA ranging from 3.50 to 3.75, which is far more than what they received on the comprehensive course.
Students raised a three-point demand including taking the viva voce again by forming a non-partial and independent viva board and revising the published result, ensuring exemplary punishment to the professor for his acts as well as making university’s teacher evaluation program functional immediately.
Dr. Naadir Junaid was the coordinator and examiner of the second semester course of their postgraduate program. He was also the chairman of the examination committee of the Masters.
The students, in the complaint letter, accused the professor of leaking result information to create a fearful situation among the students before officially publishing the result, whereas it is against the rules of the university to comment on the results before the results are published.
He leaked academic results of the said batch to a junior batch at least four days before, the students alleged.
The students of the 12th batch also alleged Professor Naadir Junaid of threatening and harassing them during their viva examinations, the complaint letter said.
They claim that he asked them irrelevant and inappropriate questions which affected their performance and caused them distress.
Mashfiq Mizan, a student of 12th batch, alleged that Prof. Naadir Juanid hushed him for not addressing him as ‘sir’ during the viva, which made his impression bad in front of other members of the viva board.
“Later he burdened me with so many questions that other members of the committee requested to stop asking questions but he did not stop,” Mashfiq said.
Shafat Rahman, a student of MCJ 12th batch, posted on his Facebook handle, also alleged the professor asked him inappropriate questions during the viva.
Monitoring students' personal social media activities
“The professor is very judgmental of students in the classroom following their Facebook activities and evaluating exam papers on the same basis of FB activities,” the allegation letter says.
Sifat Tasnim, a student of 12th batch shared her experience, saying, “During the Viva Board session, he questioned me about my Facebook activities. I often post light-hearted content, but he made me feel embarrassed about it. I ended up in tears at the viva.”
Contacted, Professor Nadir said multiple teachers are involved with the evaluation process: “How can it be only my fault?”
Regarding the viva, he said, “There were four members in the board including me. In reality, I gave more marks than others. The final count came down after counting the average mark.”
He also denied allegations of leaking academic results beforehand to junior batches.
Contacted, DU pro vice chancellor(education) Prof. Sitesh Chandra Bachar, said, “We will call the concerned people who were associated with this, the teacher against whom the complaint is made and the exam committee. We will review the matter and report to the Vice Chancellor and further action will be taken as per rules. We will also see how reasonable the numbers they got are.”
Following the incidents, several former students of the department have brought a host of other allegations against the said professor on social media. They demanded justice and accountability from the university administration.source: unb
