The Academic Staff Union of Universities has kicked against the increasing conversion of non-teaching staff, including registrars, bursars and administrative officers, into academic positions in public universities, describing the practice as a threat to standards and due process.
The ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, raised the concern on Friday at a news conference in Jos, Plateau State, warning vice-chancellors and the National Universities Commission to halt what he described as an emerging anomaly in the university system.
Piwuna said the union had observed an upsurge in the conversion of administrative and technical staff to academic positions without compliance with established recruitment procedures.
According to him, some university officials were relying on possession of postgraduate qualifications, particularly PhDs, to seek conversion into the teaching cadre, even when they had not undergone the required recruitment and selection processes.
“Our attention has been drawn to the upsurge of Registrars, Bursars and other administrative and technical staff converting to academic staff in public universities without following due process.
“Oftentimes, these categories of staff may claim academic status for the reason of undergoing postgraduate programmes,” he said.
The ASUU president alleged that in some cases, deputy registrars with PhDs had been converted directly to Lecturer I positions, with personalised salaries, rather than being subjected to the same recruitment procedures applicable to other academic staff.
He further alleged that some registrars had been converted to senior lecturers or readers based on questionable publications and records of what he described as proxy teaching.
Piwuna stressed that ASUU was not opposed to legitimate movement of university employees from one career path to another, but insisted that such changes must be based on merit, established criteria and transparent recruitment procedures.
“We are not averse to changing career lines in the universities; however, non-teaching staff who wish to change to teaching cadre should participate in selection interviews guided by extant conditions and criteria,” he said.
He explained that where university laws permit such conversion, the affected staff should ordinarily be subjected to the procedures applicable to fresh appointments into the academic cadre.
Piwuna also warned that possession of an academic qualification alone should not automatically qualify an individual for appointment as a university lecturer.
He noted that although a relevant academic qualification, including a PhD, was an important requirement for academic employment, it should not be treated as the sole condition for appointment.
“Academic qualification is a prerequisite for recruitment into lecturership, but it is not sufficient,” he said.
The ASUU president acknowledged the shortage of academic staff in many public universities but cautioned against using the staffing gap as justification for lowering recruitment standards.
He therefore called on vice-chancellors and the NUC to enforce existing regulations and ensure that only properly qualified and competitively selected candidates are appointed to teaching positions.
The union’s position comes amid continuing concerns over staffing, quality assurance and funding in Nigeria’s public universities, with ASUU insisting that efforts to address shortages must not undermine academic standards.
Piwuna urged university authorities to preserve the distinction between administrative and academic career structures while allowing qualified staff to change career paths only through transparent and merit-based processes.
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