QAU has foreign qualified faculty members

Islamabad
Dr. Javed Ashraf assumed charge of Quaid-e-Azam University as Vice Chancellor at the end of December in 2014. Revealing about the history of Quaid-i-Azam University, the Vice Chancellor while talking to The News, said that (QAU) was established as University of Islamabad under an Act of National Assembly passed in July 1967. Initially, QAU offered degree programmes in M.Phil and Ph.D degrees. Later on, it was decided to start M.Sc. degree programme for graduates from all regions of the country, based on regional quota. From 2010, the university has introduced BS (4 years) programme in a few disciplines of Natural and Social Sciences.
In the beginning, the university was housed in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi and moved to its permanent Campus in October 1971. The university was renamed as ‘Quaid-i-Azam University’ in 1976 at the time of centenary celebrations of the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. QAU is recognised in Pakistan and abroad as an institution of higher academic standards and its graduates receive acceptance in universities and research institutions the world over. “When I joined as VC of the university it was already a leading university in the country under HEC ranking and it has also come in the top 500 universities in the world under America Weekly ‘US News and World Report.’
Dr. Javed Ashraf said that QAU has also established research collaboration with selected universities/research organisations in the United States, Europe and South Asia. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has recently ranked QAU as the top public institution of higher education in Pakistan. QAU is heading towards the internationalisation by increasing the level of faculty, curriculum, research and determined to find a respectable place in international university rankings. Specially the researches in Natural Sciences and Biological Sciences our collaboration with the professors of top US universities.
The vice chancellor said that QAU has qualified team of teachers and researchers; more than 75% of the teachers hold doctoral degrees with experience of working in renowned universities of the world like Oxford, Cambridge and MIT. The university has the distinction of having a large number of distinguished scientists and educationists as its faculty members, holding national awards and international recognition like Pride of Performances, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Hilal-e-Imtiaz. Keeping in mind, that we only have one fifth of the strength of faculty as compared to other leading universities of Pakistan.
While talking about the departments of the university, Dr. Ashraf said that currently, the Quaid-i-Azam University has four faculties and nine other teaching and research institutes, centres and schools. Briefly included; Faculty of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Medicine (affiliated), Area Study Centre for Africa, North and South America, Centre of Excellence in Gender Studies, National Institute of Pakistan Studies, National institute of Psychology, National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, National Institute of Asian Civilisations. Many research projects are ongoing in which Dr. Safia’s wastewater reuse system. Under the project a large scale wetland has been constructed to treat the water of residential colonies of the university. Treated water is now being used to irrigate the plants on the site and Dr. Ameena Zuberi’s ‘New methods to explore fish farming’ are commendable. Another of our Faculty member of Mathematics Dr. Tasawwar Hayat whose work of over 880 research papers have been published in international journals.
For growing educational and technical needs of the country, the University imparts quality education and training on lower strata of life. In all, the University’s academic programmes have an enrolment of over 7,500 students. Being a public university, we provide quality education much cheaper than what private universities are offering. We are also providing opportunities to our faculty as well our bright students to pursue their Doctorate degrees from leading universities of the world. We are also inviting international faculty on short and medium term basis.
Dr. Javed said that the University also maintains a high standard in providing services. It has well-equipped classrooms, state-of-the-art labs and libraries. Other facilities like hostels for male and female students, sports and play fields and transport. Besides this, we still have financial constraints to upkeep the current infrastructure and there is a lack of space in classrooms, laboratories etc. We would like to build a new cafeteria of the university, laboratories, hostels for boys and girls. We have to deny admissions to many students who come outside of Rawalpindi and Islamabad because of our limited facility of hostels.
While talking about The News Education Expo Dr. Javed ashraf said that it’s a great initiative by Jang Group bringing all the universities under one roof and facilitating the students.
Dr. Javed Ashraf is a former Director of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. Under his directorship, IBA became the first public-sector institution to start four-year bachelor’s degree programs in Pakistan - a move that was later replicated by all other universities in the country.
Dr. Ashraf has served as a faculty member for thirty years at four different universities in the United States. He was Dean of the Cameron School of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He also held the Cullen Endowed Professorship of Economics at the same University.
Dr. Ashraf has published extensively in reputable outlets, and serves on the editorial boards of four journals. He has presented in numerous international conferences. Dr. Ashraf has won a number of awards for his research.