national university of sciences and technology (nust) - … · 2020-02-13 · of nust formulated...
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Compliance Implementation Plan on IPE Visit by HEC
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
1. Mission and Vision, although
defined and reviewed, but no
evidence of approval from statuary
bodies was provided however,
mission and vision are part of
vision 2022 which is still in
process of approval.
Vision and Mission should be
defined with the involvement of
stakeholders and approved by
appropriate statutory bodies.
Proper documentation of
relevant discussions and
approvals should be maintained.
Implemented. Revised Vision and Mission
of NUST formulated with the input of all the
stakeholders has been approved i.e by
NUST Academic Council. Approval
received vide minutes, of the 53rd Academic
Council Meeting through Acad Dte letter
No. 092/202/53rd ACM/Minutes/Acad dated
26 Sept 2019.
2 a. Liaison offices need to be
established at all constituent
colleges for effective coordination
with Career Development center at
central level. 2 b. Career
Development Center (CDC) is
severely understaffed. Only one
staff member is currently working
at CDC, managing all career
development activities.
Career Development Center
(CDC) should be strengthened
with adequate human resources
to cover main campus and
constituent colleges. Also to
fulfill its other mandates
including collecting and
maintaining feedback from
students regarding their
internships.
Specific liaison offices for CDC are not
required as the system is automated and
controlled centrally along with support
offices of program coordinators who
manage CDC activities at each School /
College.
As there are workshops of different
nature under, it is not possible for a
single resource person to deliver all of
these workshops. Therefore, the only
member of CDC is supported through
hired resource person(s) whose services
are taken based on specialization
required for CDC related workshops.
Administratively, CDC comprises of 1x
Officer, but is augmented through hired
resources as explained.
3. Placement office shall offer
placement and internship related
events and seminars all constituent
colleges keeping in view the
academic calendar.
The placement office services
should be extended to
constituent colleges, presently it
mainly caters the needs of main
campus.
All recruitment related events are
planned and executed as per the
available dates and time slots keeping in
view the academic calendar of all
schools as well as constituent colleges.
All the constituent colleges and schools
are sent out the intimation letter of all the
recruitment related activities scheduled
during the academic semester. However,
the number of such activities do vary
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
based on disciplines at each constituent
college as well as the number of students
in each discipline.
All events are well coordinated with
respective school / college Industry
Liaison Officers (ILOs) (dedicated
officers with placement as one of their
prime task), to ensure no clash with any
other activity / event happens in school
/college. The events calendar is issued at
least 15 x days prior the first activity
planned for a month (the plan cannot be
shared earlier than this, as industry
partners usually request for the date /
time slot 1 – 3 x weeks prior the
intended activity).
4. Systematic uniform
implementation be ensured for
faculty career planning in line with
HEC guidelines.
The University should ensure
proper implementation of
faculty appointment and
promotion criteria that is
defined for the university and
prescribed by HEC.
NUST promotion and appointment criteria
for faculty members has been developed
under the guidance of HEC and is being
implemented in its true letter and spirit.
5. Faculty training modules
are not available and all faculty
inducted are not trained in
systematic manner with
insufficient progress tracking of all
newly inducted faculty.
The university should prepare
training module/manual that
should assist HR in capacity
building of new faculty
induction as well as continuous
professional development. More
focus is required on teaching
pedagogy and assessment.
Trainings & Development for NUST
Faculty Members
1. Human Resource Development is
considered as an important component of
any university to keep its highly specialized
and diverse work force prepared for the
university specific needs and requirement. In
this regard, various training programs are
organized at NUST, other reputable local
training institutes and abroad to prepare our
faculty to meet their responsibilities in a
befitting manners. All out efforts are being
made to improve the skills for all NUST
faculty members regardless of gender, race
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
or age so as to optimize efficiency. Major
objectives are as under: -
a. To conduct high quality professional
development training / short courses for all
faculty members so that they can acquire
state of the art knowledge to maximize their
efficiency.
b. To create university linkage for solving
faculty members problems through short
training courses/ workshops on latest
technology, innovation and issues.
c. To organize short term trainings and
workshops for continued professional
development of NUST faculty and staff as
per university HR requirements.
Local Training (Nationwide)
2. NUST faculty members actively
participate in national / international
trainings & workshops. Capacity building
activities are sponsored by NUST
institutions, HEC, and other national
organizations. Local training institutes of
Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar e.g. PPMI
& PMI etc are time to time contacted for
conduct of specialized trainings as and when
required to keep NUST faculty members up
to date with latest technologies and trends.
Local Training (Within NUST/ PDC) 3. For the sake of further improving the
knowledge and capabilities, NUST offers
Continuing Education programs by
providing an extensive array of continuous
education, professional development, and
training opportunities for its faculty
members. This is achieved through short
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
trainings, courses, lectures and other
organized developmental activities. Faculty
professional development encompasses
various faculty development activities
covering professional cycle of individuals.
Faculty Orientation 4. New faculty joining NUST is put
through an orientation training before they
join respective institutions followed by
mentoring through senior faculty.
5. Internal Training for Faculty 5. In
order to keep abreast with latest teaching
trends, a 3 years theoretical/ practical
internal training program has been prepared
for NUST faculty, where each faculty
member has to undergo a mandatory training
on specific topics including MOOCS. It has
designed for progressive development and
grooming of NUST faculty members to
impact on their quality of teaching &
learning and categorized into two tiers as
following: -
a. Tier 1
(Junior)
All Lecturers + Assistant
Professors less than 3
years services
b. Tier 2
(Senior)
All Lecturers + Assistant
Professors greater than 3
years services
c. Tier 2 Principals, Deans,
Commandants, Professors,
Associate Professors,
RVF, HoDs
6. Tier wise main contents are appended
below: -
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
a. Tier 1: (Junior)
Year 1 (8 days)
Welcome to NUST- Orientation
Teaching Skills & Outcome Based
Education (OBE)
Stress & Time Management
Year 3 (1 day)
Leadership Skills-I (Intro)
Entrepreneurship-I (Intro)
b. Tier 1: (Senior)
Year 4 (2.5 days)
New Trends in Teaching Strategies
Outcome Based Education (OBE)
Year 5 (2 days)
Proposal Writing for Funding
Conducting Need Based Research
Year 6 (1 day)
Leadership Skills – II (Advanced)
c. Tier 2
Year 7 (1 day)
Academic Leadership
Management Skills
Year 8 (1 day)
Education Administration
Mentoring Approaches
Year 9 (1 day)
Conflict Resolution
Negotiation Skills
d. MOOCS
Any 2 x MOOCs
Communication Skills
English Language
Decision Making
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
7. Please note that training of Tier 1
(Junior) & Tier 1 (Senior) has already been
conducted during Aug 2018 & Jan 2019
respectively, however, training of Tier 2 is
schedule from 5-8 Aug 2019, tentatively.
6 a. There is a serious concern
related to retention of faculty due
to lack of job security, allied
benefits and allowances at par with
most of the public sector
universities and high level of
dissatisfaction mostly among the
young faculty working at Assistant
Professor Level and below as they
are not satisfied with HR policies
and decisions.
The university should work on
uniform pay structure, faculty
housing, allied allowances
matching other public sector
universities and medical
coverage for faculty to ensure
better faculty retention.
NUST salary package are generally
kept at par with local universities by
granting advance increments at the time of
pay fixation process involving all
dimensions of scholastic achievements e.g
research profile, experience, qualification,
students’ supervision and market factor etc.
For better retention, following
facilities are being provided by NUST to its
faculty members: -
The compensation package includes
free medical facilities on-campus as
well as in CMH/MH for faculty and
employees. ▪ Free life insurance is
provided to all employees up to Rs
1,000,000/-.
High performing faculty members
are compensated by granting
advance increments to make their
salary at par with their market value.
On-campus housing facility is also
provided subject to availability of
accommodation.
Spouse and children are provided
with the benefit of one-half of the
tuition rate to obtain their UG/MS
Degree at NUST.
For career development, the faculty
member can attend International
workshops, joint research, short
courses within Pakistan and abroad.
Opportunities are also provided to
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
6 b. There is a serious concern
related to provision of official
residences for faculty at both main
campus and constituent colleges.
faculty to obtain higher
qualifications through split or other
collaborative programmes within
NUST and abroad subject to their
performance.
Further salary enhancement are
linked to budgetary provisions from
Govt of Pakistan. HEC also needs to
review the TTS pay package, which
has not been revised since 2015.
1. Total Accommodation in NUST H-12
Campus apartments are 308 of various
categories in which married faculty/ officer
are accommodated. Besides 132 Single
Faculty/ Officer accommodated in single
Faculty Accommodation.
2. 2 x High Rise Building (Ground Plus
seven stories) are under construction.
3. Constituent colleges have their own
faculty accommodation facility.
7 a. Limited provision of sports
facilities for female faculty &
students.
7 b. There is lack of mechanism
to maintain sports related facilities
in campus.
Sport facilities should be
provided for female students,
or, where limited facilities are
available, time slots should be
allotted for female students
only.
Following sports facilities are provided to
Female students by NUST: -
Indoor
a 2x Table
Tennis
Dedicated
b Basketball On Demand
c 1x Badminton Dedicated
d Volleyball On Demand
e Separate Fitness
Gym Only for
females f Yoga Classes
Outdoor
a. Volleyball Dedicated
outdoor sports
complex for
b Basketball
c Futsal
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
d Lawn Tennis females
e Netball
f. Horse Riding Time Slot
allotted for
females
2. NUST also provide the following
facilities in female hostels: -
a. a. Basketball b. Badminton
c. Ladies Gym
b. d. Carom Board
c. e. Chess, Ludoo
3. Moreover, a new sports complex is
under construction which will also provide
following separate sports facilities to female
students: -
a. Swimming Pool b. Separate Fitness Gym
c. Bowling Alley d. Skating
e. Climbing Wall f. Archery
g. Tennis
4. In response to the observation at para
7b of above ref eION, it is submitted that
there is a proper mechanism and routine of
sports facilities maintenance. The
grounds are sprinkled daily and grass
cutting/ground marking is carried out on
regular basis. All indoor equipment's are
maintained properly and quality sports items
are provided in each ground for playing.
Ground maintenance staff remain on duty all
the time in each sports facility.
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
8 a. There is a lack of
transparency at various levels
particularly financial transparency.
8 b Copies of approved budget
and audited accounts are only
shown to visitation team but were
not provided with hard copies of
the same for review.
University should be more
transparent in terms of sharing
printed copies of approved
budgets and audited reports
with the review panel; since
public money is involved.
University is following a transparent
reporting mechanism. Annual Budget and
audited Financial Statements of the
university are regularly shared with all BoG
members including HEC.
9. No book bank facility is
available in central library.
Book bank facility should be
made available in the central
library.
A limited book bank facility has been
established on the 2nd floor of Central
Library. Moreover, with the introduction of
e-books, the university has established e-
book repository which is accessible on
library website for students to download e-
textbooks free of cost.
10. Based on review of
available documentation, (Table 7,
Vol 2, UPR), visitation team
observed that large number of
Assistant Professors are hired
against lesser number of
sanctioned posts. While a large
number of sanctioned positions
Associate and Full Professors
levels are currently lying vacant
across the University.
Reference data regarding the
number of sanctioned post from
lecturer to professor and the
actual number of faculty
members working at those posts
should be reviewed.
Faculty is authorized based on the
following student teacher ratio: -
▪ UG 1 : 20
▪ MS 1: 12
▪ PhD 1 : 5
Total of 804 faculty members are
authorized for 12055 students based on
the above ratios.
Presently 711 faculty members are held
at NUST with 93 slots to be filled.
NUST being relatively new university
has constraints in completing the
professorial ranked pyramid. Assistant
Professors being entry level for PhD
qualified faculty members, are hired and
promoted after fulfilment of the
requirements.
Senior professorial ranked (Associate
and full Professor) faculty members are
less due to stringent BPS and TTS
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
promotion criteria and non-availability
of these senior faculty members in the
open market.
11. Based on review of
available documentation, formal
admission policy does not exist.
Formal admission policy should
be devised.
Admission procedure / Policy is available in
NUST statutes, Part-II Chapter II.
12. Access to research based
equipment is limited in nature in
terms of working hours.
Furthermore, regular maintenance
is not carried out for some of the
specialized equipment.
NUST has extended lab timings for all
research labs from 1700 hrs to 2100 hrs. All
NUST research labs are functional from
0900 hrs to 2100 hrs with availability of
power supply and backup power around the
clock to allow continuity of research
experiments without a break. Lab timings
are further extended as per requirement.
13. There is a concern related
to use of pirated software’s in most
of the simulation based
laboratories.
University should make every
effort to use only licensed
software for teaching, research
and official use.
NUST encourages the use of open source
softwares (list attached as Annex ‘A’).
Furthermore, limited proprietary softwares
have been purchased from the existing
budget (list attached as Annex ‘B’). There is
however, number of proprietary software
required (list attached as Annex ‘C’) and
pirated versions are being used due to
financial constraints. All efforts will be
made to purchase licensed software as and
when the budgetary constraints allow.
14 a. During interaction with
students, it was observed that most
of the students, both male and
female, were not satisfied with
hostel based service and facilities
including quality of food, water
and network services, etc.
14 b. The review panel observed
that the quality of drinking water
University should ensure that
basic necessities such as clean
drinking water, good quality
food, hot water, internet, etc,
are available in the hostels.
a. It is submitted that on monthly basis
inspection of food is being carried out
by NUST Medical Centre.
b. Food Handlers medical is also made on
quarterly basis.
c. Internet complaints are launched by
Manager (Hostel) and rectify by ICT Dte
on daily basis.
d. Water filters are changed after three
months.
e. PH and Biological Test of water is also
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
in campus, particularly in hostels,
does not meet minimum standard
for safe drinking water.
carried by IESE on monthly basis. Last
report attached as Annex ‘E’.
15. There is no mechanism of
gathering feedback on internship
effectiveness.
The mechanism of feedback follows a 3-
tiered structure as follows:
o Tier – 1: Feedback from individual
students as per the pre shared
template
o Tier – 2: Based on tier – 1 feedback,
school / colleges consolidate
feedback and forward to main office
NUST against a pre-shared template
o Tier-3: Main office NUST
consolidates / analyses feedbacks
received from all school / colleges
and makes decisions accordingly
This mechanism has now been automated
alongwith other processes related to NUST
Internship program (NIP) through an
application called NUST Internship Program
Application (NIPA), launched in March
2019. It has 4 x stages:
i. Student Registration
ii. Slot Acquisition and Allocation
iii. Joining Confirmation
iv. Feedback
16. Curricula are revised on
regular basis through relevant
statutory bodies, however role of
stakeholders in curriculum review
process is limited.
It is recommended that relevant
stakeholders be involved
formally in curriculum revision
process as well in feasibility
process for launching new
programs.
Several curriculum review committees have
been formed which are involved in
curriculum revision process as well as
launching of new programs at various tiers
of academic hierarchy. Members from
industry / corporate sectors are part of these
committees (list attached as Annex ‘D’).
Furthermore, Industry Advisory Boards
(IABs) have been formed to establish close
liaison with industry and alumni to get real
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
time feedback on updating the curriculum
with respect to industry needs and launching
of new programs based on market demand.
17 a. Learning outcomes, though
incorporated in curricula for most
of the programs, lack the evidence
to support the claim that listed
outcomes are approved by the
statutory bodies.
17 b. There is lack of assessment
strategies for assessment of
learning outcomes, which leads to
non-existence of effective analysis
based on requisite data. There is
no mechanism provided for
revision of learning outcomes.
Complete cycle for learning
outcome based academic
program need to be defined
from formulation of defined
learning outcome in a particular
learning domain, appropriate
assessment strategies and
effective analysis based on
obtained data as part continuous
quality improvement.
NUST have a comprehensive assessment
system of Learning Outcomes. Students are
assessed regularly according to defined
learning outcomes which are made part of
the Self-Assessment Reports. All assessment
scores pertain to defined learning outcomes
are uploaded in CMS Grade book. Cohort
and individual attainments are assessed
against the defined KPIs. NUST strictly
follow and implement PEC manual in letter
& spirit. Analysis of the outcome is
presented in FBS regularly for corrective
measures where ever required. This is
necessary part of CQI loop practiced at all
institutions.
18. There is no written formal
communication policy regarding
communication strategy for
dissemination of regulations, rules
and policies.
Formal communication policy
need to be prepared and
approval from relevant statutory
bodies need to be obtained.
SOPs may also need revision in
the light of new communication
policy.
A three step procedure is being followed at
NUST regarding communication and
dissemination of Regulations, Rules,
Policies and SOPs. Minutes of the meetings
of UCRCs / UCAPs / ACMs are
documented with clear deadlines and are
monitored closely. Quality checks are being
maintained at every tier i.e., department,
school and university and it is ensured that
the decisions are disseminated to all
concerned and the policies are complied
with by the institution for which reports /
returns are timely generated and monitored
through a well documented procedure for
effective checks and balances.
19. There is no structured
mechanism to get feedback from
general public.
Formal mechanism be
introduced to receive proper
feedback from general public.
1. Generally, standard international
practice followed by public/private sector
organizations, to take feedback from general
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
public, is ‘the availability of all/ relevant
contact details (contact numbers & email
IDs) on the organization’s website’. The
concerned audiences (potential students,
industry members, alumni, potential
employees, etc.) should be able to contact
the relevant departments at the organization.
NUST Website already has all such relevant
details under Contact Us section.
2. In addition to the above, Pakistan
Citizen Portal (NUST section of which is
being managed by P&R office), is already
functional, and the very purpose of this
portal is to ensure that general public can
post queries and complaints regarding public
sector organizations. NUST’s responses on
the PCP are timely and effective.
3. As for M&C Dte, “general public,” as
mentioned in para 1, constitutes different
audience groups, for which dedicated
departments at NUST exist, e.g. Alumni
office manages all alumni affairs,
Admissions Dte is responsible for dealing
with potential students, CAC/RIC manage
industry contacts, and so on.
4. General public feedback is already being
effectively managed at the institutional
level, through the platforms and mechanisms
described above.
20. Grievances redressal
committee exists but meetings are
not held on regular basis due to
lack of cases being reported due to
various factors.
Grievances redressal system
need to be expanded to cover all
student, faculty and staff of the
university with proper follow
up procedure.
1. A comprehensive ‘Grievance Procedure’
for all employees has already been approved
by 19th BOG and is a part of NUST HR
Manual.
2. As per the guidelines of HEC, students
Grievances redressel committees have
already been formed at each school / college
level. At central level there is a Review
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
Committee as under to review the decisions
of Institutional Grievances Committee if
required and its decision is taken as final.
(1) Chairman - Pro-Rector (Acad)
(2) Members: - Dir Administration,
Dir PGP, Dir Acad,
Dir Finance, Dir
Student Affairs and
Registrar (Secretary)
21. There is a provision of
constitution of Council of
Regents in the University Act
which may be constituted to
reach out to the community and
professionals for further
enhancement of quality.
Council of Regents/Advisory Board
1. All school/colleges of NUST have
respective Advisory Boards (Regents) in
lieu of council of regents. These boards have
representation of 8 – 15 members of
following segments: -
a. Leading Educationists
(National and International)
b. Members from relevant leading
industry
c. Senior Alumni of the institution
d. College/School Management
2. Advisory board (Regents) members
play a vital role for trustees in providing key
information and developments in their
respective fields. In this way, they assist
board trustees in identifying and
implementing best practice standards for
new and existing programs. The meetings
are held minimum once a year.
22. University should devise a
policy against academic fraud
and theft.
NUST is following HEC plagiarism policy.
Same policy is disseminated to all faculty /
students.
Areas of Concern Recommendations Corrective Action
23. The university should bring
revenue, budget and expenses
on ERP.
Accounting software is already being used.
However, an advance version of ERP has
been implemented w.e.f Current Financial
Year (CFY) which would enable the
availability of Budget Estimates on ERP.