QAU lacks resources to maintain top standards:VC

Islamabad: Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Vice Chancellor Dr. Javed Ashraf has said that the university is ranked among top academic institutions of the country, but it lacks resources to maintain standards.
He stated this while speaking at a reception organised in his honour by the Quaid-i-Azam University Alumni Association, Pakistan. The ceremony was attended by old graduates of QAU from different walks of life. Dr. Javed Ashraf assumed the charge as QAU vice chancellor in October last year.
Speaking on the occasion, he appreciated the contribution of the alumni and various scholarship programmes in order to facilitate the students of their alma mater. Dr. Ashraf outlined his future engagements and action plans for improving the academic and overall outlook of the university.
“The QAU faculty, scholars and researchers alleviated the status of the university to such a highest level as prestigious seat of learning but to maintain this standard, there is a lot that needs to be done,” he remarked.
He informed that in order to overcome financial constrains being faced by the university, bold decisions need to be taken. He said that he already decided to cut down all unnecessary expenditures. “Only those academic programmes would be launched which would meet the market demands.”
While responding to a question, he said that special attention would be paid to social sciences and on the platform of Inter-University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences (IUCPSS), an alliance of 30 Pakistani universities, every possible effort would be made strengthen social sciences and making it more relevant to the socio-economic needs of the country.
He hoped that alumni network would support the university administration through its ideas and connections for generating further resources which would be greatly helpful in order to meet the growing needs of the university.
The participants fully supported and endorsed the views and plans expressed by the vice chancellor of the university. Most of the participants shared their concerns over the illegal encroachments within the university. Keeping in view the current security situation, they demanded to the concerned departments to take notice of these violations of university territory on immediate basis.
The alumni members also shared various proposals and suggestions related to fund-raising, effective university industry linkages and job placements of graduates of the university. The members of the alumni also emphasised on regular interactions between alumni and administration of QAU in order to undertake collaborative efforts.