Training for department chairs of universities

Islamabad : The USAID’s Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA) organised two-day trainings on strategic planning for department chairs of public sector universities.

The trainings were held in three batches for a total of 45 heads of departments from 15 higher education institutes (HEIs) that have partnered with USAID’s HESSA to strengthen capacity of developing and delivering market-driven education and research to enhance graduate employability. These trainings were hosted by the partner Pakistani universities at their campuses. The first batch was hosted by IBA, Karachi, while the second and third groups convened at NUST, Islamabad.

Facilitated by international experts Prof. Mike Barber and Prof. Stacy Harwood from University of Utah, Prof. Delores Robinson from University of Alabama, and Prof. Sajjad Ahmad from University of Nevada, the participants learned how to prepare strategic plans for their respective departments and developed mission and vision statements and core values for their departments. Building on lessons learned from the initial May 2022 training session organised for the same group, this training continued to improve skills necessary to be a successful Department Chair with a strong visionary approach to long-term sustainable improvement in faculty and student success.

The participants in each group also worked on developing goals and performance indicators to measure success. Using case studies and role-playing, they learned about managing faculty, employee, and student conflicts, time management, and improving department culture.