695 students receive degrees at IBA convocation

The Institute of Business Administration conferred degrees on 695 undergraduates and post-graduates programme students at its 2016 convocation held at its main campus on Saturday.

During the ceremony, 164 students of the BBA Spring 2016 (Main Campus), 133 students of BBA Spring 2016 (City Campus), 32 students of BS Accounting and Finance Spring 2016, 26 students of BS Economics and Mathematics Fall 2015, 52 students of BS Economics and Mathematics Spring 2016, 24 students of BS Computer Science Fall 2015, 49 students of BS Computer Science Spring 2016, 86 students of MBA Class 2016, 41 students of MBA Evening Class 2016, 54 students of Executive MBA Class 2016, six students each of MS Economics Class 2016 and MA Mathematics Class 2016, 12 students of MS CS Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 and 10 students of MS CS Evening received degrees by the Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, the chief guest, and IBA dean and director Dr Farrukh Iqbal.

Samra Ashraf Parekh of BBA Class 2016 clinched the overall best student undergraduate programme gold medal, Syed Hammad Hussain of MBA Class 2016 bagged the gold medal for being the overall best graduate faulty of Business Administration, Aleenah Khan received the gold medal for the overall best graduate faculty of Computer Science, MS CS Class 2016, Naveed Hasan received the gold medal of Executive MBA, EMBA Class 2016, Hussain secured the gold medal for the overall Marketing, MBA Class 2016 and Saniya Sadaqat was given a gold medal for the overall Finance, MBA Class 2016. The top three position-holders of other disciplines received shields and certificates.

The award of the Best Student Society of the Year was given to the Marketing Club. The Performance Award for Best Teacher was given to Morial Shah and the Best Researcher to Dr Nausheen H Anwar. Staff performance awards were also given to employees of various departments.

The second position holder of BBA Spring 2016 (main Campus), Novera Fatima Syed, told The News that she was working in a bank and received scholarship during the second semester on basis of her colouring marks and GPA in the first semester and completed her studies throughout scholarship as she was the top-ranked student in her class.

The IBA dean and director expressed his gratitude to the graduating batch and praised their efforts and hard work.

“That you are assembled here is testament to the hard work you have put in over the past few years. You have crossed big and small obstacles, to arrive here,” he said.

“Most departments at the IBA require students to pass at least 46 courses in four years of study.  And the typical course involves two mid-terms and a final examination, or three examinations per course.  This means that the average graduate has taken 138 examinations in his or her passage through IBA.  That is hard work indeed. So you have every right to wear your regalia with a sense of pride today and to stand a little taller today.”

The dean then elaborated about the physical, intellectual and social transformation at the IBA and said it was currently on an important journey with a significant goal.

“Our facilities are now at par with the best endowed universities in the country!  And they are kept in this fine state by a dedicated group of support staff.  We now deliver more than 500 courses each semester and this is done through the hard work and effort of approximately 100 full time faculty and 120 visiting faculty. In 2009, the IBA had 20 Ph.D faculty members, and today there are 63 faculties with Ph.Ds and currently more than 24 faculty members are pursuing their doctoral studies, mostly from foreign universities."”

He said a good faculty added value to IBA students. “This year again, IBA graduates have performed well in the job market. A large proportion of them, 80 percent, have already found jobs, some 15 percent are at advanced stages of negotiating job offers and some five percent have decided to pursue higher education.”

Talking about how Pakistan needed capable managers and responsible citizens, he said, “We have shared our knowledge and experience with you so that you might pass this along and help bring about positive changes in the country. Pakistan is in dire need of capable managers, responsible citizens and ethical leaders, and we hope that one day you will be one of these.”

Later, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while addressing students, parents, and faculty members said the provincial government was taking every step possible to improve the business and investment climate in the province, with a major focus on the improvement of the law and order situation in the city and its infrastructure.

He said the Sindh government realised the contribution of IBA in providing an excellent pool of business. "We have been trying to ensure our full support in providing resources to this esteemed institution for further extending the boundaries of excellence while with a contribution of Rs100 million as grant, the provincial government is supporting the efforts of the IBA for a substantial contribution to the economy.”

Shah informed the audience that in the recent past as the finance minister he had inaugurated Center of Business and Economic Research. "At that time, the Sindh government had also signed a services agreement with IBA, Karachi with the objective to foster a healthy and productive bilateral cooperation. I have been encouraged to know that CBER has taken many initiatives since its inception, including the establishment of a research grant, launching of the IBA working paper series, initiation of seminar sessions, conferences and collaborations with education and government institutions."  

He said through the services agreement, the Sindh government and IBA were working closely to enhance performance efficiency of the provincial tax administration and capacity building by conducting training programmes for officers as part of $50 million World Bank Project Appraisal Development.

The chief minister also said he had also learnt about the IBA 's programme to give a chance to students from less privileged backgrounds to study in the premier institution. He added that these were remarkable measures not only for the promotion of education but also for improving the social and economic conditions in the years to come.