Vice Chancellors of 16 universities in the country participated in the strategic planning dialogue held in Islamabad under the program of USAID to strengthen the higher education system in Pakistan. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Higher Education System Strengthening Activity, organized a strategic planning dialogue for Vice Chancellors of 16 Pakistani universities. The Vice Chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Fateh Marri along with heads of public sector universities gathered to share the strategic plans that each university is developing.
During the dialogue, university leaders reflected on best practices in academia, research, and governance to kick-start their institution-specific strategic planning. The opening session of this 2-day event was chaired by Ms. Maura O’Brien, Deputy Mission Director USAID/Pakistan, alongside Dr. Michael Barber, University of Utah, and Dr. Aslam Chaudhry, Chief of Party HESSA. Addressing the event, USAID Deputy Mission Director Maura O'Brien said that both Pakistani and American universities need to learn from each other, exchange ideas, and strategically address common challenges, and HESSA Pakistan is playing an important role in the improvement of universities.
Dr. Aslam Chaudhry, Chief of the Party and Research Professor at the University of Utah, appreciated USAID’s partnership with the Pakistani government on higher education and said that this activity will advance the organizational performance of Pakistani universities based on integrated strategic planning. Dr. Fateh Marri, Vice Chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, said that the universities of Pakistan are active in the global competitive environment, while with the cooperation of HESSA, we will achieve the goals, and the opportunities for international training of the faculty and supporting staff of the universities, scholarships for students, internships, and entrepreneurship will be achieved to provide better employment opportunities for graduates from universities.
Dr. Michael Barber, Professor at the University of Utah, said, “We are pleased to implement the Higher Education System Strengthening Activity program on behalf of USAID and will continue to work with the Higher Education Commission to advance the higher education sector and make its programs more demand-driven for better graduate employability”. During the event, Vice Chancellors began developing their university strategic plans. Over the next few weeks, Vice Chancellors will activate planning teams on their campuses to complete strategic planning.
