Syndicate meeting: Construction of pharmacy institute approved at QAU

Board unanimously approves construction, expansion work on rest of university.

ISLAMABAD:

The syndicate of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) on Saturday unanimously approved the establishment of an Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The 154th meeting of the QAU Syndicate was held here on Saturday with Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Masoom Yasinzai in the chair.

It was the third meeting of the newly formed syndicate after the nomination of members by President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the chancellor of the university.

The meeting discussed various agenda items in detail and took important policy decisions including plans for the university’s expansion and new academic disciplines.

Haseeb Saulat, Executive Vice President and Regional General Manager-North at Askari Bank, has offered to fully sponsor the setting up of the institute. The institute will be named Saulat Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences after his late father.

The vice chancellor said, “We appreciate Haseeb’s gesture and his interest in such constructive work. We must encourage philanthropists across the country to come forward and contribute towards the betterment of society through spreading education.” He added that he has contacted other philanthropists for contributions to help expand the university without burdening the national exchequer.

The new institute would be in line with the one constructed by Hussain Ebrahim Jamal at Karachi University some forty years back.

VC Yasinzai said that around Rs35 million will be spent on the construction of the building and Rs15 million would be spent on the initial acquisition of equipment for the institute. He said that the building construction would start within a week and admissions in the doctorate of pharmacy programme will begin next semester.

Moreover, all members of the syndicate unanimously supported the new development work at the university. They praised the efforts of the VC and his team in launching schools of Economics, Management Sciences, and Politics and International Relations.

The VC said that QAU is planning to expand its facilities and upgrade courses and curricula in order to meet the ever-changing requirements of industry and public and private sector.

He said that the university would steadily expand its academic programs by bringing in additional specialised subjects and introducing new disciplines without making any compromises on quality.

The syndicate also approved Askari Bank’s request to open a branch at the campus.

Prof Dr Sohail H Naqvi, Executive Director, Higher Education Commission; Maj Gen Sefvan Majed Janjua, Commandant, AFPGMI; Mr Muhammad Ismail, Deputy Educational Advisor, Ministry of Education; Dr Mir Ajab Khan, Dean, Faculty of Biological Sciences (QAU); Dr Wasim Ahmad, Professor, Department of Biochemistry (QAU); Zaid Usman, Director General, Aiwan-e-Sadr; Dr Muhammad Ishaq, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry; and Dr Shafiqur Rehman, QAU Registrar attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2011.