Sky’s the limit: An educationist par excellence

VC says machine readable card system is being introduced for students and faculty

MULTAN: Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Multan Vice-Chancellor Dr Tahir Amin is one of the few people who played a vital role in improving the standard of education by promoting research culture through his determination and courage. His untiring efforts have transformed BZU into one of the prestigious universities in Pakistan.

The government has chosen Amin for the VC slot considering his experience and for his desire to promote merit policy.



Introduction

The BZU VC holds a degree of MSc in International Relations from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He completed his master’s degree in International Relations from Carlton University, Canada. He got his PhD in Political Science with a King Faisal Scholarship to study at world’s top university MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and after that he completed post doctorate from Harvard University. He also served as Iqbal Chair at Cambridge University, UK where he also worked as both the researcher and lecturer for a long time.

Prior to his appointment as vice-chancellor at BZU, Dr Tahir also served as chairman in the department of International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and Director at National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS). Prof Dr Tahir Amin is the author of four internationally recognised books.

Initiatives taken

While speaking to The Express Tribune, BZU Vice-Chancellor Dr Tahir Amin said that when he took the charge as VC on October 15, 2015, the university was facing many serious issues. “There was a serious unrest among the BZU teachers and staff for not holding syndicate and selection board meetings since long,” he said.

He added, “I resolved all the issues and put the varsity on path of progress.”

When asked about the steps he has taken to increase the ranking of the varsity, he replied that strict enforcement of merit policy and promotion of research are important factors that helped make it an international level university. “The students are encouraged to revive their friendship with books. I have asked the faculty members to focus on teaching and research,” he replied.

“We have created a research-oriented environment in the camps and all resources are being provided to the researchers,” the VC said.

Regarding the ongoing unrest and alarming security situation due to clashes among two groups of student organisations, he said the BZU administration has installed barbed wires on 13-kilometer long boundary wall of the university, CCTV cameras and search lights besides construction of two new entry gates in view of security concerns. He added that a state-of-the-art control room has been set up and the security guards have been provided with modern arms, besides training.

While speaking about the challenges he faced during his tenure, Tahir Amin said that over 12 Selection Board meetings were held to address shortage of teachers and over 200 teachers and officers were selected on merit. “Currently, the BZU is ranked among top five universities of Pakistan while Times ranked it at 805 number among top 900 world universities,” he maintained.

He elaborated that three convocations took place during the time while 18 international conferences were also held at the varsity.

When asked about his role to enhance the capacity building of the faculty, the vice-chancellor said that the university provided research grant with Higher Education Commission’s collaboration to the faculty and arranged training programmes and workshops for them.

He said the BZU has set up ORIC department in collaboration with HEC to promote research and hold seminars and workshops on regular basis. He said that other than the educational and research activities to resolve administrative problems, university employees and officers were made punctual, they were also motivated to work with honesty and dedication. “Tasks were divided and assigned according to the suitability of the available human resource,” he explained.

In reply to a question about the steps being taken to reduce the budget deficit of the BZU, Prof Amin disclosed that the university did not increase tuition fee this year and instead took other steps to increase its income. “For instance, we have tried to boost our income through Agriculture Farm and Engineering College Lab.  We also established an endowment fund to cut down budgetary deficit and promote research,” he said.

The VC said that the office of ORIC was established to help promote research culture and improve the quality of research.

“After the establishment of ORIC, regular workshops and seminars were conducted for the faculty and a business incubation centre has also been set up by the BZU, while MoUs have been signed with many local and international universities,” he remarked.



Technological reforms

Regarding introduction of modern technology at varsity, Amin highlighted that BZU will become the first public sector university in Pakistan to introduce machine readable card system for the students and faculty. “BZU is also the first public sector university which set up an online PhD directory.  We have introduced online admission system to save resources, time and energies spent on publication of prospectus. Similarly, online registration system for BA and MA examinations has also been introduced,” he explained. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2018.