QUALITY ENHANCEMENT CELL
University of the Punjab, Lahore.
Ref. No: 37 / QEC
Date: 20-01-2010
To:
Dean/Director/Principal/Chairman/Chairperson, Program Team Members,
i)
Faculty of Science
ii)
Faculty of Life Sciences
iii)
Faculty of Oriental Learning
iv)
Faculty of Pharmacy
University of the Punjab, Lahore.
Subject:
Proceedings for Minutes of the Meeting Held on 07-01-2010
A pre planned meeting was held on Thursday 7th January 2010 at 11:00 am at Institute of Quality
and Technology Management (IQTM) under Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC), University of the
Punjab, Lahore.
In Attendance:
1.
Prof. Dr. Aamir Ijaz (Director QEC)
2.
Prof. Dr. Zafar Rashid (Professor, IQTM)
3.
Prof. Dr. Nasir Saeed Butt (Quality Assurance Advisor, IQTM)
4.
Col ® Fazal Ur Rehman (Senior Faculty Member/Program Manager, IQTM)
5.
Mr. Abu Turab (Research Scholar, IQTM)
6.
Dr. Muhammad Sabir (Department Persian)
7.
Dr. Aurangzaib Alamgir (Department of Urdu)
8.
Dr. Zahoor Ahmed (School of Biological Sciences)
9.
Dr. Muhammad Faisal (Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics)
10.
Dr. Nazia Jamil (Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics)
11.
Dr. Abdul Rehman (Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics)
12.
Ms. Omama Tariq (Department of Psychology & Applied Psychology)
13.
Ms. Shahnila Tariq (Department of Psychology & Applied Psychology)
14.
Ms. Faiza Safdar (Centre for Clinical Psychology)
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
15.
Ms. Fatima Ali Bukhari (Centre for Clinical Psychology)
16.
Dr. Saima Dawood (Centre for Clinical Psychology)
17.
Dr. Aisha Sitwat (Centre for Clinical Psychology)
18.
Dr. Ghazala Nasim (Institute of Mycology & Plant Pathology)
19.
Dr. Muhammad Abdul Qadir (Institute of Chemistry)
20.
Mr. Munawar Iqbal (College of Statistical & Actuarial Sciences)
21.
Dr. Ghazala Akram (Mathematics)
22.
Dr. Malik Zawwar Hussain (Mathematics)
23.
Dr. M. Aslam Malik (Mathematics)
24.
Mr. Muhammad Ayub Faridi (Centre for High Energy Physics)
25.
Dr. Munazza Zulfiqar (Physics)
26.
Ms. Bushra Haider (Physics)
Absent:
27.
College of Pharmacy
28.
Department of Geography
29.
Department of Space Science
30.
Institute of Geology
31.
Centre for Excellence in Solid State Physics
32.
Microelectronics Research Centre
33.
Centre for Integrated Mountain Research
34.
College of Earth & Environmental Science (CEES)
35.
Punjab University College of Information Technology (PUCIT)
36.
Department of Arabic
37.
Department of Hindi
38.
Institute of Iqbaliat
39.
Department of Kashmir Study
40.
Department of Botany
41.
Department of Zoology
42.
Department of Sports Science & Physical Education
43.
Institute off Biochemistry & Biotechnology
44.
Punjab University Seed Centre
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
The meeting started with the recitation of Holy Quran by Mr. Abu Turab (Research
Scholar, IQTM).
The agenda of meeting was the group discussion on implementing self assessment
manual (SAM) activities at university of the Punjab, Lahore.
Prof. Dr. Aamir Ijaz, Director QEC briefed the program team members of Faculties of
Science, Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Oriental Learning about the activities of Quality
Enhancement Cell (QEC) at University of the Punjab regarding efforts towards
implementation of self assessment manual (SAM); while explaining the aims of SAM, he
said that in recent years it has become an obligation for institutions of higher education to
demonstrate the effectiveness of their academic programs in providing high quality
education that positively impact students. Furthermore, most accrediting bodies and others
concerned with quality assurance are requesting that institutions to assess students
learning outcomes as a means of improving academic programs. This has led the Higher
Education Commission (HEC) to develop methods for assessing quality of academic
program. He further said that assessment is a systematic process of gathering, reviewing
and using important quantitative and qualitative data and information from multiple and
diverse sources about educational programs for the purpose of improving student learning
and evaluating whether academic and learning standards are being met. The process
culminates when assessment results are used to improve student learning. The elements
of successful assessment program include the following:1.
Purpose identification
2.
Outcomes identification
3.
Measurements and evaluation design
4.
Data collection
5.
Analysis and evaluation
6.
Decision-making regarding actions to be taken
Talking about the importance of SAM he mentioned that only a small number of institutions
in the United States were engaged in assessment of educational programs fifteen years
ago but now nearly every institution carries out assessment-related projects.
The purpose of this document (SAM) is to outline the process of conducting selfassessment (SA) of academic programs. It is HEC that requires universities to conduct
periodic self-assessment for its academic programs in order to improve them and ensure
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
high academic standards. Self-assessment is an important tool for academic quality
assurance and provides feedback for faculty and administration to initiate action plans for
improvement. He further said that the purpose of today’s meeting is to get update about
the SAM. The aim of SAM is to enhance the educational level to International level and
further

To bring the courses and syllabi of different disciplines and areas to same level all
over the country.

To get feed back from different employers through survey forms about our students
output standards given in SAM.

The main purpose of the meeting is to discuss any problems which program team
members are facing during completing SAM and to assure them that QEC is there
to sort any problems faced by them.

Improving quality of education is an on going process which starts from the top level
right from the Chancellor to non-academic staff; until unless, we are all committed
for continuous improvement, it can’t be achieved.

Through SAM, QEC will highlight the weaknesses/requirements of the departments
and after proper auditing of SAM, those weaknesses/requirements would be
communicated to Vice Chancellor as well as to Higher Education Commission
(HEC).
He
further added
that
SAM is required
to be updated every
2-year. Among 4-faculties which were invited for this group discussion today, only 6
departments have submitted SAM reports & still there are some shortcomings and
even some of standards are missing in these received SAM reports.

Minutes of the today’s meeting will be communicated to respective departments
through Deans and Directors as well as to Vice Chancellor and Registrar. He then
invited the participants to talk about their difficulties in completing SAM.
Dr. Nasir Saeed Butt (Quality Assurance Advisor, IQTM) said that if you want to bring the
minor changes in self assessment manual (SAM); you can do it with positive reasons and
further added that QEC would not be able to implement activities of quality assessment
without the commitment from the top management. He also emphasized that training of
Deans, Directors and Heads of Department is very important for the implementation of
SAM perspective. He also introduced about the Quality Management System (ISO 90012000) so it would be helpful for the implementation of SAM.
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
Dr. Zafar Rashid (Program Manager B.Sc. I.E.M & Professor, IQTM) reiterated the
suggestion which he mentioned in the previous meeting as well with regard to quality
enhancement of academic programmes:i)
Preparation of a comprehensive course outline / course objectives and its
provision to the students.
ii)
Emphasis on the analytical contents of the course and its applied nature.
iii)
Holding of seminars from professional resource persons in the respective
fields for promotion of university-industry interaction.
iv)
Introduce
course
modules
on
research
methodology
to
encourage
independent research.
Dr. Aisha Sitwat (Centre for Clinical Psychology) pointed out that it is very difficult to
understand SAM and suggested that SAM should be simple and easily understandable
and there is a need to train the program team members. She further said that there should
be a regular monitoring and feedback of the progress about implementation of SAM.
Dr. Zahoor Ahmed (School of Biological Sciences) said that what is the level to assess the
students and faculty members to get the quality of education. Dr. Aamir Ijaz answered this
query that you can assess students and teachers through survey forms which are given in
the self assessment manual (SAM).
Mr. Munawar Iqbal (College of Statistical & Actuarial Sciences) pointed out that QEC
should involve the Head of Departments (HODs) and senior faculty members in SAM
exercise and suggested to decrease the teaching load on teachers who are involved in
SAM and further that program team members should be given incentive in some form of
remuneration.
Col ® Fazal ur Rehman highlighted that SAM and its implementation should not be
considered something separate from the routine processes of educational system being
followed in the University. As a matter of fact SAM supports the ongoing processes in each
department to be implemented as per documented procedures for the following important
areas of the educational system:i)
Design and development of respective educational programme and their curriculum
ii)
Admission Processes and related formalities
iii)
Execution of academic programs
iv) Attendance and related activities
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
v)
Examination and assessments of students
vi) Publication of results and issue of degrees / certificates
vii) Evaluation and assessment of each programs
viii) Measures for improvement for the next academic cycle.
On the request of program team members present in the meeting, Director, asked Deputy
Director of QEC to email audited SAM report of Institute of Quality and Technology
Management to all the departments for their reference. He further told the house that Mr.
Muhammad Abdullah (Deputy Director, QEC) will visit the PT’s of each department in
future and try to solve their queries on spot with the help of Director, QEC.
The meeting concluded by a unanimous agreement that there should be a training /
awareness call for Dean and Director by Vice Chancellor and QEC to improve quality of
education; so they should start taking more interest in SAM activity. The meeting ended
with the vote of thanks from the Director, QEC.
Prepared by:
Mr. Muhammad Abdullah
(Deputy Director)
Approved by:
(Prof. Dr. Aamir Ijaz)
Director, QEC
Cc:
 Vice Chancellor
 Registrar
Institute of Quality & Technology Management, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Phone No. +92-42-9230085-84, Fax No. +92-42-9231159, URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email:
info@qec.pu.edu.pk
Quality Enhancement Cell, Institute of Quality & Technology Management, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590
Ph. No. +92-42-9230344, 5867114, Fax No. +92-42-9231159.
URL: http//www.pu.eu.pk/qec, Email: info@qec.pu.edu.pk.