Download Annual Report 2009-2010.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONTENTS Introduction 03 Vice Chancellor’s Message 04 Office of the Provost 06 Suleman Dawood School of Business 08 School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law 16 School of Science and Engineering 28 Centres 52 Case Research Centre 53 Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics 55 Development Policy Research Centre 56 Rausing Executive Development Centre 58 Social Enterprise Development Centre 60 Strategic Sectors Research Centre 64 The Gurmani Centre 65 Student Achievements 66 Financials 72 Administrative Departments 80 Career Services Office 81 Human Resource Department, Facilities & Engineering Department, General Administration & Services 82 Office of Sports, Wellness & Recreation 83 Office of Student Affairs 85 Resource Development & Alumni Affairs 88 Recent Initiatives 92 A 21st century university whose research, service and graduates are a fountain of leadership for Pakistan and the world. VISION LUMS aspires to achieve excellence and national and international leadership through unparalleled teaching and research, holistic undergraduate education and civic engagement to serve the critical needs of society. It seeks to accomplish this mission as a unified institution with cutting-edge research, a modern and rigorous curriculum and socially responsible outreach to the nation and region. MISSION INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 2009 – 2010 was another eventful year for the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in terms of research output, academic achievements and extracurricular accomplishments. A major milestone reached by LUMS in 2010 has been the completion of 25 years of academic excellence. Over the years, LUMS has acquired a global reputation for offering high quality education in numerous disciplines. Providing rigorous academic and intellectual training through its academic programmes, the university has proven to be a viable alternative to leading universities around the world. Pakistan faces a multitude of problems that require resolution through leaders who can think analytically and creatively. LUMS seeks to train such individuals who will lead the way in business, research, industry and government. As a nation we must continue to invest in quality education to expand our knowledge base, and intellectual capital in order to remain internationally competitive. LUMS has a proud tradition of research excellence. This year has primarily been about building upon the university’s many strengths and enhancing its strong reputation for research. Two new research centres were established at LUMS. The School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law has established the Development Policy Research Centre, which aims to carry out multi-disciplinary research along socioeconomic development themes and the Gurmani Centre for Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages. The Suleman Dawood School of Business has set up the Strategic Sectors Research Centre for research in the development and economic sectors. This past year, LUMS has been very successful in attracting grant funds. We are proud of the many LUMS alumni who have set up endowment funds and are giving back to their alma mater. Companies and other organisations have also shown their generosity and support for LUMS, by sponsoring students through the National Outreach Programme and by contributing to various student societies. The faculty at LUMS has always been its best resource. The educationalists have continued their learning by taking part in national and international seminars and conferences over the course of this year. Their high quality research has also been recognised through various publications in journals of international renown. Improvement and growth is essential for any organisation, especially one that strives to provide educational excellence. In order to build on the current foundations of academic distinction, the Office of the Vice Chancellor set up the ‘Learning Outcomes Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness Activities’ task to develop the institute further, through examination of various assessment methods and practices at North American universities. The aim is to increase institutional effectiveness through the process of learning outcomes assessment. The Vice Chancellor’s office also conducted a PULSE (Perceptions of Undergraduate Life and Student Experiences) survey, the purpose of which is to better understand and strengthen the student experience at LUMS. The PULSE survey is used by universities to gain student feedback on the overall quality of their undergraduate educational experience and to help identify areas of improvement for future growth. Continuing our tradition of forming academic ties with universities internationally, LUMS recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Rice University in Houston, Texas. According to the agreement, both universities will collaborate on a variety of projects related to academia, research and executive trainings, among others. Students, alumni, faculty and staff have made the university proud in the fields of education, industry and research this past year. As LUMS completes its 25 years of providing educational excellence, the next goal is to become an international research university, while continuing to provide educational programmes of the highest standards at the graduate and undergraduate levels. LUMS seeks to build on Pakistan’s human talent and capital, thus creating the leaders of the future who will provide the impetus the country needs to bring about change and solve our national problems. ANNUAL REPORT 2009/10 3 VICE CHANCELLOR’S MESSAGE VICE CHANCELLOR’S MESSAGE As you read this report, I ask that you reflect on the many achievements of LUMS in only 25 years. LUMS began as a management school. Today it is an integrated university comprised of three schools: the Suleman Dawood School of Business, the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, and the newly established School of Science and Engineering. Institutions, employers, and industries around the world recognise LUMS as Pakistan’s foremost institution of higher education. Many of the nation’s best secondary school students seek admission to LUMS. Its graduates go on to launch successful professional and academic careers in Pakistan and abroad. Since its founding, LUMS has grown steadily, adding students, faculty members, disciplines and schools, with more of each planned in its institutional vision. The National Outreach Programme, or NOP, has proven extraordinarily successful in opening LUMS to the most promising students of Pakistan, regardless of socioeconomic class or ethnic origin. This year a female NOP student, whose father drove a taxi to support the family, graduated from LUMS and was recruited by Deloitte for a job in London. This 25-year history foretells a spectacular future for LUMS as the place where individuals can reach their full potential as students and scholars, producing vital knowledge critically needed for the well being of our society. Indeed, this year’s accomplishments indicate we are well along on the trajectory for such a future. This year our students achieved excellence in academic and extracurricular activities. Our faculty have been published in respected international research journals, and have been on the comittiees of several international conferences and seminars. LUMS and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are collaborating in joint research activities to help save the endangered Indus River blind dolphins. We have continued forming partnerships internationally through the signing of a memorandum of agreement with Rice University to initiate a collaboration beneficial to both universities. We launched this collaboration with training for student teams from the LUMS Emergency Medical Service (EMS) with Rice University’s EMS in Houston. For the first time in the history of LUMS, we received a grant of $15 million to help build capacity and strengthen civil society organisations and the government of Pakistan. Our progress on this path has accelerated because of a multi-year, three-pronged transformation process. To expand the university’s scope and achieve our ambitions, we are building capacity. To ensure that LUMS fulfills its goals, we are launching a multi-faceted system for assessing and improving institutional effectiveness. As part of this system, we launched a Learning Outcomes Assessment programme to review and further improve our curricuum. To further enhance the undergraduate experience, we conducted the LUMS PULSE survey of our students. We established institutional learning goals for our students, with each school and its departments in the process of developing their own learning goals. Building on our excellence in teaching, we continue to promote a research vision that will markedly strengthen Pakistan and the region by focusing upon critical national needs: energy, education, water, health care, governance and the rule of law, security and social justice. Despite financial challenges, we have established a Faculty Initatives Fund to support this vision and to seed ambitious and innovative research. We are promoting civic engagement to further enrich the student experience and to align their activitities with the values in the LUMS mission: diversity, tolerance, openness and social responsibility. This year students, faculty and staff plunged into flood relief efforts. Many dedicated their holidays to work in flood camps. They are raising funds to build houses for the flood victims in the Bhakkar and Rajanpur areas. By promoting such activities, we are demonstrating