Islamabad, October 23,
2023: 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. Leaders
from the 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 kickstart
their institution-specific strategic planning.
The Higher Education
System Strengthening Activity (HESSA), implemented by the University of Utah,
brings together an extensive international network of experienced college and
university planners to support its partner universities in strengthening their
institutional and technical capacities for 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.
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.
Speaking at the event,
USAID’s Deputy Mission Director Maura O’Brien said, “What makes the Higher
Education System Strengthening Activity uniquely powerful is that it brings
together both Pakistani and American universities to learn from each other,
exchange ideas, and think strategically to solve shared challenges.”
Dr. Aslam Chaudhry,
Chief of Party and Research Professor at University of Utah, appreciated
USAID’s partnership with the Pakistani government on higher education. Speaking
at the event, Dr. Aslam said, “This activity will advance the organizational
performance of Pakistani universities based on integrated strategic planning.”
Dr. Michael Barber, Professor at 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 Higher Education Commission to advance
the higher education sector and make its programs more demand-driven for better
graduate employability.”
For more information on
USAID/Pakistan’s support in the education sector, visit: usaid.gov/pakistan/education
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