Students setting their eyes on Bahria University Islamabad better reconsider their wishes as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recommended closure of its 16-degree programs.
The varsity was offering these courses without fulfilling set criteria.
Daily Times has learnt that a committee constituted by the HEC Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reviewed a total of 25 MPhil and MS programs, under the chairmanship of Institute of Business Management (IBM) Karachi’s Dr Irfan Hyder.
Finding academic among other required deficiencies in over a dozen programmes, the committed cleared only 13 for meeting minimum criteria.
The commission directed for a complete suspension of four graduate academic programs; banning all academic activities in these disciplines. These programs include MS Environmental Policy & Management, MS Environmental Sciences, MS Project Management and MS Supply Chain Management.
In two disciplines, Environmental Policy & Management and Environmental Sciences, the committee pointed out a dearth of the faculty members. Its guidelines required two PhD faculty members in the relevant subject area to run the program.
Besides this, the members added, the faculty needed to be bifurcated in two programs according to their respective areas of expertise.
Missing faculty called a violation of criteria set by HEC
Similarly, the Project Management discipline also required two PhD qualified faculty members in relevant subject areas. The QAA Committee reported the same deficiency in the Supply Chain Management discipline.
The HEC forbade Bahria Varsity from offering further admissions in 12 academic disciplines. These programs include MS Computer Science, MS Data Science, MS Electrical Engineering, MS Engineering Management, MS Finance, MS Geology, MS Information Security, LLM, MS Management Sciences, MPhil Management Sciences and MS Software Engineering. Enrolment in the aforementioned degree courses was said to have exceeded the HEC set criteria.
The committee also added that the University should not admit any scholar in the program until approved by the HEC Patron.
It clarified that the course plan for the enrolled students would continue to run provided other identified deficiencies are rectified.
The HEC inspection team also recommended that MPhil/MS-level degree programs should have a greater focus on research. It read, “Option to complete the degree by research or coursework may be given. However, courses of research methodology should be taught to all students enrolled in these programs.”
It recommended there was a requirement to appoint two full-time PhD qualified faculty with relevant subject area specialisation. The minimum criteria, as prescribed by the HEC, must be followed and maintained. Till then, all MPhil/MS programs were said to be halted with immediate effect.
The HEC stated that the eligibility criteria of the MS programs offered by the Department of Computer Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering were too generic and catered applications from students with diverse academic backgrounds in place of a defined set of deficiency courses.
The commission directed the varsity to clearly define the eligibility criteria with a focus on deficiency courses. This should also be communicated to the students.
“Besides this, there should be a standardized format for thesis dissertation for MPhil/MS programs and the same be followed across the University,” it maintained.
The report revealed that the admission test committee was not functioning as per the HEC guidelines. It directed that an admission test must be cleared by all students prior to admission and no admission could be made on a conditional basis.
While pointing another deficiency in the university, the HEC said, “Research facilities at graduate level need to be strengthened.”
In its findings, the HEC asserted that as per its mission, the University aimed to become an internationally recognized university through excellence in education and research For its pursuit, Bahria University was said to have launched a variety of graduate-level programs.
However, the focus of the departments offering these programs inclined more towards teaching and coursework.
The HEC pointed out that the students worked on their dissertation in accordance with the format provided by the teacher.
There was no standardized structure of dissertations for MPhil/MS programs at University, the commission noted.
The report further reads, “MPhil/MS degree programs are generally research driven. However, it was noted by the committee that in some programs, the option to complete the degree by coursework is also given.”
“Also, no research methodology courses are part of core courses of some of these programs and thereby majority of students chose to complete the degree by coursework,” it continued.
During the course of its inspection, HEC was presented with five PhDs qualified faculty members employed in the program of MS Project Management by the concerned department’s representative.
However, only one member was said to possess relevant subject expertise.
In addition, the program was joined by as many as 437 students, which was a significantly high number.
According to the committee findings, there was no dedicated space for research students.
Advance equipment for research purposes at the graduate level was not adequate, especially in the departments of Engineering and Earth, and Environmental Sciences.
