The COMSATS Experience

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) started its journey in 1998, and established its first campus at Islamabad in April, 1998. In August 2000, in recognition of CIIT's achievements, the Federal Government granted it the status of a Degree Awarding Institute (DAI) through promulgation of its charter.
The CIIT, besides its principal campus at Islamabad, has six other fully functional campuses at Lahore, Abbottabad, Wah, Attock, Sahiwal and Vehari, while few more campuses are in different planning stages. On the advice of the Federal Government, efforts are also under way for opening an overseas campus in the Gulf region.
Vision of CIIT is dedicated to the search for truth through advancement of learning and extending the frontiers of knowledge; to the sharing of this knowledge through education in academically diverse disciplines; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of Pakistan in particular, and the Muslim Ummah and the world, in general. Its mission statement is three-folds ie. Research and Discovery, Teaching and Learning, Outreach and Public Service.
The CIIT at present comprises of 5 Faculties and 14 Departments. Presently 25 undergraduate degree programs and 23 graduate programs are on offer in which 16,608 students are enrolled. There are more than 1,650 faculty members working in CIIT. More than 270 faculty members and academic managers have PhD qualification, while the remaining have MS/Mphil in relevant fields. CIIT has proudly produced more than 9,000 graduates since its inception. So far nineteen convocations have been organised in its campuses. Undergraduate engineering degree programs of the CIIT have been accredited by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the accrediting body for engineering education.
More than 400 faculty members are under going advanced education leading to MS and PhD degrees and post doctoral research in USA, UK, China, France etc. The funding for advanced education has come from CIIT Scholarships, HEC Scholarships and Ministry of Science and Technology Scholarships.
During the ten years since its inception, independent entities have evaluated CIIT and the quality of its programs, such as the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) in an exercise for the ranking of institutions of higher education in Pakistan has ranked CIIT at number 8 among the engineering institutions of higher education during 2006. While in terms of research output, CIIT has been ranked at number 5 among institutions of higher education numbering more than 124 in the country during 2005-2007. In terms of research citations, the research produced at CIIT has been ranked at number 2 in Pakistan, as notified by HEC in 2008.
To reward the most productive faculty members, the CIIT management has instituted 'Cash Awards' since 2005 for publication of research articles by CIIT employees, in national & international journals, while COMSATS Institute Medals for Innovation (CIMI) medals were instituted in 2006. These awards included cash plus appreciation of the work of the awardees. Under Cash Awards series, the total number of research articles published by faculty members in international and local journals is close to 1,000.
Since its inception, the CIIT has been focusing its efforts in establishing professional linkages with prestigious international universities and research & development institutions. These linkages are targeted at: advanced training of its faculty and students in cutting edge technologies, joint research projects, faculty exchanges, and for organising professional meetings, seminars and workshops. As a result of such efforts, CIIT has already signed almost four dozen Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) with reputed institutions throughout the globe. The hallmark of these linkages has been the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UICU), USA & with Lancaster University, UK to launch a Dual Degree program for its students from fall 2010.
CIIT realises it responsibility towards the society of which it is a part and tries its best to bring about improvements wherever possible. Reaching out to less fortunate segments of society and responding to emergencies with full vigor has been the hallmark of CIIT and a stated goal in its mission.
Responding to the emergency situation that had forced people residing in Swat to leave their homes to save their lives, CIIT immediately responded to the human catastrophe and all its employees, including teaching and non-academic staff members, contributed one day salary for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their hour of dire need as a public service. A cheque for Rs. 2.516 million was handed over to the Higher Education Commission (HEC). CIIT also decided to waive off the entire tuition fees for the year 2009-2010 (Fall 2009 and Spring 2010) of all students hailing from the Swat Valley, to mitigate their financial burden.
Although all campuses participated in mitigating this human tragedy, the Attock campus was at the forefront of all relief activities. They registered around 12,000 displaced persons and provided them food and ensured constant supply of flour, sugar and other essential items to them on a weekly basis. Doctors were deputed to take care of the sick among the IDPs.
During 2008, CIIT allocated 125 seats in its undergraduate degree programs to students from Balochistan. A year prior to that, 20 seats were distributed equally between the Attock and Abbottabad campuses among qualified students from Balochistan and FATA and their tuition fees and living allowances were subsidised through a grant.
CIIT also launched the 'D.I. Khan Initiative' by virtue of which 44 students from the Dera Ismail Khan region were admitted at various campuses in Fall 2008. Their tuition, hostel fee and all other charges were waived-off and they continue to avail this privilege as long as they remain in good academic standing. Additionally, CIIT Lahore Campus has continued to offer 30% seats to children of industrial workers free of cost besides other scholarships.