Turkish varsity hosts event: LUMS represents Pakistan at International Staff Week

ISLAMABAD: LUMS represented Pakistan at the International Staff Week hosted by the Koc University in Turkey. The programme’s focus prepares universities to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Office of International Affairs (OIA) at LUMS, spearheaded Pakistan’s participation. The OIA is responsible for promoting international collaborations between LUMS and its international partners to expand the university’s global footprint and recognition. To achieve this, the Office continuously works on establishing new student, faculty, and staff exchange opportunities, having hosted various academic and cultural events on the LUMS campus together with international partners in France, Germany, Japan, and other countries.

Ammaar Bin Saleem, from the Office of Advancement represented LUMS and was joined by representatives from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. During the event, the audience learned about several high-impact community programmes introduced by the LUMS to promote access to higher education across Pakistan including the National Outreach Programme, the Women Scholarship initiative at the Suleman Dawood School of Business, and the merit-based financial assistance and scholarships offered to eligible students. Other highlights of the event included an exchange of general views about making higher education more sustainable through best global practices and creating knowledge-sharing opportunities to enhance global stakeholder engagement and cross-learning.

Commenting on Koc University’s programme, Dr Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor LUMS, said: “For a sustainable future and wider international footprint, LUMS is exploring various channels to better present Pakistan on a global stage. It was a great honour for LUMS to represent Pakistan in the programme and we hope this will lead to collaborations, exchange of ideas and dialogue”.

The Director of OIA, Dr Furrukh Khan remarked that linkages such as these are the cornerstone of the assertive policy LUMS is pursuing to assume a more prominent role in the educational sphere internationally. As the world opens up after Covid-19 restrictions, LUMS will increasingly engage with other stakeholders at the national, regional and international forums.

“OIA is fully supportive of this initiative and will continue to look for more opportunities for students, staff and faculty to strengthen existing links and explore avenues for future collaborations.”

Commenting on his experience, Ammaar Bin Saleem, said that such networking opportunities are vital for an exchange of ideas at a global forum. He also applauded the role of the Centre of Internationalisation at LUMS for proactively creating such international engagement opportunities for staff, faculty and students.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022