24th Convocation of the University of Central Punjab was held at Expo Center, Lahore, in a graceful ceremony. Ahmar Bilal Sufi. Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. Prof. Sohail Afzal, Executive Director, Punjab Group of Colleges, was the Chief Guest. Other participants included esteemed VCs, many distinguished guests from the private and corporate sector, guests and parents and students.
643 young graduates of 8 faculties and Associate Degree Programs received their degrees. Roll of Honor was awarded to Eesha Raza.
73 Position holders were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.
Mr Ahmer Bilal Sufi, in his address, congratulated the students, their parents and teachers for these outstanding accomplishments. He motivated the students to be responsible citizens and add value to whatever knowledge they had acquired.
In his welcome address, Dr. Nassar Ikram, Pro-Rector UCP, thanked the guest of honour for having graced the occasion with his presence. Furthermore, he was grateful to our Chairman, Mr Mian Amer Mehmood, who had sent his congratulatory message to the graduates as he could not attend today’s convocation. He thanked Prof Sohail Afzal, Executive Director PGC, for gracing the convocation.
UCP, since its inception in 2002, has achieved tremendous success in academics, research, sports, and social work. The University continues to progress further and advance itself across five pillars.
Currently, UCP is offering now over 60 academic programs, and its research profile continues to rise with a more significant number of higher impact factor publications as well as research projects, our innovation and entrepreneurial activities are taking an upward trajectory, and we are ever more committed to Sustainability and becoming an SDG engaged University.
Amongst the faculty are 30 PhDs, making the total number of PhDs 190. UCP has also employed foreign faculty members from US and Turkey. At the same time, we sponsored the placement of our faculty members in various Universities across the UK, the US and Norwegian countries to gain valuable experience and bring home the quality in teaching and research. We have also introduced the Best Teacher and Best Researcher and Innovator awards to acknowledge our leading faculty members during this convocation for the first time.
The University has also made extensive investments in the up-gradation of Research Laboratories across all the faculties and improved the ICT infrastructure as a part of our continuous commitment to offer the best hands-on experience to our students.
In addition, an Advisory Board is formulated in each faculty to assess market needs and suggest changes in curricula. We also offer free services and hosting to our students at our Incubator Takhleeq to promote entrepreneurship amongst our graduates.
Each year, over 70% of our students receive scholarships and discounts to access quality education and pursue their career goals. In addition, we lay a great emphasis on co-curricular activities and offer our students the enabling platforms. With over 60 student societies, the campus continues to beam with student activities throughout the year.
With the support of our dedicated Careers Service Office, our students have started making it to leading industries, and their overall employment ratio is also increasing.
And our consistency in sports excellence has been reflected for the 10th consecutive year by winning the HEC sports trophy. In the end, he thanked the chief guest, presented a souvenir to the guest of honour and thanked the rest for making the occasion memorable.