UCP Convocation 2021

23rd Convocation of the University of Central Punjab was held at UCP Main Campus, Lahore in a graceful ceremony. Honorable Governor Punjab, Ch. Muhammad Sarwar graced the occasion with his presence as chief guest. Prof. Sohail Afzal, Executive Director, Punjab Group of Colleges alog with many distinguished guests from private and corporate sector, were also present on the occasion.

943 young graduates of 3 faculties received their degrees on the 1st Day of the convocation, 28th December, whereas 1054 graduates received their degrees on the 2nd Day of the convocation, 29th December. Roll of Honor was awarded to Muhammad Bilal Ejaz, Pharm-D, Faculty of Pharmacy and Certificates of Merit were given to Muhammad Hasnan Tahir Khan, MBA, Faculty of Management Studies and Mr. Ali Shehran BSCS, Faculty of Information Technology
316 Position holders were awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals.
At the 23rd Convocation of the University of Central Punjab, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar congratulated the graduates on their academic performance. In his address, he stated that he is yet to come across an institution where female students are excelling in their studies more than the male students. The governor showed his confidence in these young female graduates and stated that they would take up higher offices and would perform better than their male counterparts. He further emphasized on the role of teachers & parents towards the educational excellence of the students. “Respecting your parents will help you all during this life & the Hereafter”, addressed the Governor.

The governor lauded Mian Amer Mahmood and labelled him as a role model for the youth. Dating back to the time when Mian Amer was the City Nazim of Lahore, the governor expressed how his efforts combined with those of Mian Amer Mahmood led to the notion where Lahore & Glasgow were considered twin-cities.

The governor asserted that nothing is impossible & shared his story about how his grit and dedication led him to become the first-ever Muslim Parliamentarian in the United Kingdom representing Glasgow. He also added that it was due to his efforts that he was able to overcome the pressure of external lobbies when Pakistan was at the verge of facing expulsion from the GSP+ status. However, now Pakistan is set to get GSP+ status for the next decade. The governor stated that he is also making tireless efforts for the provision of clean water to the far-flung areas of Punjab. He has vouched that 15 million people will get access to clean, hygienic water within the next few months.

Talking about the Afghanistan issue, the governor expressed that war is no solution to the humanitarian crisis that prevail across the Torkham Border. He asserted that the Afghanistani people be helped at all costs to drive them towards a better life. Afghanistan’s economic stability is pivotal for Pakistan economic success, he further said. The governor added that all Muslim leaders have shown solidarity towards the Afghanistan government which was heartening to know. The world must come together in support for Afghanistan’s peace and prosperity.

Earlier, In his welcome address, Dr. Nassar Ikram, Pro Rector UCP thanked the Governor Punjab, Patron of UCP, to have graced the occasion despite having his multifarious commitment. He was grateful to our Chairman, Mr Mian Amer Mehmood who had sent his congratulatory message to the graduates as he could not attend the convocation due to certain pressing commitments, and specially thanked Prof Sohail Afzal, Executive Director PGC for being in the convocation for the encouragement graduating students.
He said that UCP, since its inception in 2002, has achieved tremendous success in academics, research, sports, and the social work. The University continues to progress further and advance itself across five pillars: Expand and Strengthen Academic Initiatives, Enhance Research and Innovation, Strengthen Industry Linkages to Increase Graduate Employability, Expand Civic Engagement and become a Globalized University. Each of these five pillars is incorporated in actionable Faculty wise yearly strategic plans with measurable KPIs.
During this year, UCP successfully launched 04 new academic programmes including BS Data Science, BS Business Analytics, BS Real Estate Management, and M.Phil. International Relations programmes. It has inducted 125 new faculty members before the commencement of Fall 2021. Moreover, 30 new PhDs were hired making the total number of PhDs as 153. Teaching Excellence Certification Program for over 400 faculty members was also conducted to ensure their compliance to the teaching standards. UCP’s Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) is now closely linked with industry and playing its due role in the national innovation system of Pakistan and increasing its competitiveness for producing cutting edge and impactful research. During the year 2020-21, 639 papers were published by UCP faculty members and students, out of which, 336 research papers were published in impact factor journals. I am pleased to report that 6 faculty members of UCP have obtained the cumulative impact factor of more than 100 in one year.
UCP has invested approx. 100 million as research funding for this year which is 4 percent of the total operational budget. Moreover, we were able to win a research grant of worth 4.5 million from HEC’s National Research Program for Universities (NRPU). This is first time that a Principle Investigator from UCP has achieved this grant.
Keeping in view the growing demand from HEC and international funding agencies, UCP Ethical Review Committee (ERC) was also established in 2021, where a group of highly professional individuals have been formally appointed to scrutinize, review and approve the proposed research studies in the context of maintaining the appropriate protocols of ethical standards as per national/international rules & regulations. Also, our Business Takhleeq incubator has now got the membership of Community of International Science Industry Parks – a Chinese Initiative with over 150 members worldwide.
The importance of Industry Academia needs no emphasis. In order to increase its outreach efforts to the industry, UCP has established Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) across all the Faculties. A new Centre for Professional Excellence has been established to conduct high quality professional development short courses for local industry and to further strengthen university industry linkages through conferences, seminars, symposiums and workshops on latest technology, innovation and industry focused issues. Each year 72% of our students receive scholarships and discounts in order to have access to quality education and to pursue their career goals.
Our international outlook is improving and today we are in the top 500 universities in Asia as per the QS Ranking and also in top 500 in UI GM rankings which has been improved by 115 positions this year placing UCP amongst top 15 Universities in Pakistan.
Furthering its vision in becoming an international university, UCP has had induction of foreign students in different programs. A total of 7 Sri Lankan students have secured admissions across 3 undergraduate programs namely Pharm-D, BS Accounting & Finance & BBA. UCP recently became a member of University Alliance of Silk Road (UASR), a China Based Initiative with over 150 Universities world-wide as its members.
Our consistency in sports excellence has been reflected for the 10th consecutive year by winning HEC sports trophy. And in the recently held Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive at Islamabad, UCP teams won 5 competitions out of 7 held for men.

• 943 out of Total 1997 Graduates Received Degrees on the 1st Day of 23rd UCP Convocation,
• 1054 remaining graduates received degrees on the 2nd Day of 23rd UCP Convocation,
• 316 Position holders were awarded with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals along with One Roll of Honor, 2 Merit Certificate

23^rd Convocation  – At a glance