Field of art and design: President asks PIFD to approach eminent persons

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has advised the management of the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD) to approach eminent persons in the field of art and design for sharing their knowledge, experiences and learning with the students of the institute to add value to their learning trajectory.

The president expressed these views while addressing the 12th meeting of the Senate of PIFD, Lahore, held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday.

Addressing the meeting, the president said that the institute should make its rules and regulations, by-laws and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on a timeline basis by factoring in relevant government rules and regulations, besides benchmarking the best practices of similar reputed institutions.

He said that it would help further strengthen and expedite decision-making about academic, administrative and human resource matters, besides attracting and retaining highly qualified and experienced faculty, which would further improve good governance and add value to the institute.

The president further advised the institute to create close linkages with relevant stakeholders of the private sector in Fashion Designing, Textile, Jewellery, Gemological Sciences, Furniture, Leather and Ceramic Design, and Marketing to give first-hand exposure to its students about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the relevant industry. He added that it would help equip them with the knowledge and skills to bring quality and value to the products produced by the country.

The president also encouraged the institute to brainstorm the possibilities of creating joint ventures and linkages with relevant industries and invoking their Corporate Social Responsibility for securing their cooperation and inputs to further improve its services.

He also endorsed the idea of creating an endowment fund by the university with the help of the Higher Education Commission as a part of its investment policy and the proceeds of which may be allocated to create additional revenue streams to achieve the objective of financial self-sustainability.

The president emphasized the need to organise quarterly meetings of the Senate and to hold frequent meetings of the committees made under the advice of the Senate or otherwise for expeditious decision-making in important matters and resolution of issues faced by the institute from time to time.

The vice-chancellor presented the Agenda Items which were examined and deliberated upon by the Senate members and decisions were made.

PIFD is a premier institute in the Public Sector which offers M. Phil in Art and Design since 2017 and presently, 1,375 students are enrolled in its undergraduate programs in Fashion Design, Textile Design, Jewellery Design and Gemological Sciences, Furniture Design and Manufacturing, Leather Accessories and Footwear, Fashion Marketing and Merchandising, and Ceramic Design and Glassware. The employment rate of students who graduated from this institute is almost 100 per cent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022