Accesible, Quality Curriculum & Relevant Research and Entrepreneurship
The Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA) partnership will help Pakistani institutions bolster education and research by modernizing the curriculum, breaking down barriers to educational success, reaching new and broader audiences, and building “power skills” for students.
HESSA endeavours to increase access, quality and relevance of Pakistan’s higher education programs, particularly for marginalized communities, through:
- Stakeholder-driven curriculum reform for higher education institutions to teach employability skills.
- High-impact education practices to increase student learning of employability skills.
- Distance education, universal design for learning, and micro-credentials to increase learner access and success.
- A culture of teaching excellence supported by a community of practice and access to high-quality faculty development.
Strengthening Research, Innovation and Commercialization
The program aims to strengthen the research, innovation, and commercialization enterprise of the HESSA partner HEIs in Pakistan with new strategic approaches, programmatic management tools, faculty development, and coordination strategies and techniques. The core objectives are to strengthen ORICs and faculty to:
- Enhance capacity to administer diverse research and externally sponsored activities portfolios that meet required compliance objectives.
- Stimulate entrepreneurship, manage innovation, develop partnerships, and promote technology transfer.
- Foster collaborative research networks that engage partners to develop implementable solutions helping local communities achieve the sustainable development goals (e.g., water security, food security, health).
- Build capacity of faculty and research administrators to connect research to practical solutions, work across disciplines and institutions, manage research projects and teams, and co‐produce impact with stakeholders.
- Maximize benefit of research infrastructure including labs and facilities, computational resources, and technology parks.
Three Focal Areas
- Adapt Curriculum to Address Employability Learning Outcomes
- Improve Teaching Soft Skills
- Introduce Innovation Management Connecting HEIs to the Private Sector through ORIC
Interventions under this Component are complemented by the following online and in-person training workshops in Pakistan and the U.S.:
Bootcamps on Faculty Development (Online Teaching & Learning)
Benefiting 375 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Hybrid Workshops on Advanced Teaching Practices (Collaborative Learning)
Benefiting 180 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Study Tour for Course Deisgn
Benefiting 60 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Workshops on High Impact Practices (HIPs)/Experiential Learning Toolkit (Curriculum Modernization)
Benefiting 60 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Hybrid Workshops on Research Practices
Benefiting 180 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Workshops on Promoting Entrepreneurial Mindset for ORICs and Faculty
Benefiting 45 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs
Workshops on Teaching Methods and Interactive Technologies for Entrepreunership Course Development
Benefiting 30 faculty of HESSA partner HEIs