8th Quarterly Progress Report: July – September 2016

The report highlights various activities undertaken by the center under each of the five key components: Governance, Curriculum Reform, Applied Research, Graduate Training, and Sustainability. Under the Governance component, the U.S. Consul General Mr. Brian Heath visited USPCAS-W along with Mr. Craig G. Buck, USAID Deputy Mission Director. They interacted with students and faculty selected for the Fall Exchange Scholarship for the University of Utah. Additionally, USAID conducted the 2nd round of Data Quality Assessment (DQA) for two of the MSF/Pakinfo indicators through its M&E contractor, Management Systems International (MSI). The web-based database was highly appreciated by the DQA team and CAS-E Peshawar University, which was also recommended to adopt the same for their center. The Curriculum Reform component continued, and the syllabi for the new Water Sanitation and Health Sciences (WaSH) program were finalized and launched from the Fall 2016. The already approved six research grant projects and the three flagship projects continued their progress, while the 2nd call of proposals was announced during the reporting period. Under the Applied Research component, the process of registration of Fall 2016 (2nd batch) students was completed, and the session started on 29th August 2016 through an orientation day. Prior to this, a one-month refresher course for the WaSH Sciences program was offered to students with non-engineering backgrounds. Three faculty members and the 1st group of 18 students of the 1st batch left for the University of Utah in mid-August for the exchange and training program. Students who could not qualify for the exchange program were engaged with different organizations for internship purposes. The Graduate Training component involved the University of Utah's regular mission visiting the center in July for 7 days and conducting various capacity-building activities with faculty and students. The mission discussed governance and management-related matters with the project management team. A Senior Advisory Board from the University of Utah, comprising Dr. Bob Adler, Mr. Juan Carlos Negrette, Dr. Richard Brown, Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Mr. Khalid Mohatdullah, and Dr. Michael Hardman, visited CAS-W and held meetings with faculty, students, and other stakeholders in MUET, Karachi, and Islamabad. The advisory board participated in the executive seminar on water SDG. The Sustainability component involved the Center organizing an executive seminar "Achieving Water SDGs in Pakistan – Challenges & Opportunities." Syed Murad Ali Shah, the then Senior Minister for Finance, Energy, Planning & Development, and Dr. Sikandar Ali Mendhro, the then Minister for Environment & Coastal Development Authority, Government of Sindh, chaired the sessions of the event. As part of the Gender Equity Policy, MUET collaborated with the Center to implement the policy, which included the establishment of a Gender Equity Committee and the development of a Gender Equity Plan. The report also highlights the achievements made by the center against mandatory minimum results and targets of the project, along with the overall summary on financial progress. The Center's performance against indicators and milestones is presented in the report, which includes the progress made in each of the five key components.