President's Message
"If Allah afflicts you with any hardship, there is none to remove it except He. And if He intends to bring some good to you, none can avert His bounty. He brings it to whomever He wills from among His servants. He is the Most Forgiving, the Very Merciful."
Surah Yunus:107
These are indeed very testing times. We are facing a unique extraordinary pandemic the world has not seen a scale of. We all need to be extremely watchful of ourselves, our loved ones and our community. Given the tenacity of our Pakistani people and especially our youth, I am extremely sure we will successfully come out of this very soon.
People in every part of UMT are working very hard to protect the health and safety of the University community while preserving our students’ opportunity to complete their term. We are doing everything to the utmost to make sure we responsibly deal with this situation. Rest assured we will not compromise the learning of our participants or the safety of our faculty and staff. UMT faculty will also not cease our main objective and effort to continue to impact the world through our research and thought-leadership.
As soon as we heard the news of the virus & keeping the safety of UMT family paramount, we planned to go online regardless of the government's advice. UMT Management, specially OTS and eUMT in addition to the heads of statutory offices, played a key role and spent weekends on making sure there was no loss of learning for our participants. I want to commend their exceptional efforts and extreme hard work. May Allah give them reward.
I also want to make a special mention of all Deans, CODs, UMOs & other essential staff for continuing to be present to ensure basic functioning of the university.
Once we received the circular from HEC, I believe, we were the first in Punjab to totally transition online with 2,700 courses and a hundred online classes being held simultaneously. On the first day, we had around 10,000 online learners: a remarkable feat. I believe out of all conventional universities, this is the largest online setup being currently run. I want to thank our valuable participants for showing great commitment (90%+ avg. class attendance) and our highly dynamic faculty for participating in this cause to make sure learning and knowledge transfer continued, no matter what.
To keep you all safe on the campus, OCMS distributed masks, sanitizers and sprayed disinfectants in the campus buildings every few hours throughout the week.
All faculty and participants are required to make use of technology and to fully and extensively use moodle, telephones, myUMT app, email, & WhatsApp so you are in regular touch with each other regarding your courses, counselling or any other matter. We are also continuously improving the online system, organizing trainings and then focusing on retraining the faculty for this transition.
I would like to thank the many students and others who have come forward to voice their concerns, share their experiences and offer advice on improving services. Let me say that we have listened. We have heard you, and we will continue to do so. We share your concerns, and we are strongly committed to collaborating with you to address them.
Given the record exponential spike in the number of cases in Pakistan, we cannot predict when it will be safe to restart classes in person. My guess is that it may take another 2-8 weeks depending on the situation. We are considering and discussing options and will decide whatever is best for all.
Remember, we all have to act together to slow down the spread of this virus. For prevention, Prophet Muhammad SW's hadith gives guidance to all, "Cleanliness is half of faith.
Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment but that does not mean you do not take precautions. For those who may have symptoms, please self-quarantine yourself until tested. It is also advised to totally stop socializing unnecessarily, prefer to meet virtually and to maintain a physical distance of 3 feet.
At the same instance, it is a great opportunity to spend time with your family, on your personal development, your fitness & health, on self-reflection and on being empathetic.
For all administrative issues, advisors, CODs, PRS at ORG and participants should be in touch. For those of you who may be facing anxiety, stress or mental health issues due to this pandemic, you may contact [email protected] or [email protected] at UMT Institute of Clinical Psychology for counselling appointments.
Lastly, through the UMT Sustainable Development Initiative we have planned to provide food ration boxes for a month for 5000 daily wage workers affected from Corona. Please contact [email protected] if you may like to assist or volunteer.
May Allah, The Creator & Sustainer keep us all safe.