Recently, FAST had updated the Fee Structure on its website. The per Credit Hour fee rose from Rs 6700 to 8000 for Accounting and Finance, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and BBA – a 19.4% increase. For Computer Sciences, it went from Rs 6700 to 8500 – a 26.9% increase. Students started a petition on change.org addressing the Director, the Chancellor, the Rector and the Board of Governors, calling for a revision of the increased fee. During the course of the last two weeks, several instructors expressed discontent and so did the alumni, support for the petition exceeded 13,000. A delegation of students went to the Director’s Office on Thursday, the 7th of June, to discuss the fees and other pressing issues. After waiting for three hours, they were told that the Director would not be able to meet them that day, and they were given an appointment for Monday, the 11th. The students reached the office at the allotted time of 11:30 am, however they were made to wait until 3:30 pm. During this time, the Director was in conference calls and meetings. The Fee Structure on the Official website had been updated by this time, the massive increase of 19.4% and 26.9% were revised. The updated Fee Structure can be seen at the Official FAST-NU Website: http://www.nu.edu.pk/Admissions/FeeStructure Undergraduate Students The fee per Credit Hour for current students (Batch of 2017 and earlier) of all Undergraduate courses was updated to Rs 7100 (initially Rs 8500). -> The increase in fee from the academic year 2016-2017 to 2017-2018 was 6.35% i.e. from Rs 6300 to Rs 6700. -> The fee for the academic year 2017-2018 had been Rs 6700 and for the upcoming academic year 2018-2019, the increase to Rs 7100 is of 6%. This was in line with what students asked for, a gradual 5-6% increase in fee for all current students. Graduate and Postgraduate Students The fee per Credit Hour for current students (Batch of 2017 and earlier) of all Graduate and Postgraduate courses was updated to Rs 7400. This will be great for students who are already availing loans and scholarships, and everyone else in general. However, the Fee Structure proposed for the Batch of 2019, i.e. students applying to FAST shall have to pay a much greater fee. Rs 8100 per Credit Hour compared to last year’s Rs 6700 per Credit Hour is a 21% increase in the fee. Students also discussed several other issues with the Director of FAST-Lahore, Dr. Amjad Hussain with plausible solutions to them. The issues included, but were not exclusive to the following: 1) Cafeteria Seating and Air Conditioning 2) Security of Baggage outside the Library 3) Sports Facilities Maintenance and Equipment 4) Parking Facilities 5) Policies to NOT be retrospective 6) Closing Time of the Campus and Library 7) Courses offered in the summer 8) Increase in upper cap of Credit Hours per Semester 9) Cross Department Courses to be facilitated 10) Behavior of Clerks, Library Staff and Security Guards 11) Maintenance of Student Washrooms 12) Maintenance of Lab Equipment 13) Student Activities Fund/Extra-Curricular Activities 14) Grading and Semester work A formal application was submitted with all of the afore-mentioned issues. A copy of the application and other relevant documents are attached here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pcmXhgJuhujbgMxQ0QfmKUHw2gD36flp?usp=sharing The Director took notes on many of the issues discussed, and considered the solutions proposed by the students. Some highlights from the meeting with the Director of FAST-Lahore: 1) FAST Lahore has planned the construction of a new Cafeteria in the Tennis Court area. The cafeteria will accommodate at least 400-500 students at a time, and will have proper air conditioning. Note that the current cafeteria accommodates only 100-150 students, and lacks proper air-conditioning. The construction shall start soon after Eid-ul-Fitr. 2) There will be two levels of underground Parking under the Cafeteria. The Parking in the two basements shall accommodate about 200 cars. This will largely solve the problem of inadequate parking space on campus. 3) The Student Activities fund shall be utilized towards Sports equipment for all students and events/activities conducted by different student societies. 4) The current building of the Cafeteria shall be utilized for other purposes as and when deemed necessary. These may include a designated Sports Office where equipment shall be made available for students; a ‘students’ center’ of sorts, where every society can have lockers/workplaces, and this shall be the center of their operations in and during their events. 5) As construction shall be taking place on campus, the construction material/machinery shall be placed in the basketball court and/or cricket ground, meaning there will be no sports in those grounds for the next 6-12 months. 6) The timetables and list of courses of all departments will be made available to students of all departments, to facilitate cross-department subject enrollments. 7) The Director will look into increasing the upper cap of credit hours allowed per semester. However, this does not mean that students can graduate before 4 years. The minimum 4 year restriction for all Bachelor’s degrees has been enforced by the government. 8) The closing time of the Library will be 8pm (not 5pm) during regular semesters. 9) The Director shall look into a token system proposed by students, for the security of baggage outside the library, ensuring security of personal belongings 10) Lab equipment is being improved, and students may report PC numbers needing repair and relevant Lab numbers. 11) The Director shall ensure semester work for courses is shared with the students, in cases where it is not already. Students were pleased with the initially planned Fee Structure being reverted, with a 6% gradual increase for the upcoming academic year 2018-2019, and also with the outcome of the meeting. The Director of FAST-Lahore, Dr. Amjad Hussain gave due consideration to most concerns of students, however, there is a long way to all of these policies being enacted. In the meantime, we are thankful to all the students and everyone else who made this possible. It could surely not have been possible without prayers and goodwill of all those who supported this cause. Thankfully, Students of FAST - National University #DrAmjadHussain #BoardofGovernors #Director #Chancellor #Rector #SayNoToStudentLoans #SaveTheStudent #FAST #NUCES #Lahore #Islamabad #Faisalabad #Karachi