NBEAC’s 18th council meeting was held on the 18^th of July 2017 at Lecture Hall, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad. The meeting was presided over by Prof. Dr. Hassan Sohaib Murad (Chairman, NBEAC) and Dr. Muhammad Nishat (Vice Chairman, NBEAC) who joined through video conferencing from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.

The meeting began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. Mr. Ahtesham Ali Raja (Program Director, NBEAC) welcomed the council members and gave them a briefing about the agenda items which were reviewed in detail and discussed by the council members.

 Dr. Hasan Sohaib Murad (Chairman, National Business Education Accreditation Council) appreciated the council members for attending the council meeting. He acknowledged the efforts made by the council members and the NBEAC team continuously working and striving for strengthening the process of accreditation. Moreover, he praised the role of the eligibility screening committee (ESC) for making the NBEAC accreditation more systematic and aligned with mission of NBEAC i.e. “Enhancing the Quality of Business Education”.

The chairman also announced that the NBEAC 05th Deans and Directors Conference is scheduled to be held on the 5^th and 6^th of February 2018 in Karachi and it will be convened by Iqra University, Karachi. Dr. Hasan also suggested that keeping in view the considerable amount of modifications and enhancements in the system of NBEAC. The council will be taking initiatives to hold orientations as well as workshops in the major cities such as Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta as well as the remote areas of Pakistan.

The council members confirmed the minutes of the 17^th council meeting and acknowledged the efforts of the NBEAC Secretariat for effectively bringing forth the agenda and the working paper. The Council Members appreciated the progress of NBEAC. Over the years, NBEAC accreditation standards have improved and now 3 to 5 years accreditation is awarded. The council members suggested to make the mentoring process mandatory for business schools.

As per the accreditation awarding notification 4 business schools have been granted X category accreditation by NBEAC these universities include BUITEMS – Quetta, COMSATS- Lahore, University of Lahore- Lahore Campus and International Islamic University- Islamabad. While 5 universities have been awarded Y category of accreditation these include; University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore, Department of Commerce- Bahauddin Zakaria University, Multan, Capital University of Science & Technology (CUST), Islamabad, Hazara University, Mansehra and PAF- Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Muhammad Nishat (Vice Chairman, NBEAC/Associate Dean IBA Karachi), Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry (Rector, LSE), Mr. Muhammad Nadeem ( DG Commerce Education), Mr. Irtaza Ameer Naqvi (Secretary, Higher Education Department, Punjab), Dr. Rafique Baloch ( DG, QAA, HEC Islamabad), Dr. Atta Muhammad (Deputy Secretary, Higher Education Department, Balochistan),

 Dr. Jan Muhammad (Dean , University of Balochistan, Quetta), Dr. Sadia Nadeem (Director MARC & Associate Professor, FAST NU Islamabad) , Dr. Farooq-E-Azam Cheema (Dean, Bahria University of Karachi), Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Khan ( Director, IMSciences, Peshawar), Dr. Zahoor Hassan Syed (Professor, LUMS), Dr. Ghulam Ghous (Vice Chancellor, UMSIT, Kotli).

Mr. Ahtesham Ali Raja, Ms. Sania Tufail, Ms. Nomeeta Maqsood, Ms. Fatima Kamran, Ms. Maryam Akhter and Mr. Asad Khan (Accounts Officer- NBEAC).

The meeting was concluded with a vote of thanks by the Chairman to all attendees and by the attendees to the chairman.