NUST is mediocrity, with occasional spikes of excellence during its history
Pros
Reasonable teaching work load, that permits enough time to conduct research. It is still the best public sector university in Pakistan. In my opinion, it is also better than all but two private universities, the Aga Khan University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences both of which are miles ahead of NUST in terms of quality and maturity /stability of their procedures. Faculty and staff have recently been provided the opportunity to sign up for health coverage for themselves and their families. Sane working hours for the most part. Provide a safe working environment to women faculty, staff and students alike.
Cons
NUST chronically underpays its faculty, below prevailing market rates, usually taking advantage of the fact that many faculty members are under contractual obligation to return to NUST or Pakistan after earning their PhD. However, the quality of incoming faculty in the pipeline is dropping. Some schools / colleges of NUST have been doing very well in recent years, thanks to the visionary leadership of their heads. However, a burst of recent and ongoing departures have changed that, and after a good number of years of excellent work, those schools / colleges are quickly slipping back to the level of mediocrity of NUST's other constituent institutes. The administration is almost entirely in the hands of retired armed forces personnel, who have no background in academia. Administration's priorities are often misaligned with those that would be considered vital at any significant university of the world. Poor planning and foresight abounds. Authority is highly centralized. Paper work for the slightest routine tasks are excessive and a nightmare. Procedures for the routine tasks keep changing on a monthly / annual basis.
