The Academic Council and RET-APD of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in its joint session has unanimously approved offering of different new academic programs as well as curriculum revision of existing programs. Vice Chancellor AIOU, Prof Dr Zia Ul -Qayyum presided over the joint session on Friday, while deans of various faculties, principal officers and external members of the Academic Council participated in the session. Some of the members participated in the session via online mode by following COVID-19 SOPs. Owing to the surge in cases of COVID-19 pandemic, it was mutually decided to further strengthen online academic operations including admissions, workshops and examinations and to adapt them further to HEC guidelines. Directorate of Academic Planning and Course Production (AP&CP) was assigned the task to prepare a comprehensive plan of offering of new academic programs and curriculum revisions of the existing ones. Prof Dr Zia Ul -Qayyum directed all heads of academic programs not to offer any new course/ program without advance preparation of its instructional/learning material and quality standards of new academic programs should be maintained rigorously at any cost. He, further, instructed that curriculum / syllabus must be reviewed after regular intervals of five years. The Academic Council, also, decided to adopt HEC undergraduate policy gradually as well as gave principled approval of online offering of certificate courses, post graduate diplomas, associate degree and bachelor programs for overseas Pakistanis. The Executive Council, the supreme statutory body of the university, will endorse all these decisions in its upcoming meeting.