Message from the vice chancellor

Dear Friends,

This letter marks my first anniversary with the Asian University of Women, whose mission reflects my own three passions: women’s education, social activism, and pedagogy.

Having joined AUW as Vice President for Academic Planning, I am now honored to be writing to you as Provost and Acting Vice-Chancellor. My reasons for optimism are many.

When we began our recruitment drive for students at the Access Academy in 2007, we were overwhelmed by the response in numbers of applications—all from academically strong and deserving students from our core target population of underserved communities. As a result, we increased our enrollment from 100 to 130 students representing six countries: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia.

For the past four months, these young women have learned not only English, Math, and computer skills, but they have also made new friends and developed leadership skills through activities and student clubs devoted to topics including Journalism, Gardening, Public Speaking, Film/Movie, Art, Sustainability, Exercise, Yoga, Amnesty International and Community Service. This term has seen new clubs formed in response to students’ interests in Photography, Recorder and Astronomy.  Our Access Academy students have also grown familiar with the democratic process as they campaigned and held elections for student government. In class, they wrote opinions, debated, and made oral presentations to develop their public speaking skills.  International visitors have been impressed by their focus and dedication [http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/]. Much credit must be given to their professional teachers, who come to AUW from WorldTeach [http://www.worldteach.org/].

As we plan for the opening of the University in September 2009, our new Dean, Dr. Michelle Zjhra, and I are busy with curriculum planning and recruiting our founding faculty members to join us in Chittagong in July 2009 for the freshman class of AUW—that will be a proud moment indeed.

This is an exhilarating opportunity for university faculty who wish to experience the diverse cultural and social backgrounds of Asia in the setting of a unique liberal arts institution for women. The potential to contribute to positive development within Bangladesh is exciting, and I encourage faculty who may wish to join us in this important new venture to contact me or Dr. Zjhra.

Thank you for your support in this first year of growth. Now we look ahead to building a faculty team that will continue our momentum.

Hoon Eng Khoo

Provost and Acting Vice-Chancellor

August 15, 2008