Edwardes College

Appointments to the Edwardes College faculty for the 2012-13 academic year brought faculty strength to 105, for a total of 98 full-time equivalents (FTEs). Proportional with the College?s record enrollment of 2,950, the faculty is now the largest it has ever been.  

The 18% increase in faculty strength resulted from a strategic decision by the Management Team, affirmed by the Board of Governors, to reduce the number of extra classes taught be faculty. This reduction in extra load was intended to increase faculty time for individual student consultation, attention to class assignments, involvement in co-curricular activities, and study for advanced qualifications.

The following new faculty are serving in the current academic year following their appointment in October 2012:

Anthropology: Mr. Muhammad Ishaq: MSc (Quaid-e-Azam), MPhil in progress (Quaid-e-Azam)

Chemistry:

Mr. Aziz Ullah: MSc (Peshawar)

Mr. Najeeb Ullah: MSc (Peshawar), PhD in progress (Cambridge)

Dr. Khurshid Ali: PhD (Middle East Technical University, Ankara), MPhil & MSc (Quaid-e-Azam)

Economics: Mr. Khalid Fareed: MBA (Preston), MA (Peshawar); PhD in progress (Qurtuba)

English

Ms. Mehr-in-Nisa: MA (NUML), MED (Peshawar), MA-TEFL (AIOU)

Ms. Rabecca Rafi: MA (City), BA & BEd (Peshawar)

Mr. M. Kashif Jan: MA (Peshawar), BEd (Peshawar)

Health & Physical Education: Mr. Nawab Zada: MSc (USIT Peshawar)

Islamiyat: Mr. Sami ud Din: MA (Peshawar), MPhil in progress (Peshawar)

Mathematics: Mr. Basir Ullah: MPhil (Air), BCS & BEd (KUST)

Pakistan Studies: Mr. Gohar Ali Shah: MA (Pak Studies, Peshawar), MA (PoliSci, Malakand), MPhil in progress (Peshawar)

Physics:

Mr. Saadat Khan: MSc (Gomal), MPhil in progress (Gomal)

Mr. Saeed Anwar: MSc (Peshawar)

Political Science:

Mr. Sareer Khan: MA (PoliSci, Peshawar), MA (Pak Studies, Peshawar), MA (Intl Relations, Peshawar)

Mr. Hamid Hussain: MSc (Quaid e Azam), MPhil in progress (Quaid e Azam)

Social Work & Sociology: Mr. Atif Bhatti: MA (Peshawar)

Urdu:

Mr. Anwar ul Haq: MA (Peshawar), MPhil in progress (Qurtuba)

Ms. Hazrat Un Nisa: MA (Peshawar), BEd (Malakand)

Mr. Mian Humayun: MPhil (GC Lahore), MA (Peshawar), PhD pending defense (GC Lahore)

Most of the 20 new appointees are fulltime on regular contracts, several are on special contracts, and one is supplying a leave vacancy until the incumbent returns from higher studies.

The Selection Advisory Committee consisted of: Principal Dr. Titus Presler, 1^st Vice Principal Prof. Kalim Ullah, 2^nd Vice Principal Dr. Yar Muhammad, Director of Studies Assoc. Prof. Naveed Ali, Senior Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Noor Muhammad, Human Resources Director Mr. Shah Muhammad, and, in the case of each field, the concerned Head of Departmen

An all-day strategic planning session involving close to 40 representative stakeholders in Edwardes College too place on Saturday, 2 February 2013, to assist the Management Team in framing a recommendation to the Executive Committee and Board of Governors about how and where the College premises should be expanded to accommodate the Bachelor of Studies degree and other needs the College has as it works toward degree-awarding status.

The invitation letter to about 20 faculty members, 4 students, several Old Edwardians, and leaders in the Diocese of Peshawar and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government stated:

The purpose of this session is to gather major stakeholders in the College to discuss the various possibilities the College should consider in expanding its physical premises, whether by land purchase, building construction or both. Such discussion has been made practical and urgent by the kind and generous grant of funds by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government to Edwardes College, a substantial portion of which is designated for premises expansion.

The final decision on what should be bought or built where and when will take the form of a recommendation by the Management Team to the Board of Governors. However, we believe that the matter is so important and the issues so complex that we will benefit from the advice and counsel of such persons as yourselves.

The session, opened in prayer by Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters, Bishop of Peshawar and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors, opened with a presentation of the College?s history by 1^st Vice Principal Prof. Kalim Ullah. 2^nd Vice Principal Dr. Yar Muhammad and Director of Studies Naveed Ali Asad then presented details of the current academic programmes of the College, accompanied by a sheet of ?Basic Facts? about Edwardes.

In addition to the Rs 300 million grant from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was received in early January and deposited in the newly established Edwardes College Development Fund, conversation was energized by the designation by the Diocese of Peshawar of about 17 kanals of land (2 acres) on Warsak Road for the permanent use of Edwardes College. Thus, after a tour of the existing Edwardes campus on Mall Road, the group boarded a bus to tour the Warsak Road property.

Back at College, the Principal outlined various aspects of the degree-awarding status that is being sought and the current and future needs of the College. He then presented a list, ?Construction Projects Under Consideration,? which included 11 suggestions developed at large, and invited additional suggestions from the group, which offered 10 additional ideas.

Over lunch, participants met in seven small table groups to discuss the options and make recommendations. Each group then presented its reflections to the plenary group, which discussed them until adjournment at 3pm.

There was general consensus among all groups that an early move of the Edwardes College School, located on the campus since 1979, to its new land in Hayatabad would be desirable because it would free up the existing school buildings for College use. Many thought the BS programme would ideally be located in the present school buildings, especially as it would facilitate separation of the BS students from Intermediate students, who have different needs and requirements..

The other consensus opinion was that an academic building that would include classrooms, departmental offices and examination hall was the top priority in the near term both for the BS programme and or for other academic programmes.

Many other facilities received varying levels of support, including: new library, cafeteria, women?s hostel, indoor athletic facility, faculty and staff housing, new laboratories, men?s hostel, administrative center, entrepreneurial incubation center, prayer rooms for Hindus and Sikhs, faculty study hall, campus waiting room, student-teacher center, clinic, expanded women?s center, and the like. Other suggestions such as an additional tube well have been received since the meeting.

There was wide variation about where to locate various facilities, with some arguing for more construction on campus, with many locations suggested, and others arguing for the use of the Warsak Road property and preserving all the existing campus green space. There was also concern that any new construction reflect the architectural ethos of the original 1910 Mogul-style buildings, not the factory look of the Science Block.

?Clearly the issues are complicated,? commented Dr. Presler after the event. ?That is why we convened this group of stakeholders ? to plow up the issues, let ideas sprout and see which ones we should cultivate. What to build and when and where to build it ? these are the concerns that the Management Team will try to sort through now.? He noted that the College plans to hire a planning consultant to assist with the work.

?Such an event has never before happened in the life of the College, where people were asked for their ideas and participation in a matter this important,? said Prof. Kalim. ?This is a historic day, truly historic!?  

The new Open Arms Day Care Center, established by renovating a portion of the Edwardes College Women?s Center, was dedicated in a celebratory ceremony on Friday, 8 February 2013.

Principal Canon Titus Presler said at the opening that the Day Care Center expressed the priority that the College places not only on hiring women faculty but on facilitating the presence and work of women faculty and staff who have young children. ?We have a policy of affirmative action to bring more women,? he said, ?but it has not always been easy for women with children to participate fully in College life.?

The center, thought to be the first established at an institution of higher education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, can accommodate children from 3 months to 4 years of age. There is a fulltime nanny ? Fozia, who is herself a mother ? on staff, and the center is fully equipped with cots, toys and beds.

Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters of the Diocese of Peshawar and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors dedicated the center ?To the Greater Glory of God? and cut the ribbon.

Several parents spoke about the value of the center: Economics Lecturer Aqsa Yasir, who has a child at the center; Ayesha Zahoor, whose children are older but who wished there had been such a center earlier; and Shujaat Ali Khan, who said the child recently born to his wife and himself might be a candidate for the center! About 30 faculty and staff attended the afternoon gathering, which featured tea and refreshments.

The Principal thanked Estate Manager Haroon Azam for designing the center, overseeing the necessary renovation and construction, and organizing its operations. Haroon described the renovation process in a short talk during the dedication.

The name ?Open Arms? was chosen to express the College?s welcome to the presence of young children. A plaque commemorating the dedication has been placed on the outside wall of the center.

Faith Friends, Peshawar?s one inter-religious group, met for conversation and dinner at the Bungalow at Edwardes College on Saturday, 19 January 2013.  It was an inspiring occasion that left participants hopeful about further interchange and motivated the attending College faculty to replicate the Faith Friends experience in the life of Edwardes.

Fourteen regular members of Faith Friends attended, including Sunni and Shia, Christian and Sikh. While Hindus have been active since the group?s beginning about 10 years ago, there was no Hindu at this particular gathering. Guests included Qari Saheb the Chief Imam of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters of the Diocese of Peshawar, and Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Dean of Islamic and Arabic Studies at the University of Peshawar and, at the time, Acting Vice Chancellor. Eleven Edwardes faculty attended for the first time.

Principal Canon Dr. Titus Presler opened the gathering with a talk:  

Welcome to this gathering of Faith Friends, the first gathering of the group to occur at Edwardes College. My own involvement with Faith Friends dates to 2004, when my wife Jane Butterfield and I were visiting in Peshawar. Dr. Qibla Ayaz ? then director of the Center for Islamic Studies of the University of Peshawar, where he is currently serving as vice chancellor ? hosted one of the first meetings of Faith Friends, when Mano Rumalshah was bishop of Peshawar and Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters, the current bishop, was diocesan secretary.

Then, as now, I was struck by the very name Faith Friends. The two Fs are a nice touch, but the charm of the name is that it stresses the element of personal friendship in faith. Last evening at the College Christmas Party Sabir Hussain, head of our Department of Islamiyat, said that the name Faith Friends immediately warms his heart with the expectation of love. An alternative like ?interfaith group,? he said, emphasizes difference and the necessity of negotiation.

Edwardes College, established in 1900, has always been a church institution, and it has always served a majority Muslim constituency. It is an institution of the Diocese of Peshawar, yet 92% of our students and about the same proportion of our faculty are Muslim, and about 1% of our students are Hindu or Sikh. So we are an interfaith community where we live and work together across ethnic, linguistic and religious differences. The College?s ethos of free inquiry and open discussion has made a vital contribution to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to Pakistan as a whole.

So I am delighted that Faith Friends are meeting here at Edwardes for the first time, on this occasion to observe the festival of Christmas, the birth of Jesus the Christ. So on this occasion I have invited Muslim and Christian members of the faculty to be with us, and I would like to introduce them.

From the Muslim side we have with us: Dr. Yar Muhammad, 2^nd VP, former head of Islamiyat and noted Pashto scholar; Asst. Prof. Sabir Hussain, current head of Islamiyat; Computer Studies Assoc. Prof. Naveed Ali, Director of Studies; International Relations Asst. Prof. Zahoor Khan; Chemistry Lecturer Rubna Zafar; and Islamiyat Lecturer Sami ud Din.

From the Christian side we have with us: Assoc. Prof. Alwin Edwin, head of the English Department; Urdu Asst. Prof Taj Masih; Chemistry Asst. Prof. Nadia Dass; Psychology Lecturer Julia Pervez; and Social Work Lecturer Atif Bhatti.

Muslim and Christian life thrives at Edwardes. Our Hindu and Sikh students are few in number. Sabir Hussain and I have talked about meeting with them to hear from them how they feel about their religious life at Edwardes. And it might be good if Hindu and Sikh colleagues from Faith Friends could join us in that conversation.

Obviously we live in very troubled timed in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhunkhwa and Pakistan as a whole, and it affects people in many different ways. Every educational institution is challenged as some students begin to move in radical directions and the topic of religion becomes more and more sensitive.

One initiative I would like to share with you is the Integrity Project that we have launched this year as a way to nurture moral development and responsible citizenship in our students. Every Edwardes student participates in a weekly discussion that sequentially addresses the following topics: Purposes of Education, Discernment of Talents, Ethical Understanding, Moral Behavior, Gender Respect, Diversity Tolerance, Social Responsibility, and Servant Leadership.

Religiously the topic of Diversity Tolerance is vitally important in the current environment of extremist violence. It is actually the next topic we are tackling, and those of us responsible for the Integrity Project are right now pondering how best to address it.

One answer I hear over and over again in Peshawar is that people have chosen to address the problem of religious conflict by not talking about it ? except among their own group ? because, as many people put it, talking about religion only aggravates the problem of religion. In my own mind I am divided about that. On one hand I can see how many bitter experiences move people to that point of view. ?Once burned, twice shy,? as the adage has it. On the other hand, I worry that by not talking about it we may be abdicating our responsibility and abandoning our young people to the arguments of extremists. My hope is that the answer is to develop particular ways of talking about religion that will not aggravate but will actually ameliorate religious conflict and serve our young people in their educational formation.

If any group can find a way forward in this dilemma, it must be Faith Friends!

Conversation during the evening was extensive and intensive. Dr. Qibla shared the history of Faith Friends and highlighted some of its fruit through the years: stimulation of similar groups to form elsewhere in Pakistan; initiation of inter-religious studies at the University of Peshawar and at the University of Malakand; and a series of helpful publications.

Participating in the conversation were two visitors from the Episcopal Church USA: Mr. Buck Blanchard, Director of Mission and Outreach for the Diocese of Virginia, one of the largest Episcopal dioceses, and the Rev. Dr. Bill Sachs, a theological educator and scholar, now Director of the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation at St. Stephen?s Church, Richmond, where his major focus is Muslim-Christian dialogue.

It is expected that the participating Edwardes faculty members will meet to explore how to stimulate the spirit of Faith Friends in the College with the support of the larger and more experienced group.