PLAN OF OPERATIONS Asian University for Women Chittagong, Bangladesh May 2005 Asian University for Women www.asian-university.org To obtain additional information on the Asian University for Women initiative, please contact any of the following individuals: United States Asian University for Women Support Foundation 95 Wall Street, 10th Floor New York, New York 10005 Telephone: +1-212-493-3998 Fax: +1-212-493-3688 Ms. Sadia Rahman Program Coordinator Email: [email protected] Ms. Ishrat Hoque Administrative Coordinator Email: [email protected] Bangladesh Mrs. Rokia Afzal Rahman Chairman AUW Bangladesh Board of Advisors Red Crescent Concord Towers 11th Floor-Suite B 17 Mohakhali Commercial Area Dhaka 1212 Telephone: +880-2-885-0254 to 57 Fax: +880-2-988-8388 Email: [email protected] Japan Ms. Yasko Tashiro Head, AUW Japan Secretariat Email: [email protected] or [email protected] About the cover: left photo, AUW site United Kingdom plan prepared by Massachusets Institute of Mrs. Beata Ekert Technology; middle photo courtesy of the AUW UK Secretariat Asian Development Bank; right photo, c/o Open Society Foundation Foy’s Lake at Chittagong, which abuts the 5th Floor, Cambridge House campus site of the AUW. 100 Cambridge Grove London W60LE AUWSF gratefully acknowledges support Telephone: +44-207-0310223 from Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw, Fax: +44-207-0310201 LLP for underwriting costs of reproducing Email: [email protected] this Plan of Operations. PLAN OF OPERATIONS Asian University for Women Chittagong, Bangladesh MAY 2005 “We are indeed delighted and proud to host the Asian University for Women. We hope this institution will be an enduring training ground for generations of Asian women leaders committed to the economic and social transformation of our region. We hope that each graduate of this university will be fully competent in her chosen field, be fearless in her pursuit of goals and carry an abiding sense of empathy for those in our societies who are less privileged. This combination of competence, courage and empathy, we know, is a sure formula for success...We are grateful to the international community for having recog- nized the need for such an institution and responding to it with all generosity. We value this initiative greatly. The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is fully committed to ensuring its complete success.” —Begum Khaleda Zia Prime Minister of Bangladesh “In my mind there is no greater cause than the education and empowerment of women in bringing about a more just, a more humane and, ultimately, a more peaceful and stable society. For too long women have been relegated to the periphery of history. The terrible consequences of that enforced silence, of that neglect, of that forced invisibility, of that chain of unrealized dreams and potential have diminished not only the women who have suffered but also our whole society. I pledge to wholeheartedly support this university and its establishment as one of Asia's finest institutions of higher learning.” —Congressman Joseph Crowley Member of Congress, United States of America, speaking at AUW’s groundbreaking ceremony in Chittagong on January 13, 2004 “We believe that this project is worthy of US government support and would also like to request that you consider additional meaningful avenues for the US to participate in the creation of this institution.... The University’s graduate programs are development- oriented, and all have a strong bearing on preparing leaders to cope with crises of sustainability, an issue brought acutely into focus as the region struggles to react to the recent tsunami.... We believe an institution of this sort deserves our wholehearted support, and would like to request that USAID consider playing a key role in the establishment of this university.” —Letter from Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jon S. Corzine to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, dated February 22, 2005 “I strongly believe that the emerging Asian University for Women can have a far-reaching impact in enhancing women’s status and capabilities in the region. My colleague Lone Dybkjaer described the Asian University for Women as a ‘beacon’ and a ‘lighthouse’. Indeed, it is a beacon of hope and strength and the boundless possibilities of women of Asia to engage in advancing their entire societies.” —Pat Cox President, European Parliament (2004) I am enormously pleased to welcome the Asian University for Women to Foreword Bangladesh and to the city of Chittagong. As it so happens, my own first experi- ment with microlending which eventually resulted in the creation of the Grameen Bank occurred just a few miles from the site chosen for this new university. Our experience with microlending over the past several decades has amply demon- strated that given the opportunity, even the most powerless amongst us will rise to the occasion and strive to transform her own life. Higher education can be an escalator not only for personal success, but also for the capacity one needs to transform his or her wider society. It is in this context that I find the Asian Univer- sity for Women initiative particularly important. It will provide a much needed avenue for women to empower themselves to become enlightened leaders. It will help reinstill the value of knowledge in changing societies. By keeping its doors open to women of all socio-economic classes, religious and ethnic backgrounds, the Asian University for Women can indeed veritably demonstrate that no class or group in society has a monopoly on talent. Recognizing the importance of higher education in personal and social transformation, the Grameen Bank has for some years now been lending for higher education of qualified children of its borrowers. Some of our borrowers who have made a livelihood out of rearing a few cows or small poultry now have adult children who have become physicians, engineers, and other professionals with support from this program—perhaps permanently breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and disempowerment. We look forward to working with the Asian University for Women in increasing opportunities for education for Grameen families as well as others. Muhammad Yunus Founder & Managing Director Grameen Bank, Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Member, Bangladesh Board of Advisors Asian University for Women Support Foundation Mind Without Fear Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. —Rabindranath Tagore I. Executive Summary ...........................................................................7 Contents II. AUW: The Planning ........................................................................ 11 i. Academic Framework ............................................................................... 11 ii. Fundraising ............................................................................................... 13 iii. Design and Construction Process .............................................................. 14 iv. Strategic Planning ..................................................................................... 15 III. The Case for AUW ......................................................................... 17 i. Higher Education for Women in Asia....................................................... 17 ii. Why Focus on Higher Education?............................................................. 20 iii. Liberal Learning ........................................................................................ 23 iv. The Rationale for an All Women’s Educational Institution ..................... 24 v. Regional and Cross-Cultural Linkages in Asia ......................................... 28 vi. AUW and the Millennium Development Goals ...................................... 29 IV. AUW: The Project .......................................................................... 32 i. Creating a Unique Center of Excellence .................................................. 32 ii. Target Student Population: Geographic Selection................................... 32 iii. Target Student Population: Socio-Economic Background ....................... 33 V. AUW: The Students ........................................................................ 37 i. Admissions and Student Preparation ........................................................ 37 ii. Student Life .............................................................................................. 39 VI. AUW: The Academic and Non-Academic Programs ......................... 40 i. The Access Program .................................................................................. 40 ii. Undergraduate and Graduate Programs .................................................... 42 iii. Academic Structure and Curriculum ........................................................ 43 iv. Non-Academic Programs .......................................................................... 46 VII. AUW: The Faculty .......................................................................... 47 VIII. AUW Location ..............................................................................