| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
| |
|
|
| I |
|
The Chancellor's Commission on the Future of Aga Khan University was appointed by His Highness the Aga Khan
in the summer of 1992. It was asked to look two or three decades
ahead and consider what the long-term development of the University
should be. Five specific charges were given to the Commission:
|
| |
|
|
| |
(1) |
to review the 'overall vision' of
AKU as articulated in the 1983 Harvard Report; |
| |
(2) |
to suggest changes in this conception of
AKU that may now appear appropriate or necessary; |
| |
(3) |
to recommend programmes and activities AKU
might undertake, and the locations and legal structures they
may have; |
| |
(4) |
to describe the financial characteristics
of the University implied in the recommended vision of its future;
and |
| |
(5) |
to recommend appropriate management and governance
structures. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
The Commission consisted originally of seven members
(for whom brief biographies are given in an appendix to the
report) : |
| |
|
|
| |
|
H.E. Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan,
Chairman Dr. J. Fraser Mustard
David E. Bell
Vartan Gregorian
Sharom Ahmat
Mme. Fatima Mernissi
Francis X. Sutton, Secretary. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Mme. Mernissi participated in two meetings of
the Commission but was unable to continue with its work because
of other commitments. The full Commission met seven times in
meetings extending over two or three days. Two of these meetings
were held in Karachi, and on several occasions members of the
Commission met with faculty and staff in Karachi. His Highness
the Aga Khan met with the Commission on three occasions. (Details
on the Commission's activities are given in an appendix to the
report.) Dr. David Fraser (Head of the Social Welfare Department
at the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan), and Messrs.
Guillaume de Spoelberch (Executive Director of Aga Khan Foundation) and Shamsh Kassim-Lakha (President, Aga Khan University
Centre) were regular observers and participants at Commission
meetings, as was Dr. John Dirks after his appointment in 1994
as Acting Rector and chief academic officer. Reports to the
AKU Board of Trustees on the progress of the Commission's work
were made at intervals. |
| |
|
|
| II |
|
The Stated Aims and Mission of AKU as presented
in Aga Khan University Order 1983 (the "Charter"), the Address
of His Highness at the Charter Presentation Ceremony, and the
Harvard Report of 1983, were reviewed by the Commission as basic
reference points for its work. |
| |
|
|
| III |
|
Changes in Higher Education, Research
and Scholarship in the Developing and Muslim Worlds Since 1983
were reviewed by the Commission. The Committee that produced
the Harvard Report had studied the state of higher education
and research in the arc of countries from Indonesia to East
Africa and made severe judgements on the deficiencies they found.
The Committee concluded that AKU, even as a small institution,
could make an important contribution by achieving high quality
and distinction in education and research. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Our Commission found the general
state of higher education and research in the regions of particular
interest to AKU not significantly improved since 1983, and in
some places, deteriorated. On this basis, it found the need
for a high quality AKU undiminished. The Commission took note
of the rise of private higher education in the developing and
Muslim worlds since AKU began and studied examples of universities
seeking new patterns of education for the Muslim world. |
