The New Student Orientation (NSO) 2021 came to an end with President Habib University, Wasif Rizvi encouraging the incoming Class of 2025 to pursue “thoughtful self-cultivation” by making the most out of the opportunities offered at Habib. The President engaged with the Class of 2025 in a candid online conversation to welcome them on board and to answer their queries as part of the NSO week that had begun a week earlier on August 23, 2021.
The NSO is an annual program that enables the assimilation of the incoming batch into the Habib community. During the course of the week, the newest members of the community are familiarized with Habib’s policies, processes, culture, and academics. This year, the incoming class represented “one of the highest achieving batches academically,” according to Ms. Yasmeen Bano, Director Students Success, and included 60 Habib Talent Outreach Promotion and Support program (HU TOPS) scholarship recipeints, while 22 students were awarded the Yohsin scholarship – the highest number of scholarships awarded to a batch in the history of Habib.
In one of the sessions, “Uniqueness of Habib’s Intellectual Experience,” Dr. Nauman Naqvi, Associate Professor, Comparative Humanities, introduced the Habib Liberal Core to the new batch. He termed it as “cognitively essential” for critical thinking. Dr. Nauman Naqvi emphasized to the students how the faculty at Habib, through the continuous revisiting of pedagogical methods, ensures that their four-years journey encapsulates all the necessary courses to make them critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.
Echoing Dr . Nauman’s thoughts, Dr. Anzar Khaliq, Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, reiterated that the intellectual experience offered by Habib is not just unique to the students but to the faculty as well.
As a student-centric institution, Habib University offers a number of support services to students such as academic, career, financial, informational and mental, and physical fitness. Throughout the week, regular sessions were conducted to acquaint the Class of 2025 with these services.
It is by the virtue of the same student-centricity that on the last day of NSO, Interim Vice President Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Dr. Aamir Hasan urged the students to not get overwhelmed and take one step at a time in understanding Habib while emphasizing that the “rhythm and balance developed around the first year is carried forward for the next three years.” Given this undeniable significance of the first year of an undergraduate program, a holistic First-Year Experience (FYE) has been foresightfully designed to help the newest members of Habib in gradually becoming a substantial part of this community and represent all the values that this community stands for.
The Habib staff and faculty continue to curate initiatives to help new students acquire knowledge, skills, and experience essential for success. When a new student asked President Rizvi the meaning of this success in his Q&A session with the freshmen, he answered, “Habib University has defined success for you within the ideals and parameters of Yohsin – striving for excellence, doing what is beautiful, nurturing passion, respecting all others, and serving the community. Through this philosophy, we can always keep inspiring ourselves and Habib will continue to provide you with the resources to fulfill your aspirations.”
