From the Abbotsford News (Brandon Tucker)
University education has been a major part of Afia Raja’s life for more than a quarter of a century now, with the UFV professor using her many years of experience as an undergrad and graduate student to help better prepare her own students for the outside world. Raja first enrolled in university in 1998 when she pursued an undergraduate degree in urban planning in her home country of Pakistan. She followed this up with a master’s degree in architecture, which she completed while also starting her position as a lecturer, marking the beginning of her teaching career. “I enjoyed working with my students and the flexibility that you get with teaching,” Raja said. Eventually, her education took her across the sea, with Raja getting into the Fulbright Program, which allowed her to attend Texas A&M University to obtain a PhD in urban and regional science.
After a few years of teaching in both Pakistan and the United States, Raja moved to Canada in 2019 and took a position at the University of the Fraser Valley in the School of Land Use and Environmental Change, which has since been renamed to the department of Planning, Geography, and Environmental Studies. Moving her way up from assistant professor to department head, Raja has used her many experiences as a university student to help guide how she helps each of her students at UFV. “I did concentrate a lot on the personality traits of all my professors,” Raja said. “Because, in my opinion, it has to be value-driven. If somebody is spending time with you in your class, then it shouldn’t be the same person leaving your class. There has to be some value added, which is what we are being paid for. If we are not doing that, then there is probably no use for you to be in teaching, because students are there for your mentoring, for gaining knowledge, and for gaining skills from you.”
One of the ways she has helped create this value for her students is by consistently introducing real-world elements into her teachings and not just relying on theoretical lessons. As part of this teaching philosophy, she has led countless students to the bi-annual Hubbub events at Abbotsford City Hall, which have groups
of UFV students showcase special projects to city staff and other community members for a chance to win an award. “When they are interacting with people, they learn a lot,” Raja said. “Preparing them for what is coming out in the field is the final goal.” This tactic has had many positive tangible impacts on her students, such as Elena Van Buschbach, who nominated Raja as a Hero in Education and explained that it was through Raja’s unique teaching methods that she was able to make significant leaps in her young career. “Her mentorship has equipped students, including myself, with the skills and confidence to network with industry professionals, community leaders, and peers,” Van Buschbach said. “In my case, this encouragement and support motivated me to pursue and accept a co-op position with the City of Abbotsford – a step I might not have taken without her guidance and the confidence built through experiential learning.”
Through her years at UFV, one of Raja’s proudest accomplishments has been the creation of the Bachelor of Community and Regional Planning program, which makes the Abbotsford university one of only a handful of schools across Canada with an accredited urban planning program. “We started the degree, and we were expecting that in the first term, we would see around 10 to 12 students getting registered into planning,” she said. “It was a flying start, with 45 students registering for the degree.” As the head of the Planning, Geography, and Environmental Studies department, Raja plans on continuing to develop students into young professionals armed with plenty of real world experience when they graduate from UFV.