AGST Alliance

Pre-2000:

• An Asia Graduate School of Theology venture existed in Singapore, offering a DMin program. But this had almost gone into recess by 2000.

2001-03:

• Dr Lee Wanak (Dean, AGST Philippines) challenged the Asia Theological Association (ATA) member institutions in Malaysia and Singapore to establish a Doctor of Education program.
• Discussions, encouraged especially by the late Rev Derek Tan (ATA General Secretary), affirmed that a postgraduate program in Christian education would be valuable and viable, and a suitable person was sought to head up the program, as well as to facilitate further specialised postgraduate programs on behalf of the institutions. When Dr Allan Harkness became available, he was endorsed for these positions by members of the ad hoc planning group.

2004:

• Six ATA-linked theological seminaries in Malaysia and Singapore became founding members of the AGST (Malaysia/Singapore) consortium.
• Dr Allan Harkness commenced as the founding Dean, seconded to AGST-M/S by his mission organisation.

2005:

• The modules of the first cycle of the Master of Theology (Education) commenced; and the first Doctor of Philosophy (Education) candidates commenced their programs.

2006:

• ATA member seminaries in Thailand, looking for suitable postgraduate programs especially for faculty development, recognised the potential of AGST (Malaysia/ Singapore), and requested membership. Two Thai seminaries became full members of the consortium in early 2006.
• With this came a name-change to reflect our tri-national entity: Asia Graduate School of Theology (Malaysia/Singapore/Thailand).

2007:

• Our PhD(Theology) commenced with its first candidate.
• The modules of the second cycle of the MTh(Ed) commenced.

2008:

• The modules of the MTh(Theology) program commenced.
• We welcomed Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology as a full consortium member, and Phnom Penh Bible School as an associate member.
• We registered as a company in Malaysia – AGST Alliance Sendirian Berhad (= Private Limited).

2009:

• A request to AGST Alliance from the Middle East Association for Theological Education (MEATE) for help to establish their postgraduate programs was formalised in a memorandum of understanding for a 5-year period.
• We celebrated the graduation of the first PhD(Ed) candidate (Rosalind Lim-Tan) and the first MTh(Ed) student (Chuah Seong Peng).

2010:

• The third cycle of our MTh(Ed) commenced.
• We welcomed the first MEATE-sponsored participant into our programs.
• The ATA accreditation process for AGST Alliance took place. ATA validated (= accredited) these programs:
  • Theology: Postgraduate Diploma in Theology, MTh(Theol).
  • Education: Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Spiritual Formation and Discipleship, MTh(Ed) and PhD(Ed).
• Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (Thailand) and Malaysia Evangelical College (Sarawak, East Malaysia) became associate members of AGST Alliance.

2011:

• Our Doctor of Education (EdD) program was launched.
• The second cycle of our MTh(Theol) commenced.

2012:

• The fourth cycle of our MTh(Ed)/EdD commenced.
• Perry Shaw was recognised as our first EdD graduate.

2013:

• Co-partnering with Malaysian Care and Tabor College (Victoria, Australia), we commenced the Asia-based cycle of Tabor’s Master of Arts in Vocational Practice (Aid and Development), with 15 students in the first cohort.
• We celebrated the graduation of our first PhD(Theol): Paul Woods.

2014:

• We launched our PhD(Bib. Studies).
• The third cycle of our MTh(Theol) commenced.
• We launched our EdD(Child & Family Development) program.

2015:

• The second ATA accreditation process for AGST Alliance took place, with a successful outcome. These programs were accredited:
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Education
  • Master of Theology in Education
  • Doctor of Education
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Education
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Theology
  • Master of Theology in Theology
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Theology
• We launched our Doctor of Ministry in Leadership program, in partnership with Bible College of Malaysia and Malaysia Bible Seminary.
• Hiew Hoong Cheong graduated with MTh(Theol), our first student to receive this degree.
• Dr Tan Sooi Ling commenced as Academic Dean, alongside her role as Director of the DMin Program.
• Dr Allan Harkness relinquished his role as Dean, and relocated to New Zealand. He was appointed Advisory Director from the beginning of 2016.
• Our AGST Alliance office moved to Penang, Malaysia.
• We renewed our partnership with Eastern College Australia (formerly Tabor Victoria) and Malaysian Care to offer a second Asia-based cycle of a new-look Master of Transformational Development program.

2016:

• We celebrated the graduation of Lau Ying Kheng (EdD) and Wong Siew Cheong MTh(Ed).
• The 4^th cycle of MTh(Theology) program began.
• A greater focus on developing skills for research and writing for all the programs.
• In April we celebrated the first graduation of the Masters in Transformational Development program with 8 students (Masters of Arts and Vocational Practice) and 5 others (Masters of Transformational Development).

2017:

• Dr Rosalind Lim-Tan appointed as Education Program Director.
• The 5^th cycle of the MTh(Ed) program began with a new intake of EdD and MTh(Ed) students.
• The DMin partnership program between Bangkok Bible Seminary and AGST Alliance commenced in August with 18 students. 
• The PhD Theology programs continued to grow with 8 students from Malaysia, Singapore, Iraq, Canada and South Korea. 
• AGST Alliance subscribed to Edbrite for our Learning Management System needs.
• We rejoiced with the graduation of Samuel Sidjabat, PhD(Ed), Khanitta Panam, MTh(Ed) and McClean Hawthorne, EdD. 
• Integrated modules were introduced.

2018:

• The PhD Biblical Studies programs re-launched with three PhD(Biblical Studies) students.  
• 5^th cycle of MTh(Theol) programs began.
• The second cycle of the DMin (AGST Alliance-BCM-MBS) program began.
• Neil Watkinson graduated with a MTh(Theology).
• The initial cohort of the DMin (AGST Alliance-BCM-MBS) moved into the dissertation phase.

2019:

• The DMin (AGST Alliance-EAST) program began with 9 students. 
• The Education programs were streamlined to offer three degrees: PhD(Ed), EdD, MTh(Ed).
• Masters of Transformational program celebrated the graduation of 10 students, the largest class thus far.
• Congratulations to Lianne Lee who graduated with a MTh(Theology).
• Ramon Tecson graduated with an EdD. 
• A new program, the Graduate Diploma of Transformational Development (GDTD) launched with 8 students.
• A total of 27 students met for the 2019 Doctoral Colloquium.