Background of the College

The Indore School of Social Work was founded in 1951 by the Indore Christian College at the instance of the Madhya Bharat State Branch of the Indian Conference of Social Work. The School was granted recognition by the Department of Education of the erstwhile government of Madhya Bharat for short-term certificate course in Social Work.

In 1955, the Board of Governors of the Indore Christian College invited Dr. (Mrs.) Winifred Bryce, a well-known sociologist, educationist and social worker, and a former Principal of Indore Christian College, to head the School. With her vast experience of education and social welfare work in India, mainly in the Malwa region, for over forty years, Dr.Bryce gave able and inspiring leadership to the school. Under her leadership the school was raised to the graduate diploma standard offering a one-year course in Social Work.

The next important milestone in the development of the School was the a raising of it as a postgraduate department of the Indore Christian College with affiliation to the Vikram University for the Degree of Master of Arts in Social Work, in 1961.Much of the credit for raising the School to this standard goes to Dr. Bryce and to Dr. CW David, the then Principal of the Indore Christian College.

In the following year, Dr. Bryce retired and went home to Canada, but she continued to take a lively interest in the School until her death in 1967.In 1970 the School instituted a Prize in memory of Dr. Bryce. Miss Mavis Bowen succeeded Dr. Bryce as Head of the Department in 1962

From 1961 to 1966, the School continued as Department of Indore Christian College. In 1964, when the University of Indore was established at Indore, the Indore Christian College, and through it the School of Social Work, was disaffiliated from the Vikram University and affiliated to the University of Indore.It had been felt for some time that as a professional training institution, the School of Social Work should be established as a separate and independent college with an identity of its own. In 1966 the school was established as an independent body under a separate Governing Board. In July 1966, the University of Indore, now called Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya.

Indore, granted affiliation to the School as an autonomous institution, and a separate Board of Studies in Social Work was constituted by the University. Till 1967 the School was housed in a rented building in Old Palasia. Indore, but in 1968 the Missionary Committee of the Malwa Church Council made available to the School the Old Seminary bungalow situated on the Bombay-Agra Road. But even this was only temporary accommodation for the School. On November 29th, 1970 the School came under the Diocese of Bhopal CNI, successor body of UCNI.

On1st January 1972,the school shifted to the new building at 13 Old Sehore Road, in the Residency Area of Indore.The School is grateful to the Board of World Mission (now the Division of World Outreach) of the United Church of Canada, who gave a generous grant for the construction of the school building.The new building is constructed on a three-acre site of land given to the School by the Missionary Committee and the Division of World Outreach.

Miss. Bowen was succeeded by Mr. WA Issacs as Principal of the School in 1965. Dr.PT Thomas took charge in 1969, when Mr.Issacs left to settle permanently in the United States. Dr. Thomas who was the fourth Principal of the School had the longest tenure of 15 years. He served the School with great dedication and commitment, as a result of which the school acquired a distinct identity as a center of higher education and training in the field of Social Work. Dr. Thomas retired as Principal of the School in March 1984 and Dr. WSK Phillips, took charge of the School in April 1984. His keen interest in Social science research raised the reputation of the College as a center of excellence in Research. He also started a one-year postgraduate diploma course in Human Resource Development (HRD) in 1995.Following the death of Dr. WSK Phillips on 19 October 2000, Dr. Jacob Thudipara took charge of the School.