INVOLVEMENT OF ALUMNI INTENSIFIES THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITY

UUM ONLINE: The involvement of alumni in supporting and contributing voluntarily to Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) is critical in order to maintain and boost the development of institutions in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education's requirements (MOHE).

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dato' Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani, said the move by the UUM Alumni Centre to develop the Alumni Management Information System or AMIS was very timely as an effort to support the empowerment of information technology in university management.

"It is hoped that this system can be used as a platform to update the data of 146,810 UUM alumni in order to make it more organised and efficient," he said when launching AMIS online.

He stated that nearly 4,000 alumni had updated their career information through this system up until February 2021, and he hoped that the number would continue to grow, allowing the university to develop various strategies that could benefit alumni, students, and UUM in particular.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bashawir added that sharing their experiences would also benefit students on campus. Furthermore, financial and other contributions will undoubtedly be able to sustain the development of this university in the future.

The management of UUM expressed hope that these successful alumni would serve as icons or pillars of inspiration to current students because many have made a name and success in entrepreneurship, careers, or holding positions in various sectors of government, private, and organisations, including those who have made a name for themselves as celebrities, and so on.

Such alumni would serve as effective role models and are readily accepted by university students as a means of indirectly assisting them. As a result, UUM's performance will always improve, including a move to a higher level in Asia and around the world.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hendrik Lamsali, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student and Alumni Affairs) expressed his confidence that in the next three years, the achievements and impact of AMIS can be seen in increasing alumni involvement in social engagement programmes, financial contributions, assisting in increasing student marketability and increasing endowments that can help increase the number of students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

"To help AMIS achieve its goals, alumni are encouraged to participate so that together with the university, we can elevate it to the status of the Eminent Management University in the world," he said.