UNIVERSITY CITIZENS NEED TO UNITE TO ACHIEVE TARGETS
UUM ONLINE: To achieve the aim of making Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) a place of pride in upholding the ideals of religion, the people and country, campus residents must unite in realizing this objective.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Haim Hilman Abdullah, all of the portfolios held at all levels within the university play a key role in sustaining UUM’s excellence.
“Everyone must rise up to the challenge of upholding our agenda with our willpower to ensure that the impact of UUM hits home to everyone,” he remarked in his speech.
Haim Hilman insisted that the pursuit of a loftier ranking is not UUM’s main aspiration, but rather excellence as success breeds excellence in the first place.
“All of us, including young lecturers need to move together in order to forge a new, better reputation.
“We also need to face our joint challenge of forging connections with international peers in order to broaden the horizons of our programmes to potentially be held overseas,” he remarked further.
Haim Hilman also urged everyone not to merely focus on existing weaknesses.
“Do not merely be like a fly, only focusing on faults to the extent of propagating toxicity that is detrimental to our university, yet, emulate the bee in seeking the best for everyone,” he further stated at the QS World University Rankings Appreciation Ceremony at the EDC UUM hotel.
He also urged for staff to make it easier for others to benefit from their offered services through more simplified conduction of services.
Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mazni Omar, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and also the Director of Corporate Planning Committee stated that the ceremony was held to appreciate the cooperation given by the centres of responsibility.
“UUM reiterates its commitment towards striving for excellence in terms of our academics, publication, research, industrial relations, community engagement, financial management, service for stockholders, and producing holistic graduates.”
“QS World University Rankings 2023 still ranks universities based on six key indicators as used in the previous edition, with a weightage of 40% being placed on Academic Reputation, 10% for Employer Reputation, 20% for Citations per Paper, 20% for Student to Faculty, 5% for International Faculty, and 5% for International Students, respectively,” she stated.
Additionally, she also urged the university to always be on high alert due to the constant update of QS’ indicators. For instance, the 2023 World University rankings saw the introduction of two new indicators: International Research Network, and Employment Outcomes.
Since the 2021 edition, UUM have showcased a successful track record by rising over 50 places to break into the top 500 universities globally.
For 2023, UUM ended up in 481st place compared to the previous edition, where it was positioned in the 511th-520th range. The annually-released QS World University Rankings ranked over 1,422 universities from around the world for this year’s rendition.