Vice-Chancellor’s Goodwill Tour Of Schools And Centres Of Authority Begins

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani recently made his first goodwill tour of the schools and centre of authority (PTJ).

Among the schools and PTJ he visited were the School of Creative Industry and Performing Arts (SCIMPA), School of Applied Psychological, Social Work and Policy (SAPSP) and the Cooperative and Entrepreneurship Development Institute (CEDI).

He began his goodwill visit by dropping by the SAPSP office whereby he was greeted by UUMCAS Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Huda Ibrahim and the Dean of SAPSP, Dr. Abdul Razak Abd Manaf.

During the visit, the Vice-Chancellor had the opportunity to join the SSKC2333 Group Counselling class under the guidance of Dr. Mohd Azrin Mohd Nasir and was extremely delighted to be able to join in and get to know the students closely.  Later, he met with members of staff at SAPSP in the Main Meeting Room.

The Vice-Chancellor expressed his hope that SAPSP would further increase the number of admission of international students into the various programmes offered at SAPSP and called for the incorporation of the latest technology in the learning process in line with the current era and generation.

He said students and members of staff at SAPSP should emulate the Japanese education system that is practice and apply knowledge to communities around the state of Kedah, and not just the discuss theories during lectures.

"I also would like to see SAPSP further increase the number of existing  publications and researches to ensure that the UUM Performance Indicator Index (KPI) is achieved," he said.

He also advised SAPSP to look for its own financial income or generate even more income compared to the previous years.  He also suggested that SAPSP upgrade the technical facilities available at the school using its own funds.

The Vice-Chancellor also made several suggestions such as providing counselling service packages to disabled students as well as to outside communities especially those in Kedah; SAPSP students venture into corporate, banking and manufacturing fields as means to expand their career options and practice the skills they learnt and not just focused on getting employed at existing organisations such as hospitals, schools or Social Welfare Department.

He then continued his goodwill visit to SCIMPA. At the meeting with members of staff at SCIMPA, he emphasized the need for SCIMPA to enhance collaboration with the Industry in hopes to be better known locally and internationally; collaborate with bumiputera and non-bumiputera companies that would bring about impact to the school.

In addition, he would also like SCIMPA, led by its Dean, Dr. Ahmad Hisham Zainal Abidin to increase promotions in order to get more local and international students to study at SCIMPA through more aggressive promotions.  To do so, he suggested that the promotion team highlight the expertise available, examine student marketability after graduation, and recruit lecturers who possess diverse cultural backgrounds.  Recruitment of lecturers with diverse cultural background will assist UUM academically and continue efforts to obtain international recognition such as CUMULUS and Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision (CILECT).

On the final leg of the Vice-Chancellor’s goodwill tour, the Executive Director of CEDI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chandrakantan a / l Subramaniam gave a briefing on the achievements of CEDI and ENACTUS. Next, the Vice-Chancellor was brought around the CEDI building.

During the UUM Monthly Assembly held in January, the Vice-Chancellor announced that he would be making goodwill visits to every PTJ and schools in efforts to reach out and learn more about the direction as well as to have better insights of the strategic plans of all PTJs and schools at UUM.