UTAR integrates soft skills into study
IT is often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you will need soft skills to get and keep the job.
This terse statement, likewise, resonates well with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman’s ( UTAR) pragmatic approach to education. To UTAR, providing education is more than just assiduously imparting knowledge to students, but also shouldering the responsibility to reinforce the students’ credentials with soft skills.
The University has successfully introduced the UTAR Soft Skills Development Certificate ( USSDC) programme that recognises students’ achievements and efforts to improve themselves in areas such as communication and language, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, moral and professional ethics, leadership, lifelong learning and entrepreneurship via a gamut of stimulating and inspiring activities ranging from new village community services to enlightening workshops and forums well- received by the students.
The success of UTAR’s education approach is evident through the University’s track record of 97 per cent of graduates being employed within six months after graduation.
Realising how effective soft skills is to a student’s academic, intellectual and professional growth, the UTAR Department of Soft Skills Competency ( DSSC) recently organised a forum titled ‘ Leadership Skills for Youth’ to further shed light on the importance of soft skills, especially on post university life.
The forum opened the eyes of the students by inviting four seasoned speakers.
The discussion included effective leadership skills demanded by employers today, the importance of leadership skills among the young graduates, the traits of successful leaders and how the leadership skills of an employee could be developed.
Wong, who, from her expertise in the entertainment and communication industry, shared that the four skills of personal traits, social grace, people skills and communication, are collective elements found in a leader.
“Being a leader will involve: your personal branding as you are a representation of yourself, the know- how to carry yourself in society, the skills to do people profiling as you need a team to grow, and of course the ability to speak well so as to effectively lead and convey messages to your team members,” as she elucidated further.
UTAR Kampar Campus Head of DSSC Hee Chwen Yee quoted Peggy Klaus, a prominent Communication and Leadership Coach who said soft skills “get little respect, but will make or break your career”.
Since 2009, UTAR DSSC has been actively engaging soughtafter, experienced trainers and collaborating with public and private sector organisations to conduct soft skills and life skills programmes for students.
DSSC also frequently organises a wide range of stimulating activities such as Speaker’s Corner sessions, UTAR New Village Community Projects, Overseas Study Tours and Exchanges, Community Engagement Programmes and such which have successfully broadened the horizons of many students.
To complement UTAR’s commitment in education and research excellence, UTAR was awarded Tier- 5 ( Excellent) status in the 2011 and 2013 Rating System for Malaysia Higher Education Institution (SETARA’11 and SETARA ‘ 13), Tier- 5 Excellent in Discipline- Based Rating System ( D- SETARA) for Engineering as well as Tier- 4 ( Very Good) in D- SETARA for Health Sciences.
UTAR is highly reputed as one of the fastest growing private higher education institutions in the country since its inception in 2002. From only 411 students, the University’s enrolment has now reached 26,000 students with campuses located in Kampar, Perak and Bandar Sungai Long, Selangor.
UTAR has graduated over 48,000 students since its inaugural convocation in 2005.
The University currently offers more than 110 academic programmes from Foundation Studies to Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees in the fields of Accounting, Business and Economics, Actuarial Science, Mathematics and Process Management, Agriculture and Food Science, Arts, Social Sciences and Education, Creative Industries and Design, Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communication Technology, Life and Physical Sciences, and Medicine and Health Sciences.
For more information, go to www. utar. edu. my or call 05468 8888 ( Kampar Campus), 03- 9086 0288 ( Sungai Long Campus).
The Open Day will be held on March 11, 12, 25, 26; April 8, 9; May 6, 7 ( Saturday and Sunday), 9am – 5pm, at UTAR Kampar Campus in Perak and UTAR Sungai Long Campus in Bandar Sungai Long. UTAR is also having its extended counselling hours at both campuses daily, 9am – 5pm ( except for public holidays).