Transitioning towards competitive self-sustainability
THE public funding of institutions of higher learning has always been a major influence on an institution’s activities in teaching and research.
Recent funding reforms by the government shifted the funding mechanisms to enable universities to become more dynamic, competitive and productive.
The strategy, premised upon the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP), if followed closely by public universities, will transform the higher education system and raise it to world-class standing and make the country the hub of higher education in the region.
The government has also introduced a system to categorise public universities under the categories of research university, comprehensive university and focused university to determine the area and level of fund allocation.
In addition, universities are expected to generate at least 30% of their own funding by next year. Beyond 2020, public universities are expected to be self-sustainable without much reliance on federal funding.
In answer to the government’s call, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) has been generating its own revenue from funding sources created through its holdings company Uniutama Management Holdings Sdn Bhd (UMHSB).
UMHSB was incorporated in May 1999 as a private limited company. It is wholly owned by UUM and has authorised capital of RM10mil and paid up capital of RM5.8mil.
UMHSB acts as a corporate business wing of UUM and deals with commercial activities within and without the Sintok campus.
UMHSB has ventured into several business fields through its four subsidiaries, namely Uniutama Education Sdn Bhd (UECSB), Uniutama Property Sdn Bhd (UPSB), Uniutama Travels & Tours Sdn Bhd (UTTSB) and SerindIT.Com Sdn Bhd (SerindIT).
SerindIT has recently been rebranded as Uniutama Solutions Sdn Bhd (USSB).
UECSB focuses on areas related to consultation, training, education and human capital development.
Some of the projects it has carried out include in-house training programmes in team building, leadership, management, communication and skills enhancement.
UECSB has also provided public courses and event management services such as the intensive course for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and a promotional visit by the China Educational Delegation.
UPSB manages businesses related to property development and facilities management. As its pilot project, UPSB carried out maintenance work for the university campus.
Now, its main operation focuses on contract work in agriculture, forestry and landscaping, not only for the university campus, but also for external agencies.
UTTSB provides tour, travel and ticketing services not only to the staff and students of UUM, but also to members of the public.
UTTSB also runs food and beverage outlets and provides hotel services through The University Inn, and tour bus services.
UTTSB’s aim centres on enhancing its income earning capacity for UUM while providing tourism and hospitality services more efficiently and effectively to the community.
Lastly, USSB is the backbone of research and development for UUM in the field of ICT and system development. It is also a software and hardware vendor.
Not only has USSB been improving the productivity and competitiveness of all the other businesses through the use of ICT for more than a decade, it has also been providing such services to UUM.
In fact, our campus was among the earliest in the country to be fully equipped with ICT infrastructure in addition to being the first university to be fully wired with fibre optic cables.
Furthermore, we were the first institution of higher learning in the country to receive the MS ISO IEC 27001:2007 Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification from Sirim in 2012.
This certification recognises our information management system for excellent ability to safeguard against security risks and cyber threats.
Other business ventures by UMHSB centre on:
Running the National Service Training Camp on campus Laundry services Insurance broking services Running a tuition centre Film production E-Umrah services UUM, through UMHSB, ventured into the abovelisted fields to address the business needs of not just the campus population but also the growing market in the vicinity.
As a result, of all the public universities in the country, we generate the highest revenue.
Our ability to diversify our sources of revenue will certainly help us gain a competitive financial edge in the overall management of our activities in teaching and research.
Being self-reliant and self-sustainable are the hallmarks of a mature institution, and UUM will excel in being one because we pride ourselves on being an eminent management university.
By providing excellent and efficient business services to the UUM campus community and the wider community at large, I am confident that UMHSB will continue to contribute to the growth of the university revenue.
This will enable UUM to contribute significantly to the enhancement of the quality of Malaysian higher education, in keeping with the government’s NHESP objectives.
Prof Datuk Wira Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak is the vice-chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia.