The track to excellence
In the last decade, Utar has managed to make its way to the top while keeping its fees affordable and maintaining the highest of standards.
THERE is a Chinese saying, “If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people”.
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year has grown by leaps and bounds from its first intake of 411 students with eight degree programmes to over 21,000 students and an increased array of courses offered including postgraduate studies today.
“As far as a higher institution of learning is concerned, 10 years is a very short period. There are universities in Europe which have over 400 years of history,” says Utar president and chief executive officer Prof Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik.
“I would say that the past 10 years has been an achievement for Utar, but I must also mention that we will not rest on our laurels.
“We will work very hard in the many years to come to ensure that Utar is on the track to excellence,” he adds.
Starting out as a university for the community, Utar has always prided itself on its affordable fees compared with other private institutions of higher learning.
“We believe that education is something that will help to transform the lives of not only the graduates but also their family members. It is definitely one way for people to move up the economic and social and economic ladder.
“Therefore, we at Utar will continue to work very hard to ensure that our fees remain affordable while maintaining the high quality of our courses,” says Prof Chuah.
Besides being a university for the community, Prof Chuah stresses that Utar is a university for all Malaysians.
“Right from the beginning, Utar has not been for only one particular community although it is true that we have quite a sizeable number of Chinese students,” says Prof Chuah.
He adds that the student community in Utar is becoming increasingly diverse and more international students are expected to be enrolled in the coming semesters.
New phase
In the short span of about a decade, Utar has spread its wings from its first campus in Petaling Jaya to branches in Kuala Lumpur and Sungai Long, Kajang. Its main campus in Kampar, Perak, sits on a 526 hectare site.
The phase two development of the Perak campus was completed recently with the construction of the new grand hall named after Utar council chairman, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.
The hall is the venue of the convocation ceremony of the latest batch of Utar graduates, many of whom had received their scrolls yesterday and others, today.
Prof Chuah reveals that the development of phase three of the Perak campus is on the drawing board with plans on expanding the campus into a university town complete with facilities such as hostels, commercial centres and schools.
“We envision the university town becoming an R&D (research and development) incubator for the industry especially small startup companies.
“Along the way, these companies will also provide job opportunities for our graduates,” says Prof Chuah.
Research excellence
Speaking on the research culture in Utar, Prof Chuah recounts the various R&D projects carried out by the academic staff and students.
“As a university, we are involved in R&D not as a mere academic exercise but to create new knowledge and technology for the benefit of the nation and humanity as a whole,” he says.
The wide range of areas covered by Utar’s R&D initiatives — green technology, cancer research, social trends, the effect of the Minnan culture on Southeast Asia — reflects its commitment to be a centre of research excellence.
To serve the objectives of the Government Transformation Programme, Prof Chuah adds that the research findings on green technology spearheaded by the Engineering Faculty has been commercialised by the local industries.
On the whole, he believes that there are three components which make an excellent university — facilities, staff and collaborations with the industry.
With a robust R&D culture in the campus and a township outlined for the Perak campus in the wings, it is no surprise that staff development is high on the agenda of Utar’s strategic plan in the coming decade.
“For the academic staff, strong emphasis is placed on them to have PhD qualifications, those who do not have a doctorate must register for the programme within six months of joining Utar.
“I’m sure that the target to have 70% of our academic staff with PhD qualifications within the next five years is achievable since some faculties already have 60% of its academic staff with PhD qualifications” says Prof Chuah.
On that note, he adds that Utar will look into launching programmes tailored for the service industry to meet the needs of the growing economies in regional countries.
“The huge populations in Asean countries are the untapped markets for the services industry.
“We are in the best position to offer services whether in finance or hospitality sector due to our multilingual advantage, this is the best opportunity to make full use of our strength,” says Prof Chuah.
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman is a contributor to the Star Education Fund.