BE CONCIOUS OF CHANGES TO LEAP FURTHER
UUM ONLINE: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) must always be aware of changes in order to move forward even further in the future.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Senator Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad expressed the need for the university to keep track of changes on a global scale and adapt to both external and internal changes.
This is required in order to maintain UUM’s relevance in appealing to current demands while retaining their ‘niche area’ as one of the nation’s top management universities.
According to him, the university cannot achieve excellence without practicing a culture of emphasizing quality due to its importance as a guide for helping the university to compete with other local universities as well as ensuring that UUM can make further leaps in the future.
“Be a management university that can be seen on the same level as Harvard University, as stated by the founding fathers of UUM in the past by putting in the effort to realize this vision.
“Universities cannot depend merely on academics, but instead an exceptional management is also important in ensuring that UUM can act as a role model to other universities in terms of management and leadership, which are the niche strengths of this university,” he said during the UUM Innovation Day and University Awards Ceremony at Dewan Mu’adzam Shah, yesterday.
Ahmad Masrizal also added that successful leaders possess the ability to identify and empower talented workers in optimizing and enabling all parties to contribute to the effort, instead of relying solely on excellent leadership.
He also further reiterated the need for all parties to give their all as everyone has their own aims to be reached, with leaders manipulating something that is negative to their advantage instead of dwelling on the negative news. In addition, he also expressed his confidence in UUM’s ability to make further strides in maintaining its excellence.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Haim Hilman Abdullah expressed his admiration for the 118 award recipients and remarked that they are the shining stars that help to illuminate the university and provide an example to be followed by those aspiring to achieve excellence as well. He also stated his aspiration for today’s award recipients to help increase the magnitude of success enjoyed by employee and university alike.
“I hope that any research, service, or publication serves as a starting point in seeking Allah’s blessings while providing a meaningful impact in changing the society and the world for the better. Let’s walk on the same path together as part of the university’s dream team in achieving the university’s goals with bravery and valour,” he stated.
During the event, Ahmad Masrizal awarded the Staff Excellence Service Awards to 118 university staff members, comprising 8 administrative staff from the Professional and Management group, 71 support staff, and 39 academic staff members, in addition to presenting the Award for Research and Publication, Teaching and Learning, Innovation, and Quality (APIQ) for 2021.
In addition, Dr. Mohamad Sabri Sinal from the School of Computing (SOC) was also honoured as the recipient of the Academic Excellence Incentive which enabled him to bring home a total of RM10,000 in cash and an acknowledgement certificate. The launching of ‘UUM Today’, the digital news portal, the UUM 4.0 website, and the UUM Independence Month celebration were also held during the event.