Share PMT Lead-QA 2022 workshop ends successfully

The first Share Peer Multiplier Training (PMT): Leadership for Quality Assurance Transformation for a Sustainable Higher Education Ecosystem 2022 was organised from 15 to 19 August 2022 at Bangi Resort Hotel with the aim to develop capable leaders in academic quality assurance; disseminate and promote concepts, approaches and knowledge about higher education management.

Jointly organised by UTAR and SHARE and supported by the Malaysian Higher Education Institutions Quality Assurance Network (MyQAN), the training included two workshops as well as online discussion and webinars on topics related to academic leadership and quality assurance for leaders from all institutes of higher learning within Malaysia.

During the first SHARE PMT Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat said, “The academic quality assurance (AQA) of the educational process is an integral part of the university ecosystem and requires support from internal and external stakeholders. AQA involves various stakeholders from students to the top management of higher education institutions (HEIs). It is important to strengthen the AQA and enable a sustainable transformation. The practical training and sharing among the academics and leaders will help to explore new approaches and expand the existing approaches for them to upgrade in academic quality assurance.”

Present at the opening ceremony of the training were UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Dean of Academic Quality Assurance and Audit Ir Prof Dr D. Rajkumar, Institute of Management and Leadership Development Director and Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre Chairperson Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, Division of Quality Assurance Director Loh Siaw Yien, Multimedia University Accreditation Council Member Prof Dr Ong Duu Sheng, Senior Project Manager of EU SHARE and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Mr Sebastian Gries, Universiti Tenaga Nasional Centre of Quality Advancement Director Prof Dr Hjh Hanim Salleh and Prof Dr Sany Sanuri Mohd Mokhtar, Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Front row from left: Prof Cheng, Loh, Prof Ong, Ir Prof Dato’ Ewe, Mr Sebastian Gries, Ir Prof Rajkumar and Prof Hanim Salleh with participants

Front row, seated from left: Tan Sri Chuah, Prof Faidz and Prof Rajkumar with participants

The second SHARE Peer Multiplier Training (PMT): Leadership for Quality Assurance Transformation for a Sustainable Higher Education Ecosystem (Lead-QA) 2022 workshop was held from 26 October to 27 October 2022 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus.

The two-day workshop was organised by the SHARE Consortium comprising the British Council, DAAD, ENQA and Nuffic, in collaboration with UTAR. It was supported by the Malaysian Higher Education Quality Assurance Network (MyQAN).

The second SHARE PMT Lead-QA 2022 workshop featured keynote presentations and Project Action Plan (PAP) presentations of 19 participants from various universities such as Curtin University Malaysia, University Selangor (UNISEL), Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Multimedia University (MMU), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK), Wawasan Open University (Wou), DRB HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Campus, University Technology Malaysia (UTM) and UTAR.

The objective of the workshop was to provide sessions for those who are currently in leadership roles and want to lead quality improvement activities from the design to execution stage on project management, didactics of online and offline meetings, change management, and other relevant topics pertaining to the organisation of dissemination activities.

The workshop commenced with an opening speech by UTAR Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ts Dr Faidz bin Abd Rahman.

Prof Faidz urging participants to make use of the workshop opportunity to learn, discover and upgrade themselves

Prof Faidz shared, “The higher education sector is progressing fast towards Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0); for institutions to achieve and maintain their institutional sustainability, it is of paramount importance that they must continue to improve their teaching and learning delivery system in order to produce quality graduates who are ready for the workplace, as stated in the Malaysian Higher Education framework 4.0.”

Prof Faidz also thanked all the keynote speakers and participants for their time and effort. He then added, “This workshop is oriented to leaders of all levels such as Deans of Faculties, Heads of Departments and Quality Assurance Administrators from all universities within Malaysia. I believe, by participating in this practical training and sharing among the academics and leaders, you will be able to explore new approaches and expand the existing approaches to upgrade academic quality assurance. So, I urge all of you to make use of this opportunity to learn, discover and upgrade yourself.”

The second SHARE PMT Lead-QA 2022 workshop featured a total of four renowned speakers and the sharing was moderated by Dean of Academic Quality Assurance and Audit Ir Prof Dr Rajkumar Durairaj.

Clockwise from right: Dr Siti, Kim Chow and Tan Sri Chuah

Ir Academician Emeritus Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik presented his topic titled “What it takes to be an Academic Leader” at the workshop. He quoted, “If a person can only work when given everything under the sun, he is just mediocre. If a person can perform within constraints, he is a real achiever.” 

Tan Sri Chuah then shared his education journey; career pathways; involvement in professional bodies; functions of education in University; qualities of academic leaders; waves of the technological revolution; trends in globalised world; challenges for young leaders and so on.  He then advised, “Be humble, no one is perfect. If you do anything wrong, be truthful and don’t cover up the mistake. Always remember that students can be better than the teacher, this is what pushing the frontier of knowledge is all about.”

Ir Dr Siti Hawa Hamzah shared her topic titled “SDG and Future of Higher Education”. She discussed SDG Goals; what is education for sustainable development; construction alignment, cone of learning (Edgar Dale); inductive learning, academic curriculum, etc.

Dr Siti said, “Education for sustainable development enables every human being to acquire knowledge, skills, attitude and values. It also includes key sustainable development issues in teaching and learning. Besides, education for sustainable development requires participatory teaching and learning method to motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and act for sustainable development.”

Kim Chow conducted an interactive activity with the participants in her session titled “Bringing up the Professional Image of Leaders at HEIs”. She emphasised, “Professional image boosts your leadership. If you want to change the world, first change yourself. You can make a difference.” Kim Chow shared about appearance – how to dress up to create a positive impression; behaviour - social etiquette, eye contact, smile, posture; communication and many more.

Prof Oliver Vettori presented his topic titled “High Quality Tight-Rope Walking – New Challenges for QA and the Implications for Leadership”. He discussed leadership in higher education: some basic misconceptions; the new and old challenges for Quality Assurance; his opinions on Quality Assurance and many more during his session. 

Prof Oliver said, “Leadership skills can be learned and developed. There are different approaches to leadership and there’s always one or two new ‘model’ and “principle” per decade, from the ‘great man’ approaches to schools of thought such as transformation leadership or adaptive leadership.” “The seven major disruptions in teaching and learning after the Covid-19 pandemic are internationalisation, management mode, equality and social dimension, funding and budget, partnership, business mode and digitalisation,” he added.

The second SHARE PMT Lead-QA 2022 workshop served as a platform to develop capable leaders in academic quality assurance. The workshop saw participants from various universities sharing their implementation of Project Action Plan (PAP) at their respective institutions.

On the first day, Dr Salina Muhammad from UNISEL presented on Accessibility to Sustainability: Proposing a Quality Self-Assessment Tool for All Unit in UNISEL; Dr Ng Kar Yee from UTAR presented on FAM’s Training Workshop on the Implementation of CQI & Course Review Practices; Nur Anisliyana Che Ahmad from UNIRAZAK presented on Quality Metrics; Assoc Prof Noor Asniza Murad from UTM presented on Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Framework; Dr Saiful Hasmady bin Abu Hassan from UNITEN presented on Improvement on the Management of Alumni Feedback and Data Towards Effective CQI in Programme Educational Objectives; Dr Lim Chye Ing from Curtin University Malaysia presented on Quality Thinking in University Operation Training Programme or Quality suggestion campaign; Dr Nur Zazarina Ramly from USIM presented on Assuring and Improving Quality of Teaching and Learning in Tertiary Education; Dr Low Jing Hong from MMU presented on Enhance the Usage of Google Ecosystem Among the Staff in MMU; Dr Go Yun Ii from Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Campus presented on Centralization of Academic Quality Framework, and Dr Norazizah Mohd Aripin from UNITEN presented on Integration of IR4.0 into Online Distance Learning of Bachelor of Electrical Power Engineering.

On the following day, Dr Lim Teck Hock from TARUMT presented on Quantitative QA Indicator for Correlating Attained Programme Education Objectives with UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Achieved by A Higher Learning Institution; Mohd Faiz Isa from MMU presented on Strengthening University Governance through ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System; Dr Teoh Hui Chieh from UTAR presented on Curriculum Review and Revision of Foundation Programme; Norlianah Mohd Shah from DRB HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia presented on Adoption of ISO 21001:2018 Educational Organisations Management System (EOMS) for APEL.A Centre; Dr Mastura Azmi from USM presented on Development of Training Programmes for USM OBE Quality Management System; Evelyn Gan from the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus presented on Quality Assured Internal Auditor Training; Dr Tan Koon Tatt from WOU presented on ODL Student Experience Enhancement,  and Dr Abdul Rais Abdul Latiff from USM presented on Training for the Committee and Administrators on QA Implementations as well as Documentation Requirements Preparation for Internal and External Academic Audit.

Prof Goi at the closing ceremony

UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development (IAD) Ir Prof Dr Goi Bok Min represented UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat to give a closing remark.  He hoped all the participants enjoyed the two-day SHARE PMT Lead-QA 2022 workshop.  “This training equipped the participants with knowledge, skills, and understanding that are necessary to work successfully in the higher education field. Thus, I hope the attendees have gained a better understanding of the higher education framework, higher education sustainability and quality assurance to ensure universities stay relevant and responsive to the ever-changing education landscape,” Prof Goi said.

Participants at the workshop