Universiti Teknologi MARA

The MARA University of Technology or informally the MARA Technological University (Malay: Universiti Teknologi MARA, abbr. UiTM) is a Malaysian public university based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to help rural Malays in 1956 as the Rural & Industrial Development Authority (RIDA) Training Centre (Malay: Dewan Latihan RIDA), and opened with around 50 students. It has since grown into the largest institution of higher education in Malaysia as measured by physical infrastructure, faculty and staff, and student enrollment. Since becoming a public university despite its name, UiTM is no longer affiliated with Majlis Amanah Rakyat, although it continues to only accept bumiputera students.

The university comprises one main campus and 34 satellite campuses. It offers over 500 programmes taught in English that range from undergraduate to the postgraduate level. The school is home to some 170,514 full-time and part-time bumiputera and international students. UiTM is one of the only two public universities in Malaysia to have English as the official language of instruction and administration, the other being International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

In 2019, UiTM proposed its corporate name change to Arshad Ayub University (Malay: Universiti Tun Arshad Ayub) to honour the country's education icon and its founding father, Arshad Ayub, which subject to regulatory approval. The proposed name is still pending for approval from the Ministry of Education. Another proposed name is Universiti DiRaja Malaysia (English: Royal University of Malaysia) as UiTM is technically a de-facto Royal University due to by law (Act 173) Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is the only person who shall be appointed as Chancellor plus UiTM Convocation Ceremony used the Royal Protocol approved by Istana Negara with a Nobat-like Ensemble used for the parade of Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor or their representative.

History

Founding

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) began as the RIDA (Rural & Industrial Development Authority) Training Centre (Malay: Dewan Latehan RIDA), and was inspired by Onn Jaafar, the founder and former president of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The idea was conceived as a result of his study visit to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1951 to look into its rural development programme. A paper outlined the establishment of RIDA and its objectives of rebuilding rural society, as well as improving the economy of rural Malays. A bill, Paper No. 10/1951, was passed by the Federal Legislative Council in the same year that led to its establishment. Section 5 of the bill outlines the justification and the necessity of establishing RIDA. The word kampong (lit. 'village'), which is synonymous with the Malays, is also used in Section 8.

Training centre

The RIDA Training Centre began operations in Petaling Jaya, Selangor (currently Jalan Othman satellite campus) under its first principal, Syed Alwi Syed Sheikh Alhadi in November 1956. It was officially opened by Ismail Abdul Rahman, the Minister for Trade and Industry on 14 February 1957. The training centre conducted pre-university courses, business skills training, and several external professional courses offered by established international bodies, such as the London Chamber of Commerce, the Australian Chartered Secretaryship, the Australian Society of Accountants, and the British Institute of Management. After the Federation of Malaysia was created in 1963, the training centre began to admit native students from Sabah and Sarawak, and more academic programmes were offered. In 1964, the RIDA Training Centre held its first convocation and 50 graduates were awarded certificates by Tun Abdul Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The training centre later became known as MARA College (Malay: Maktab MARA) in 1965. The name change meant that the college no longer operated under RIDA and instead became the most important unit of the MARA Training Division. MARA stands for Majlis Amanah Rakyat (transl. Council of Trust for the Indigenous People), which was founded under the leadership of Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, took over and strengthened the role and responsibilities of RIDA. When the British Institute of Management ceased conducting external examinations in 1966, MARA College began running its own Diploma in Business Studies. International recognition for the course came from Ealing Technical College in London, which also became its external examiner.

Campuses and the university system

UiTM is Malaysia's largest institution of higher learning in terms of size and population and the largest university system in the country. Besides the main campus in Shah Alam, the university has expanded nationwide with 34 branch campuses, which collectively offers more than 500 academic programmes. UiTM established a system called 1 University Multi System (1UiTM), which designates an anchor university and 13 branch campuses. To qualify as a university system, accredited certification of the quality management systems for each UiTM campus must be done separately, which means that any certification granted to the flagship campus does not extend to the state campuses, and each state campus has to apply for its own certification.

Flagship campus

UiTM is headed by a Vice-Chancellor. The system's flagship campus is situated in a designated area known formerly as Section 1 in Shah Alam. This campus houses the Chancellery and Registrar's Office and assumes the role of the administrative centre. The flagship campus (and its satellite campuses) only offer programmes in foundation, degree, and post-graduate levels. The anchor university consists of the main campus in Shah Alam and the Selangor Branch Campus (Puncak Alam, Selayang, Sungai Buloh, Puncak Perdana, Jalan Othman and Dengkil).

Satellite campuses

Satellite campuses relieve the flagship campus by accepting student overflow, which involves moving out some faculties from the flagship campus. Each satellite campus is led by an Assistant Vice-Chancellor or head of study centre.

State campuses (branch campuses)

Branch campuses are headed by Rectors, who are directly accountable to the Vice-Chancellor. UiTM has campuses in every state in Malaysia, except the Federal Territories. Each state may contain more than one campus. The flagship state campuses are led by the Rector and smaller campuses (called city campuses) are led by Assistant Rectors.

State campuses mainly offer pre-diploma and diploma-level programmes in themes or niches set by the flagship campus. Some degree and post-graduate programmes are also offered through a franchise agreement with the flagship campus.

Autonomous campuses

As of June 2014, there are seven branch campuses which have been granted autonomous status—the Perlis, Perak, Terengganu, Sarawak, Malacca, Penang, and Pahang campuses. This is in line with the vision that all state campuses will eventually be given autonomous administration, giving each campus its own degree of creativity and to increase achievements in various aspects of the campus and its students. A significant feature of these autonomous campuses is the ability to hold their own convocation ceremonies and most executive decisions would not depend on the administration of the flagship campus.

Academics

The university is made up of a number of faculties and academies. It is categorised into three main clusters: business and management, social sciences and humanities, and science and technology. The Academic Affairs Division, headed by a Deputy Vice-Chancellor, is responsible to ensure the soundness of the academic programs as well as the robust, uniform, and standardised academic delivery throughout the whole UiTM system across the nation.

The Senate is the highest authority in UiTM for all academic matters. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and the membership comprises all Deans of faculties and academic centres, representatives from the Rectors of campuses, senior members of the academic staff, and a registrar. The Senate are responsible to create curriculum and academic programs; to set the standard of teaching, learning and training conducted at the UiTM; to determine the entry qualifications into any academic programs offered; and to endorse the results of student assessments and awards of all academic degrees at doctoral, master, bachelor, diploma and certificate levels.

As of May 2015, 470 programmes offered by UiTM include degrees at doctoral, master, bachelor, diploma, and certificate levels. There are 286 programmes based on science and technology while another 184 programmes are non-science and technology. In addition, 94 professional programmes (local and international) are offered by UiTM, including programmes certified by University of London International Programmes, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), the Chartered Institute of Transport (CIT), the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), London College of Printing, and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries of the United Kingdom.

In 1973, UiTM (then ITM) established ITM-Off Campus to provide opportunities for working adults to further and obtain a quality tertiary education. Classes are held after office hours on weekdays and on weekends, and courses are patterned after the full-time mainstream programs. The success of external program propelled UiTM toward embarking upon the distance mode. The Institute of Neo Education (iNED) which later renamed to Institute of Continuing Education & Professional Studies (ICEPS) in 2019 was formed in 2012 offering several diploma and degree courses on distance and out-campus mode.

Alumni

UiTM graduates have found success in a wide variety of fields, and have served at the heads of diverse institutions both in the public and private sector. As of November 2014, more than 600,000 alumni have graduated from UiTM over the course of its history. A dedicated UiTM Office of Alumni Relations was established in 2000 which to maintain and update a database of alumni in collaboration with faculties and campuses. Fraternity among alumnus was further uphold with the establishment of UiTM Budiman Foundation which helps the needy students and give financial support to current student who further studies in postgrad level.

Some of the notable alumni include the following:

Siti Aishah: 11th Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen) of Malaysia.

Richard Malanjum: Chief Judge at the High Courts of Sabah and Sarawak and former Judge at the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

Musa Aman: Politician, 14th Chief Minister of Sabah.

Nancy Shukri: Politician, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

Azalina Othman Said: Politician, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and former Minister of Youth and Sports.

Zaid Ibrahim: Politician, former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs.

Rina Harun: Politician, Women's Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party.

Afif Bahardin: Politician, Deputy Chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Permatang Pauh; Penang State Executive Councillor for agriculture, agro-based industries, rural development and health.

Aminuddin Harun: Politician, as the eleventh Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan

Mohd Zin Mohamed: Politician, former Minister of Works.

Azimi Daim: Politician, member of Malaysian United Indigenous Party

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud: Politician, lawyer and columnist.

Tengku Adnan: Politician

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)