I ~ Tb,e Rating System for ~Malaysian Higher I Education and Excellent··accomplishment Malaysian Research I Assessment Instrument measure how well higher education institutions are

doing in the country. "

By KAREN CHAPMAN [email protected]

OOD news was in store with the recent release of the G Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions 2011 (Setara). A total of 35 higher education institutions obtained Tier Five or excellent status. This is almost double the number - of institutions in the last rating exercise where 18 higher education institutions achieved the Tier Five status under Setara 2009. Started in 2007, Setara assesses the teaching and learning aspects of participating institutions as it is the • -most common denominator for all higher education institutions. It consists of six tiers, ranging from Tier Six (outstanding), Tier Five (excellent), Tier Four (very good), Tier Three (good), Tier Two (satisfactory) amd Tier One (weak). A total of 54 universities and uni- High five: SunwayUniversityculinarystudents and chef lecturers baked a cake to celebrate the institution'sTierFivestatus under Setara 2011. colleges participated in the but two institutions were total population of universities and The 35 which obtained Tier Five (UPM),Universiti Sains 2012 with data from2011. _ ~:'lI'IlJ.UUt:u as there was insufficient university colleges rated; 16 institu- status comprise 13 public universi- Malaysia (USM)and Universiti Higher Education Minister Datuk to be rated. tions in Tier Four, approximately ties while the rest are private uni- Teknologi Malaysia while pri- Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin who results show that out 31%,and the remaining one, in Tier versities and university colleges. vate institutions included Nilai announced the results, said he was ' universities and univer- Three, that is, about 2%. These include the five research University and . happy to note the improvements rated, 35 institutions No universities and university universities -Universiti Malaya (see table on next page) and achievements of all institutioris a Tier Five category rep- colleges obtained Tiers One, Two or (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan The rating exercise was carried resenting approximately 67%of the Six status. Malaysia (UKM),Universiti Putra out between March 2011 and July > SEE NEXT PAGE - ":":;:.,''' i;~y~ci~~C,}'tO~Sjp~Edu~~!~{epp,rter,,' ~ ". - ~ •. -. .H"'-f" .•• 'j -. "' .. ~": . ..;;.:.;:~ 1)0 yciu,have,a;superocommari'd"'fromyol,i:c:; i .of the Englis'h'Ilanguage? Afe -, -.Our fringe benefits include -you creative~~nil have a pass'ion ,cl competitive salary package 'for thewritteit word? Are you 'and an allowance, a five-day ,an independehtworker, a quick work week, two-months' annual , thinker and algood writer? . ':, bonus.medical and dental care, 'It your answers to theseques- , hospitalisation, term life and tionsare positive, then you may personal accident insurance be the candidate that we are' 'coverage, and additional EPF looking for.-":., contributions as a retirement In addition'ro the list above, ' benefit if you're a sodat media addict, Impress us! E-mail in your Go for ratings: enjoy working with teenagers resume with full contact details Mohamed and teachers,;m~eting academ- and a recent passport-sized Khaled says ics as wellas,'~rganised in' photograph to chelsea@thestar. -rating is more how you thih~~d carry out com,my and cc recruitment@ useful for your tasks; th~'Qation's larg-. ." thestar.com.my. quality est English daily.seeking to fill' Closing date: Nov 30. Only enhancement this vital post atMenara Star; shortlisted candidates will be because its Petaling jaya, ~uld like to hear notified. . . ,"'" purpose is to :-.-."'~.,,__...--"'.."- _;_"•.••J1i. maintain quality .assurance rather than as a competition Rating System for Malaysian between the Higher Education Institutions (Setara) 2011 institutions. Public institutions Private institutions > FROM PREVIOUS PAGE competition between the institu- Tier 6 (Outstanding) tions. In addition, Setara would contin- ue to be a rating system for teach- Tier 5 (Excellent) ing and learning, and to encourage Universiti Islam Antara- • Asia Pacific University ofTechnology arid internal adjustments and improve- bangsa Malaysia ~ Innovation ments by institutions. Universiti Kebangsaan • Binary University of Management and UPM vice- Datuk Dr Malaysia • Entrepreneurship Radin Umar Radin Sohadi said the Setara and the Malaysia Research Universiti Malaya • Curtin University ofTechnology Assessment Instrument (MyRA) Universiti Malaysia • Campus measure the fundamentals in higher Universiti Malaysia Perlis · Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences education where data is both veri- Universiti Putra Malaysia International Medical University fied and audited: Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur "Hence it is more robust and universif Sains Islam Malaysia • Managemerlt and Science University reliable than rankings. Setara meas- Assessment: Dr Radin Umar says "'~"'.nn".".~n,."university's rapid ures graduate attributes, graduate Setara and MyRA measure the Universiti Sains Malaysia • Monash University Sunway Campus UMhas employability, employer satisfaction fundamentals in higher education. Universiti Teknikal : Malaysia Melaka increasing the and student satisfaction in the learn- • staff and stu- ing environment while MyRAlooks Ali said he was pleased that the Universiti Teknologi .OpeD UniversityMalaysia ,QRi79Irtl\t:Yk€!vareas to be at various facfors including impact indicators for measurement have Malaysia its progress factors, citations, intellectual proper- • SEGi University been improved from the previous Universiti Teknologi M~ra hprnmina one of the top ties and impact to humankind," he rating exercise to take into account , .Sun\NayUniversity by 2015," he said. said. open and distance learning institu- Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia • Swinburne University ofTechnology Prof Mohd Hamdi said the uni- Participation in Setara remains tions. • Sarawak Campus versity's next challenge was to raise voluntary, added Mohamed Khaled. "The indicators now take into Universiti Utara Malaysia the bar higher by becoming the first On whether the ministry would account our blended approach as •.Taylor's University public university to obtain Tier Six look into compelling all higher edu- we are not like normal universities," Universiti Kuala Lumpur status. cation institutions to take part in he said. f. Universiti Teknologi UKMvice-chancellor ProfTan Setara in the future, he said it could Universiti Tenaga Nasional Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan become mandatory. Research fundamentals Shahabudin congratulated staff for Most of the higher education Moharned.Khaled also announced Universiti Tun Abdul Razak working hard to maintain its Tier institutions would advertise their the results of MyRAwhere universi- Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Five status. respective Setara ratings in various ties are given "star ratings" for their Ul1iversity of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus) "However, there is room for forms such as during the ministry's research, development and com- · improvement and we must resolve annual national higher education mercialisation efforts. to work harder to achieve the goals carnival and other promotional He said UM, UKM,UPM and USM Tier 4 (Very Good) of the institution as well as the platforms. received the top rating of six stars Universiti Malaysia - Aimst University greater goals of the nation," she said. ''This in itself will encourage under MyRA. Kelantan HELP University higher education institutions to Similar to Setara, he said MyRA Universiti Malaysia Sabah ,Rated not ranked participate in Setara as in future, the which was conducted by the minis- INTI International University Setara is a ratings exercise which odd ones out will be those which try's Higher Education Department, Universiti Malaysia , Kolej Universiti Insaniah Sarawak .assesses how each institution has cannot quote or advertise their rat- was not compulsory but all higher • Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor Universiti Malaysia achieved its.benchmark of indica- ing," he said. education institutions are encour- • Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia tors. The ministry, he added, would aged to take part. Terengganu Similar to the instrument used also recommend Tier Five Setara- "It is good if all public universi- Universiti Pendidikan • TATi University College during the previous rating exercise rated institutions to the Public ties could participate and assess Sultan Idris • Twintech International University College in 2009, Mohamed Khaled said Service Department so that its spon- their strengths and weaknesses, Kuala Lumpur Metropoli- , ofTechnology Setara 2011 was divided into three sored students could be sent there. and potential in terms of research tan University College • UCSI University main domains namely input (20%), Mohamed Khaled said that the and development This is important Universiti Industri Selangor process (40%),and output (40%) Malaysian Qualifications Agency as many of the public universities, - which involves 26 criteria and 62 (MQA) carried out the Setara exer- excluding research universities, Tier 3 (Good) indicators such as the ratio of aca- cise. have the potential to develop their Universiti Sultan Zainal demic staff to students, percentage The MQA,he added, was also research capacity. Abidin of PhD qualified academic staff, working on a Discipline-Based "We're not going to force Setara Tier 2 (Satisfactory) employment rate and graduate sat- Rating System (D-Setara) which or MyRAon any university, but isfaction. would be based on four disciplines there will be policy implications "It does not give a ranking or for all higher education institu- from the results," he added. Tier 1 (Weak) position on how an institution is tions. More information on D-Setara Incentives for more research compared to another," he said. would be revealed next January, he funding is based on the MyRA2011 Asked whether the ministry will said. assessment Source: Higher Education Ministry consider carrying out a rankings Open and distance-learning insti- Two non-research universities exercise such as those by the Times tutions were separately assessed which were rated five stars under Prof Mohd Hamdi said the six star are in the midst of increasing the Higher Education World University using an instrument that was adapt- MyRA,namely Universiti Teknologi rating under MyRAwas a testament number of research activities and Rankings or the QSWorld University ed from the Setara 2011 instrument Petronas and Universiti [slam of all the hard work by UM's man- commercialisation through the for- Rankings, he said rating was more to capture the peculiarities of the Antarabangsa Malaysia, will receive agement, staff and fellow research- mation of a UM Centre of Innovation useful for quality enhancement open and distance learning mode. a total ofRM10mil in research ers. and Commercialisation, UM High because its purpose was to maintain presi- grants to enhance their research and "UM has always prided itselfon Impact Research and eight research quality assur~mce rather than as a dent Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar development activities in 2013. the quality of its researchers and we clusters," he said.