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THE CULTURE OF WORKING OF THE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY: OUR EXPEREINCE - MALAYSIA. By K.O.Oloruntegbe (Ph D) Science and Technical Education, Adekunle Ajasin University Being An Experience Shared With the Participants during a 3-Day Workshop on Understanding the Culture of the University System.
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THE CULTURE OF WORKING OF THE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY: OUR EXPEREINCE - MALAYSIA By K.O.Oloruntegbe (Ph D) Science and Technical Education, Adekunle Ajasin University Being An Experience Shared With the Participants during a 3-Day Workshop on Understanding the Culture of the University System
Introduction • I was offered an appointment as a Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, University of Malaysia on May 8th, 2009. I resumed for duty there on October 1st, 2009. I was there for a year utilizing the sabbatical granted to me by Adekunle Ajasin University. I am indeed very grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and the Management of the University for giving me the opportunity of the kind of exposure I had in that one university. Here I wish to share my experience with the participants at this workshop.
How I got the job • I got the appointment by responding to advertisement posted to my e-mail by Association of Commonwealth Universities. I registered with the association and job.ac.uk Education Studies (TEFL). They send advertised academic vacancies periodically to my mail. I applied to three universities, University of Rhode in South Africa, British University in Dubai and University of Malaysia. I got that of University of Malaysia. Any body wanting appointment abroad can register with these bodies. If Adekunle Ajasin University wants foreign lecturers and students, all she has to do is to register with the ACU who would help post our academic vacancies on their web site.
Points of discussion • Internalization • Administration • Research and Publications • Conference Attendance • Teaching and Learning • E-learning and E-administration • Students’ Welfare • Admission and Graduation • University Ranking • Relationship between University and Government
Internalization • University of Malaya was established in April 1949 I • The university draws students from over 80 countries of the world • Has about 1,500 foreign lecturers. • Has about 140 lecturers in the Faculty of Education of which a quarter is foreigners. A few of the lecturers were hired on contract which is renewable on satisfying some criteria which include publication of at least one isi journal article a year and accumulation 70 % scores on students’ assessment of lecturers in all courses taught during the semester. • The assessment is carried out by students on-line. The students know where to get instrument, how and when to carry out and submit the assessments. • Lecturers that have overall scores less than 70% are queried.
Administration • The administrative structure is the same. • Each faculty has a Dean and 3 Sub-Deans. The offices of Sub-Deans are designated as Undergraduates, Postgraduate and Research and Internalization with their coterie of office. • The Sub-Dean Internationalization takes care of the interest of the foreign lecturers and students. • Heads of Departments oversee refer issues bothering on their Departments to Sub-Deans and Dean as the case may be. • Faculty Board meetings are held every first Wednesday of the month
Research and Publications • The university encourages and requests each lecturer to submit a research proposal which is funded if approved. • The grant is categorized into three which are Science, Social Science and Humanities. The grants are prorated accordingly with science attracting the highest cost. • I secured a grant of RM11,500 to conduct a comparative research titled Contextualization of science knowledge and skills by Malaysian and Nigerian pre-service and serving chemistry teachers which I completed and submitted before I left there. Those that have big grant have provisions for research assistants among Master and Ph D students and are expected to hire one and pay him/her.
In addition, lecturers are mandated to publish in isi journal, not just foreign ones. Promotion aand contract extension are based on the number of isi journal articles. A Senior Lecturer with 8 isi journal articles is promoted a Reader and 15 a Professor irrespective of the number of years the lecturer has spent on one grade level. • The university equally gives incentives (cash awards) to lecturers who publish in isi journals. The award is prorated as follows: RM6000, RM4000 and RM2000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd tiers respectively – ($2000, $1,300 & $7000 - According to the impact factor and citation of the articles). I am expecting a couple of dollars as from March when application for fund is requested and approved. Publication of an isi article attracts $7000 in University of Hong Kong
Of the 140 lecturers in the Faculty of Education a few of us stood out having published the highest number in 2010. • The Faculty keeps record of articles published and updates the list during the meeting • The Vice-Chancellor particularly wanted two of us on contract to stay. • The other person, a Bangladesh has over twenty isi journal articles and chose to stay when he was offered Associate Professor and Professor the same year and three year contract extension. I turned down the offer of extension of contract because of the bond I have here. • The emphasis is on isi journal publication from within and outside which is verifiable and confirmed by the University Library and not just on foreign ones. This is in sharp contrast to our situation where Nigerians patronize journals in adjoining countries in the name of foreign publications. Sometimes a look at such journals show that Nigerians constitute the largest percentage of the authors. • A journal located in a university or any organization can publish consistently, apply, get accredited and promoted to isi status. It is only isi journal articles that are reckoned with and used for World University Ranking
Conference Attendance • Although the university encourages staff going for conference, it however, would not sponsor staff less than one year in its service. The budget on foreign conference is meager • I sponsored myself to attend two conferences. • The Canadian International Conference on Education (CICE-2010) held in Toronto, Canada in May, • The 21st Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE-2010) held in University of North Texas, Denton, USA in August. • The latter was like a training conference. I registered and actively participated in 5 workshops from 1-5 August, 2010 Apart from the exposure and knowledge gained we were given a number of materials and computer applications for teaching and learning chemistry. I equally won a practical kit which I am now making use of in my teaching and helping our postgraduate students and others.
Teaching and Learning • Courses are allocated to lecturers about three weeks before the commencement of a semester to enable the them plan and prepare very well. The planning includes getting the necessary records ready and submitting them to the record room. Such records include: • The Lecture proforma to be handed over to the students. Information such as course description, course outline, schedule and type of assessment, mode of lecture presentation and list of course materials – books, journals, internet source are contained in the lecture proforma • Learning outcomes – concepts, soft skills and attitudes to be developed in the students and how the lecturer intends to develop them
Assessment format covering these skills. Usually only 30 to 40% are allotted to end of semester examination. The 70% course assessment is done through scheduled tests, individual and group assignment including seminar presentation on power point; • List of registered students. The percentage attendance of lecture by students and the records are submitted at the end of the semester. A student that does not accumulate 80% attendance is not allowed to write the semester examination. The list also contains information about how to reach students, e-mail address and phone numbers. • These records together with course assessment and examination questions and marking scheme, students’ scores are audited at the end of each semester by a panel/committee set up for that purpose.
Each lecturer/course is allocated a permanent room for his/her lectures. Entrance into such room is programmed into the lecturer ID card. • There can not be clashes because the rooms are registered for the lecturer at that point in time. • Teaching is done through power point presentation with the multimedia hung in the room. • There is also computer in each room. The lecturer either brings in his/her laptop or has the lecture in pen drive and copied to the PC in the room. • There is also a public address system all projected for a fairly large class. • Lecturers are expected to submit to the record room printed copies of the lecture materials. The rooms are fully rugged and air-conditioned. • On no account can a lecturer miss lectures except there are holidays.
E-learning and E-administration • E-learning, e-administration, e-finance, e-attendance have fully gained ground in the university. Each lecturer and student has free access into interactive portal of the university library e-journals and e-books anywhere in the campus for 24 hours a day. The password is programmed into the Matric card. • All staff with the exception of gardeners and cleaners are expected to be computer literate. As such each has his/her own computer with which he/she clocks in and out the time of resumption for duty and leaving office. • Each lecturer is provided with computer and printer (not too costly ones). Only one staff, secretary is attached to a Department. He/she works with the Head of Department and assists lecturers in the area of inputting students’ results into data base for subsequent processing in the office of Deputy Dean Undergraduate or Postgraduate as the case may be. She does not help in typing. • There is no typist anywhere in the university. Each lecturer is expected to do that on his/her own. By this method our university can gradually phase out the typist cadre by encouraging every one to be computer literate and learn typing.
Students’ Welfare • Education is basically student-centered in University of Malaya like any other universities in that country. Efforts are geared towards helping students to actualize their potentials. • Students’ interaction during lectures is held at optimum. They are encouraged to prepare and present individual and group seminar. They do this by displaying a high level imagination, initiatives and originality. They prepare power points of their own with a lot of pictorial and graphical illustrations. You can hardly find students loafing around. They are either in the lecture rooms, library, and restraint or at the bus stop waiting for vehicles to convey them to their hostels or to the town where they stay.
However, there are designated locations in every faculty furnished with seats, tables and electric points for students’ relaxation. • Relation between lecturers and students is cordial and full of respect for each other. • It is a taboo to hear of immoral advances from lecturers to students. • The students know what to do and they go about doing such systematically and methodically without infringing on university regulations and other people’s right. • Postgraduate students change supervisor who they think can not help them by going through the normal procedure from Departments to Faculty and Senate without any protest from lecturer or anybody raising eye brow. • Students were given study loans on application which they repay when they start working. The implication is that the government employs all the graduates. Students who make good grades have e their loans turn to scholarship.
Admission and Graduation • Students are admitted; they come in and graduate in either of the two semesters. Students do not have to lose a semester or a year because of a carrying over course or courses. All the courses are taught in the two semesters, such that a student can enroll for any course as long as he/she accumulates and does not exceed the required number of credits during the semester. The implication of these is that adequate number of lecturers is needed. No lecturer teaches more than four courses
University Ranking • University of Malaya like any other in Malaysia strives very hard to come under the 100 bracket. UM came to 240th position in 2008, 180th in 2009, and unfortunately slipped back to 207th in 2010. • The criteria for the ranking include internationalization, research and publication in isi journals, teaching facilities, funding and market value of the graduates. The last point is how well the university is patronized in the world work force. • Apart from funding which the government generously provides the university pursues these other criteria with full vigour. The university also shares partnership with other local and foreign institutions and industries. • The 2010 university ranking was published in Sunday Times’
Relationship between University and Government • The government of Malaysia funds University of Malaya adequately. • The government relies on the universities to proffer solutions to almost all of its problems. Issue as remote as boarder dispute on land and territorial water between Indonesia and Malaysia were referred to universities for solution. Eradication of culex mosquitoes causing dengue fever through genetic engineering and several problems facing the government were referred to for solutions through research.
The government takes care of its worker adequately. • The salary is comparatively the same with our except for currency value that is the problem. Malaysia spends Ringit (RM) which appreciates from RM3.34 to $1 in September 2009 to RM3.20 to $1 in September 2010 when I left. • If there are workers or students unions I did not see or hear them holding meetings or going on strike. The university never closed for one day except holidays.
Conclusion I believe we have a lot to learn from this kind of university system and a nation that is growing at such a rapid rate. What I saw in Malaysia will make one sad on hearing that this nation started about the same time with us getting independence in August 31, 1958. If they fold their arms not doing anything for 50 years I do not think we can meet up. I had been to a couple of universities outside Nigeria; University of North Texas, University of Toronto, Universities of Accra, Cape Coast, Winneba in Ghana. What I saw in these universities and especially in UM makes me believe that Nigerian yet to start. We have a lot to do. Our university is making progress in its own little way. This workshop is an eye opener for all of us to rise and build the university of our dream.
THANK YOU GOD BLESS
