The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Annual Review
2013 www.nottingham.edu.my Britain’s global university in Malaysia
Contents
3 Provost’s welcome 4 Introduction 5 UNMC in numbers 6 Excellence in teaching 8-11 World-changing research and knowledge exchange 12 Global reach 14 University life and social responsibility 16 Sustaining excellence 18 Campus life 20 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 22 Faculty of Engineering 24 Faculty of Science 26 Highlights 28 Facts and figures
2
Provost’s welcome
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has ended 2013 in a good position. The University of Nottingham brand and a University of Nottingham degree award have global recognition and are attractive to students, to their parents and to sponsors both within Malaysia and worldwide.
to make a difference, by creating new knowledge and exploring ways in which that knowledge can be applied to improve economic, social and cultural wellbeing. There is an increasing focus on working with business and with support from colleagues at the UK campus, we are starting to make progress in terms of business engagement.
As Britain’s global university in Malaysia, UNMC offers a distinctive student experience – one that reflects the style associated with British higher education and the heritage and traditions of The University of Nottingham. A UNMC education is characterised by an integrated approach involving curricular and co-curricular activity. It is student-centred, encouraging creative, independent and critical thinking; teaching and learning are informed by the latest research and led by outstanding researchers and educators. We focus on the development of graduates who have a clear awareness of the challenges facing global society, their broader responsibilities to their communities as well as the knowledge and skills to develop successful careers.
Financially, 2013 was a challenging year, but prudent management has resulted in a small surplus to support future investment in our core activities. Our operating environment continues to be dynamic and unpredictable; policy decisions can and do impact significantly on our activity, competition is increasingly fierce (whether from new or existing institutions) and our stakeholders have high expectations of UNMC.
The campus itself provides an outstanding learning environment and recent investments have served to enhance both the educational and social environments. An investment programme of close to RM80m has created 1,200 new student bedrooms, a substantial extension to the Student Association, a new food court and a suite of new social learning spaces across the campus.
But we are a small, innovative and agile institution with very significant strengths, including the quality of our students/graduates, the quality of our staff, the excellence of our research and teaching and an outstanding campus environment. We have a strong position within the Malaysian HE sector and indeed globally, being part of one of the top 1% of universities worldwide. 2013 has been a good year and we approach 2014 with optimism. Christine Ennew
The University of Nottingham has always been a research intensive institution and UNMC operates within this tradition. Excellence in research is a distinctive characteristic of UNMC as we strive to use our institutional capabilities
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Introduction
This annual review provides an opportunity to record and celebrate the achievements at UNMC during 2013. During the course of the year, guided by the academic and professional service communities, UNMC management formalised a longer-term vision for the development of the campus to 2020. Launched formally in October at a campus-wide event held in Port Dickson, the Strategic Roadmap spells out an ambition for UNMC to be: An elite but inclusive educational institution within South East Asia which is recognised for its academic breadth, the quality of the education it provides and the excellence of the student experience. UNMC graduates will be known for their entrepreneurship, their creativity, their independence and critical thinking and for their global outlook A truly international institution which is home to a community of global citizens with a highly developed understanding of their local, national and global responsibilities
An institution which is characterised by excellence in research, where scholars have a particular focus on addressing the challenges facing South East Asia and countries in the Islamic world. Our focus will be on developing and applying our research capabilities to make a positive impact on economic, social and cultural well-being within ASEAN and the broader South East Asia region An institution which is sustainable both financially and environmentally and committed to its home in Malaysia for the longer term
An institution which is partnership-oriented, working with universities, with government and business, with the third sector and with local communities to discharge its responsibilities to society in its broadest sense
Subsequent sections will provide an overview of activity in relation to key functional areas and key academic areas. While the dominant focus will be on collective and institutional outcomes, this review will also provide an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of key individuals across the institution.
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The University of Nottingham Malaysia in numbers The total student body now numbers close to 4800, following intakes in April, July and September. Recruitment of Malaysian students continued to grow and while demand from international students was similarly high, the new visa regulations resulted in a significant reduction in the number of actual registrations.
Difficulties with respect to the new EMGS immigration system are in evidence nationwide and the University remains committed to working with relevant government agencies to address the adverse consequences of the new arrangements.
We estimate that in excess of 200 international students failed to secure visas to join their chosen courses.
The composition of the student body is summarised in the tables below. Student population by origin
Student population by study level Study level
Malaysia
International
Total (Oct)
Foundation
570
104
674
UG
2326
911
3237
PGT
227
184
411
PGR
214
107
321
Exchange
-
131
Total
3337
1437
Faculty
Malaysian International Pop (Oct)
Arts and 925 Social Sciences
650
1575
Engineering
1523
550
2073
131
Science
889
237
1126
4774
Total
3337
1437
4774
Student population by origin Faculty
Malaysian
International Population
Arts and Social Sciences
925
650
674
Engineering
1523
550
2014
Staff numbers have continued to grow as outlined in the table below and UNMC reports highly Science 889staff ratios237 favourable student as a result 1482 of a continuing investment in academic staff for both teaching Totalresearch. 3337 1437 4774 and Staff numbers as of end November 2013 Engineering
Arts & Social
Science
Central
Total
Academic
101
88
66
-
255
SSR
19.9
16.8
16.8
-
18.1
Non-academic
53
27
32
220
332
Total
154
115
98
220
587
Exhibit 1: Student population over time (May census date)1 Study level
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Foundation
560
543
670
927
1079
UG
2113
2349
2489
2740
2972
PGT
429
501
455
495
433
PGR
140
210
238
263
285
Total
3242
3603
3852
4425
4769
Exhibit 2: Student numbers on foundation programmes (May census date)
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Excellence in education Continuous improvement and enhancement of teaching and learning provision at UNMC is at the very core of our thinking, both in terms of short-term operational issues as well as in relation to longerterm strategic development as outlined in the new Roadmap. In the shorter term, there are initiatives under way to support staff as they engage in teaching. These include the implementation, embedding and development of Moodle support, improvement of staffstudent ratios, improving peer observation support and a programme of teaching and learning enhancement activities throughout the year. The University’s overarching Teaching and Learning Strategy (TLS) was enhanced in early 2013 with renewed emphasis on initiatives for change during 2013-2015. The UNMC Campus Teaching Committee continues to monitor and develop the UNMC Implementation Plan for the revised TLS and to monitor progress towards the Key Indicators within the University Strategic Plan. In line with the Teaching and Learning Strategy there has been a concerted effort to improve the student learning experience with a particular emphasis being placed on the development of improved social learning spaces (including Learning@TheCore, Learning@ Vetro, Learning@Radius and Learning@Nexus). There have been a range of broader projects and activities aimed at improving the student experience and an increased emphasis on engagement with students through dialogue with the Student Association, the Education Network and the Campus Services Committee, amongst other routes. The development of the senior tutor role and full development of the Senior Tutor Network has led to improved personal tutor support and experience, and this work will continue in to 2014. Four new programmes were approved for delivery at UNMC in 2013 (several more are awaiting approval at the Ministry) bringing the number of approved courses to over 100. The past year has witnessed the continued development of innovative teaching and learning activities, with cross-campus components, including cross-campus module development and delivery, cross-campus delivery with UK students taught by lecturers based at UNMC, and cross-campus delivery of taught material followed by CSR activities including UK and UNMC students working with local Orang Asli communities. In an innovative move in conjunction with
the UK, UNMC is piloting the use of iPads in teaching. In the longer-term vision for UNMC, alongside University-wide plans for transformations in teaching, we will be focusing on projects that seek to ensure that students remain at the very heart of our University activities. Our learning and teaching activity must continue to develop in a learner-focused way. We also need to ensure that our technology-enabled learning provision is of the highest quality while recognising that we are and will continue to be dominantly a campusbased educational institution. Last year saw a larger roll-out of the “echo 360” lecture-capture system and development activities will continue in to 2014 to encourage a wider uptake of this facility. With new learning spaces and a renewed culture focusing on student learning, we will strive to provide UNMC’s students with the highest quality learning experience. During 2013, the Government of Malaysia announced changes to the content and delivery of the “compulsory subjects” (otherwise known as MPU) with a view to enhancing the employability skills of graduates as well as their cultural understanding. These subjects have been extended in terms of scale and coverage (ie, international students are now required to undertake a subset of the compulsory subjects). The University is trying to capitalise on existing elements in the curriculum and is looking for more effective delivery mechanisms to ensure that students realise the full benefits associated with these new subjects. UNMC continues to engage with external agencies in the provision of wider education in the community. 2013 saw UNMC collaborate with the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MOE) in training special needs teachers. This partnership between MOE, UNMC and College of Allied Educators trained and assessed 292 primary school teachers from all over Malaysia at centres in Kuching, Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terengganu, Batu Pahat and Melaka. Minister of Education II, Dato’Seri Idris Jusoh, officiated at a formal ceremony on campus to mark the completion of the programme. Overall 2013 has been a productive and fruitful year for the development of Teaching and Learning at UNMC. Some of the more challenging aspects of dealing with government agencies have been countered by real steps forward in improving the student experience. Our talented and committed staff and students will ensure we make further progress in 2014.
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World-changing research and knowledge exchange Research has always been an integral component of UNMC. One of UNMC’s largest projects, the MEME research programme (Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants) was formally launched on 20 May 2013, with funding of RM3.6m from Yayasan Sime Darby. The programme aims for better understanding of the Asian elephant, and to understand how to mitigate the growing problem of human-elephant conflict. As well as helping to improve management techniques, the project will be developing its research into the immediate and mid-term behavioural response of elephants to translocation — when they are moved away from an area of human-elephant conflict. 8
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World-changing research and knowledge exchange Research has always been an integral component of UNMC since its early days but with the development of the campus and its facilities, the University has been able to enhance some of the infrastructure that underpins its longer-term vision for research excellence. One of the most visible indicators of research performance comes in the form of publications. Our publication record continues to improve year on year. 2013 saw some important developments with respect to UNMC’s aspirations in relation to knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange. As part of the longer term agenda for driving business engagement, a specialist unit is under-development and this will work closely with the equivalent teams in the UK and China. A primary task will be the development of a set of capability statements, which can be used to project UNMC expertise to a broader user community. In addition there have been a number of specific events to promote greater levels of engagement between UNMC and a broader user community. In Feb 2013, UNMC hosted a Horizon Digital Nutrition Sandpit, held in collaboration with CFFRC. The focus of the event was digital nutrition. The aim of the sandpit (which was similar to a UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Sandpit was to generate ideas from all the participants, with the aim of arriving at a project (sometimes projects) that receives funding to undertake the proposed research. The event concluded with a “Dragon’s Den style pitch from the teams in order to secure funding. As part of the development of improved levels of business engagement, UNMC hosted The Malaysian Aerospace Mission 2013 which took place from 18-22 Mar 2013. The event included technical discussions with important industry players from Malaysia, including BAE Systems, Spirit Aerosystems, Strand Aerospace Malaysia, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC), Composite Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), UPECA Aerotech and the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office. The event also includes site and factory visits to Spirit Aerosystems, Strand, CTRM and Rolls-Royce Advanced Technology Centre in Singapore. We were delighted to participate in the JPA (Malaysian Public Works Department)/BMCC (British Malaysia Chamber of Commerce) initiative which aims to enable key staff to work at a UK based company for a three
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month period. Both of the JPA employees (Amiruddin Bin Alaldin (Director, Performance Audit Division, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia) and Mohd Khairul Nizam Bin Ibrahim (Acting Director, Human Resource Development Division, Malaysian Qualifications Agency) visited the UK as part of their project and were hosted by the BEIS/ABC and the Graduate School during the two weeks they spent in the UK. On November 28, UNMC formally launched its wholly-owned subsidiary, MyResearch. This is the first company, fully owned by a private university, to have been awarded MIDA R&D status. Having MIDA R&D status is of particular significance as it enables Malaysian companies to invest in R&D in a very tax efficient way. At the launch event, we were also delighted to be able to sign the first MyResearch contract with Havys Palm Oil Mill Sdn Bhd. A major research partner for UNMC is the Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC). In 2013, CFFRC launched five dedicated programme themes on specific end-uses of underutilised crops. The five CFFRC research programmes themes already launched are: 1. BamYield: Bambara groundnut as an exemplar crop for Africa and Asia. 2. BiomassPlus: Novel biomass crops for sustainable renewable energy. 3. CropBase: Web-based decision-support knowledge platform on underutilised crops. 4. FishPlus: Novel plant products to increase nutritional value of aquaculture feeds. 5. FoodPlus: Diversification of the food basket for enhanced community nutrition. As part of the five CFFRC research programme themes, one programme (PlantationPlus) is in development and another two (MilletYield and SocioBase) are currently under consideration. UNMC have received significant funding under this initiative (over RM 3.5M in 2013).
160
152
147
140 124
121
120
103 100
Figure 1: Record of UNMC publications as recorded by Web of Knowledge. The extract was done on 23 December 2013. The 2013 value will increase over time. (Comparable data from Scopus is available in the appendices).
79
80
60 47 40 25 20
0
1
2
1
5
8 1
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Figure 2: The impact that University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus research is having is evident from the citations that our publications are receiving. Citations of UNMC publications, as recorded by Web of Knowledge, showing the change, year on year.
Figure 3: The growth in research funding is outlined in Figure 3. In recent years, we have received significant awards from Sime Darby, the EU and, in 2013, Crops for the Future Research Centre is making a significant investment into PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
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Global reach UNMC continues to be a highly international and diverse community. The campus is currently home to a community of international students from around 70 countries who make up over 35% of the student body. Our students learn from a genuinely international academic community. Some 25% of UNMC academic staff are international and represent around 30 countries worldwide. Our students have mobility opportunities to University of Nottingham campuses in the UK and China and
UNMC has a diverse community, with students from around 70 countries and staff from over 30.
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a range of other academic partners In Europe, UK and North America. For all three main intakes in 2013, international student recruitment was negatively impacted by the introduction of new visa processes which have created additional complexity, added to costs and lengthened the visa application process significantly. The best available estimates suggest that this may have reduced the student intake by 200 or more.
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University life and social responsibility
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UNMC attracts students who are both academically excellent and also very much aware of their broader social responsibilities. Our student community has also proven to be very active in organising various events throughout the year to promote student engagement and in the same time, benefit the community. Some of the major events that were organised include: • Blood Donation Drive by Pharmacy Society • Jom Botak by ACE Society to raise cancer awareness. • Gen-y Music Festival by Music Society • Nottingham Charity Run by ACE Society in aid of Hospis Malaysia. • Curb Your Ego campaign • Green Week in October to create awareness of the environment. • The ongoing bi-weekly Night Market organised by ENACTUS to raise funds for children from our neighbouring village. • The Nations Cup, a sporting event between students from the different countries represented on campus.
• Fifth Tri-Campus Games held in June, a miniOlympics-type sporting event between the campuses in the UK, China and Malaysia. • UNMC students are proving to be high achievers, having won several gold medals at local interuniversity events and at various competitions, placing them in top rankings. • Two Mechanical Engineering students, along with students from the Business School and Civil Engineering Department, won the General Electric University Challenge which required the students to bring together ideas on clean and energy-efficient solutions that promote sustainability and deliver cost savings for residential, commercial and industrial developments. • The Jan Atkin Prize was also set up by Emeritus Professor Brian Atkin in memory of his late wife. This prize rewards students who have made outstanding contributions to the University and the wider community. This year, three students each received the RM 5000 prize money, presented by Professor Atkin himself.
The 5th Tri-Campus Games were hosted by UNMC in 2013. 15
Sustaining excellence Our graduates
The Careers Advisory Service surveys all graduates on their employment status six months after graduation. The data for this survey (right) was from the graduating class in February 2013 and July 2012. Leading graduate employers include Accenture, BP Asia Pacific, Cameron International Malaysia, CIMB, Citibank, CROPS, Ernst & Young, GL Nobel Denton, Halliburton, Hong Leong Bank, HSBC, IBM, Intel, MMC-Gamuda, Nestle, OCBC, Petronas, RHB Banl, Sapura Kencana Petroleum The achievements of our alumni have been recognised in a number of ways throughout 2013. The University of Nottingham presented a Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 to YM Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithauddeen at an Alumni dinner in Kuala Lumpur. Alumni Molly Fong, CEO of Body Shop Malaysia, and Dr Ting Kang Nee, Head of School of Biomedical Sciences at UNMC, were also presented with University awards for their achievements. MyBurgerLab, an innovative burger outlet owned and managed by Nottingham alumnus Teoh Wee Kiat, and his business partner, Chin Ren Yi, since July 2012, won Best Western Restaurant in the Time Out KL Food Awards 2013 based on votes cast by the city’s residents. It was also shortlisted as Best New Restaurant in Time Out KL Food Awards 2012.
MyBurgerLab is an innovative burger outlet owned and managed by Nottingham alumnus Teoh Wee Kiat.
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Where do UNMC graduates go? The Careers Advisory Service surveyed a target population of 936 UNMC graduates to find out their first destination six months after the graduation ceremony in February 2013 and July 2012. • 92.3% of graduates are in employment, further study, waiting for work placement or attend skills enhancement programme • 81.1% in employed in work (includes permanent, contract work, self-employed, temporary and work with family) and 10% in further study • The top five employment sectors are: Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply, Financial and Insurance, Human Health and Social Work Activities, Manufacturing and Public Administration and Defense • The average salary of all employed respondents was RM3141 • The average salary of employed undergraduates was RM 2722 and postgraduates was RM3819 (Surveyed 232 in Feb 2013 and 704 in July 2012) and received 444 responses.
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Campus life
New and enhanced services have been introduced to further improve student life on campus. A new caterer has been appointed to manage the cafeteria in the extension of the Student Association building. The new caterer is Sodexo, a reputable and established internationally branded F&B manager, which took over in August and serves a wide variety of food in a more comfortable environment. We have given the bookstore additional space so it can accommodate more reading materials according to student needs and allow students to browse in a more conducive and stimulating environment. The University buses and vans can now be easily recognised thanks to a new livery. The transport office has also been working closely with the student body to boost the services, looking at increasing the frequency of trips, timing and bus routes to better meet students’ needs. The student services centre started operations in December. It will be a one-stop destination for our students to address finance, accommodation, visa, sponsorship and other queries.
payment stations to make it more convenient for students to pay accommodation-related fees and charges. Our campus has some of the best sporting facilities in the country and both staff and students are very active. Last year saw the inauguration of a staff sports competition, which brought academics and non-academics together to compete against other sections of the campus. The event was a huge success, with more than 200 staff taking part., and it is likely to become an annual event. This has also started discussions to revive the Staff Club to better co-ordinate and manage events and activities. The highlight of the year was the fifth Tri-Campus games, which were hosted by UNMC. This international sporting event showcased students from Nottingham campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China. Games played included football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, squash, tennis, table tennis and frisbee. The Games involved nearly 200 students from more than 20 nations competing in three international campus-based teams. A friendly match was also organised for Team Nottingham to compete with students from universities in Malaysia
The UNMC Table Tennis team won this year’s The Childcare Centre opened in March and approximately 10 children of staff members are being International Students Sports Carnival (ISSC) cared for by our trained and experienced care-givers. Championship on the weekend of 30 November/1 December 2013 at UNITEN (University Tenaga Nasional) in Bangi. To further enhance campus security, we have installed state-of-the-art CCTV cameras at strategic UNMC participated in the Networking Games 2013 locations. The safety of our staff and students is of in Melaka from the 13-15 December 2013. This paramount importance to us, and we will continue is a sporting carnival for staff members of private making such investments over time. institutions of higher education under MASISWA. We are proud to announce that our Sepak Takraw Towards the end of the year, work began to create team and our netball team returned with bronze common social areas in older halls of residence medals. to encourage interaction and camaraderie among residents. We have also increased the number of
An ongoing programme of work aims to keep improving the student experience. 19
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Soumia Mekki is an undergraduate in International Relations, School of Politics, History and International Relations. 20
Social Sciences has been part of UNMC since its inception, but it is only recently that there has been significant diversification in the subjects offered. 2013 marked the third anniversary of an integrated Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). During 2013, all but one FASS schools were relocated into a single building to promote greater cross-disciplinary working. Student and staff numbers have continued to grow: the faculty’s ambitious expansion plans aim to make it the largest on campus by 2020. 2013 saw the departure of some key senior staff: Professor Tan Hui Boon (NUBS), Associate Professor Camilla Jensen (head of Nottingham School of Economics) and Associate Professor Howard Loewen (PHIR). Their departures were offset by the faculty’s continued success in recruiting experienced midcareer or senior scholars, most notably Professor Ong Fon Sim (NUBS), Professor Tony Bush (Education, and Nottingham’s first ‘split-campus’ appointment), Associate Professor Michael Connors (who joined PHIR from La Trobe and took over as Head of School in July) and Associate Professor Derek Irwin (who came from Ningbo to head up the School of English). The faculty remains ‘top-light’, in terms of senior and professorial staff, however progress is being made in nurturing talent from within the ranks: the 2013 promotions round saw a high success rate for the faculty (five from seven applications for level 6; one level 7 awaiting results in February 2014); Paul (NSE), Alam (NUBS), Yee (NUBS), Lim (SMLC), to associate professor and Gan (NUBS) to senior teaching fellow. The faculty reached a milestone in terms of shape and maturity in 2013. Politics, History and International Relations and the Nottingham School of Economics graduated their first UG cohort, and, like the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, will soon exit their ‘start-up’ phase. Significant progress has been made in establishing these schools’ presence in Malaysia; refining curricula to meet local demands, engaging with the public through lectures and seminars, and working with local collaborators. Although English language and literature has been taught as part of SMLC’s programmes, the opening of the School of English in Arts and Humanities in September was an exciting initiative for UNMC. English’s four staff quickly made their presence felt on the intellectual life of the campus, through their work with the Pages & Leaves reading group, a campus-wide theatre group and a creative writing magazine (http://particle.sanottingham.org). Finally, the faculty’s two foundation programmes were brought together into a single Foundation Studies Unit, headed by Wendy Gan. Student evaluation reports show that FASS schools continue to provide a high standard of UG and PGT
teaching. NSE’s first graduating cohort of UG saw over 50% receive first class degrees, but across the board, IQA and external examiners reports show strong teaching and learning activities under way. The creation of an Associate Dean for Teaching Enhancement (Angeli Santos) in September signals the faculty’s determination to keep teaching delivery, curricula design and staff professional development. The AD(TE) also helped oversee the expansion of compulsory subjects in line with government requirements, and will continue to help as compulsory subjects are extended (to include U2, U3 and U4 levels) over the next two years. The year also saw progress in research and knowledge transfer activities. NUBS’ executive education team continued developing this important area and it is hoped that other schools will draw on this experience to develop their own operations. The faculty recorded good results in grant capture; 100% success rate with FRGS (three grants from NUBS), and two (NUBS/NSE, out of five) in the final round of grants made available by the University’s IGS research priority group. A highlight was SMLC’s Watching the Watchdog project, led by Tessa Houghton, which studied media activity during Malaysia’s 13th general election in May 2013, and received considerable media coverage itself. Professor Rom Nain (SMLC) accepted the position of Associate Dean for Research (AD(R)), with responsibility for overseeing faculty research activities. The AD(R) also oversees the fortnightly FASS research seminar, the faculty’s research ethics committee, and has responsibility for promoting the interests of its burgeoning community of PG research students. The faculty also housed the campus’s Early Career Researchers’ Network, which holds regular seminars and workshops, the University’s Knowledge Without Borders Network, and the MYEULINK team, whose four-year EU-funded project ended in early 2014. Our student body has continued to do the faculty proud. Dedicated administrative resource in the FASS and NUBS offices have helped our students get the most out of their time here and maximise their extracurricula activities. Notable highlights include a panel discussion on Palestinian-Israeli in December, and UNMC’s first ‘model United Nations’ conference in June 2013, NUBS students’ success in winning the Schneider Electric Go Green in the City Malaysia Competition in April and the prestigious GE, one of the Top 10 Fortune 500 companies in the world, University Challenge 2013 competition in November, a NUBS/PHIR student was short-listed for Graduate of the Year and has won a place on GSK’s Future Leaders programme, and NSE, PHIR and Education all graduated their first PGR (PhD) students.
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Faculty of Engineering
The faculty continues to be the largest recruiter of students and, as planned, numbers have not changed significantly this year. To support students in their learning, there has been considerable investment in buildings and workshop equipment. The high quality of our students is recognised by employers who pay our graduates above the national average. Civil Engineering: With the large number of infrastructure projects (eg LRT extension, MRT) in Malaysia, there is a continuing demand for civil engineers, and our student numbers continue to grow. To offer a higher quality learning experience, there have been significant changes to the laboratories; a 200sqm, (RM0.5m) extension to the mixing laboratory and the relocation of the geotechnical laboratories to block C. The move was finished just in time for the JBM accreditation panel visit in November. Mechanical Engineering: Understanding how an object is manufactured is an essential soft skill for mechanical engineers. As a result of a RM1.0m investment, our students’ experience of acquiring this skill set has been significantly aided by a new mechanical workshop, built underneath block D and giving students access to modern cutting machines. All faculty visitors will be shown around the workshop. With departmental help, linkages to the profession have been aided by the establishment of a student branch of the IMechE.
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Electrical and Electronic Engineering: In December, two student teams from Electrical and Electronic Engineering competed in the Moto INNOCUP, a national level embedded design competition. The theme of the competition was to design a Gesture – Next Generation Smart User Input Device. Both teams were complimented on their well-designed posters and their confidence and ability to “sell” an engineering product. Our teams’ hard work paid off when they were announced second runner-up and champions. Chemical Engineering: Ninety alumni visited the campus to meet old friends and reminisce in an event to mark the department’s 10 years in Malaysia. Teaching and learning excellence has been improved further by the introduction of a residential field trip at Port Dickson, which provides students with the opportunity to undertake a real environmental assessment. Support Departments: The continued popularity of the foundation year provides a firm base for our recruitment into the degree programmes. With large student numbers on all of its modules, Applied Mathematics has been developing new electronic-based methodologies for both formative and summative assessment. Accreditation: Despite the ECUK and the BEM being members of the Washington Accord, the differences in accreditation requirements continue to be a major hurdle in long-term local accreditation of our degree programmes. The JBM visit in November continued to
show the UK professional bodies are impressed by our campus and provision. Staff: Staff continue to contribute to the University’s global aspirations by delivering modules and training at all levels to both the UK and China campus. Several people over the year have stood down from managerial positions (Dino Isa, Andrew Spowage, Terence Wong) – the faculty would like to thank them for their contributions. Congratulations should also be sent to Denny Ng and Dominic Foo for their external awards (IChemE, Japanese Society of Chemical Engineers).The faculty is taking the campus lead in raising awareness on gender balance through the WINSET initiative. Research: The faculty is strong in research and has a healthy grant portfolio of RM15m from a variety of income streams (MOSTI, MoE and Industry). The
faculty has published over 100 papers indexed by Scopus and engineering staff have been the campus top publishers for several years. Three papers in the Computers and Chemical Engineering Journal (Impact factor of 2.091) co-authored by Denny Ng, Hon Loong Lam and Dominic Foo have been identified by Elsevier as the most cited papers between 2010-2012. Corporate Social Responsibility: Choong Wee Kang has been leading an initiative to ensure the campus delivers its mission at the local level. He has organised school visits to inspire local schoolchildren. Raising awareness of accessibility in Civil Engineering design has been another aim of his. The faculty has also been at the forefront in developing the environment policy of the campus mainly due to the strong leadership of Svenja Hanson, who is now Chair of the Campus Environment Committee.
From left to right: Yong Hua Nguon, postgraduate MSc Mechanical Engineering, and Sami Davtalab Bashm, postgraduate PhD Mechanical Engineering.
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Undergraduate Samuel Cox working in the Faculty of Science at UNMC. 24
Faculty of Science
The Faculty of Science has enjoyed an extremely successful year. Highlights include two of our staff winning Vice-Chancellor Achievement Awards and two winning Dearing Awards for excellence in teaching. The winners of the VC Achievement Awards were Ahimsa Campos, for his outstanding research into the management and ecology of Malaysian elephants, and Ting Kang Nee, for her excellent work in support of cancer charities. Ahimsa has received a succession of significant research grants and has published in world-leading high impact journals. He has delivered keynote addresses at various prestigious meetings, including two at our UK campus, one of which was presided by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Greenaway. Kang Nee completed a sponsored hike to Everest base camp to raise funds for cancer research, in addition to a range of other charitable activities. She raised significant funds, worked hard to raise the profile of the issues associated with cancer, and delivered an engaging campus talk about her Everest expedition. Kang Nee was also honoured with an Alumni Laureate Award from the Vice-Chancellor. Further successes were seen in the arena of teaching excellence. Tim Brailsford and Andrew Morris won Lord Dearing awards. This is the second time Tim has received a Dearing Award – a unique achievement for an academic at The University of Nottingham’s international campuses. He received this reward principally in recognition of his campus-wide leadership in technology-enhanced learning. Andrew Morris received the award on behalf of the UNMC Pharmacy team, who worked tirelessly to comprehensively revise the MPharm programme. The work done at UNMC was University-wide, culminating in a new Pharmacy flagship programme offered at the UK and Malaysia campuses. The faculty has grown considerably over the past few years.2013 saw the largest intake in our history, despite the problems regarding visas for international students. We met – and in some areas exceeded – our intake and income targets. Notable areas where intake targets were exceeded were seen in the Department of Biomedical Science and in the School of Computer Science. The faculty manages its budget prudently, meaning that we make a strong operational surplus that contributes significantly to the good financial health of UNMC. We have grown our complement of academic
staff and our range of laboratory facilities to cater for the increase in student numbers over the past few years. In particular, we have extended teaching and research facilities in the School of Biosciences. We have expanded the management structure in line with faculty growth, with the appointment of three associate deans. Dr Nash Billa is Associate Dean for Research, Dr Winnie Yap is Associate Dean for Teaching, and Dr Kirsten McKenzie is Associate Dean for Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing. The three roles are paramount in the success of the faculty. These three talented individuals are allocated funding to seed research that will be world-leading, to support teaching projects to ensure that we continue to perform at an outstanding level, and to invest in marketing activities that will ultimately pay dividends in the form of targetexceeding student recruitment. We said farewell to Professor Mike Steven when he completed his period as founding Head of the School of Geography; we wish Mike all the very best for his relocation to the UK campus and we warmly thank him for all his pioneering work. We were delighted to welcome the new Head, Dr Suzanne McGowan. The students are a credit not only to UNMC but to The University of Nottingham as a whole. They display a commendable work-ethic, with great ability, focus and commitment. It is pleasing that the efforts of our students are recognised, with a high proportion graduating with ‘good’ degree classifications. Indeed, in some programmes there is a higher proportion of firstclass grades at UNMC than at the UK campus. Excellence in our students is also evident outside of the arena of academic life. Faculty of Science students lead some of the major societies associated with community engagement projects, notably the ACE society. The achievements of Ben Hunte, a UNMC Psychology student, illustrate how multi-faceted our students talents are. Blue Peter, the long-running children’s programme hosted by BBC TV, ran a televised quest to find a presenter. Ben entered and appeared in several episodes, right up to the final, where he finished runner up. The producers were clearly very impressed and it seems that there will be various TV broadcasting opportunities available to Ben when he graduates in the summer of 2014.
25
Highlights Notable campus visitors
The campus has welcomed many important visitors who have given significant inspirational talks to the students and staff. These include • Neil Morris, Vice-President, BP • Sir Andrew Witty, Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and CEO, GSK • Mike Gascoygne, Caterham Technology and former F1 technical manager • Robin Grimes Chief Scientific Advisor for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office • Dato Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Education, Government of Malaysia
• Honorary Degrees
Honorary Degrees were awarded to • Anthony Cooper, in recognition of his charitable work and outstanding business career • Tan Sri Professor Dzulkifli for his contribution to education in Malaysia and internationally • Mr Teh Beng Choon, for his work with the National Autism Society of Malaysia
University Alumni Laureate Awards Special Excellence Award: Kang Nee Ting (BPharm 1995, PhD Biomedical Sciences 1999, PGCHE 2009) Lifetime Achievement Award: Tengku Tan Sri Rithauddeen (Law 1954, Hon LLD 2002) UNMC Alumni of the Year Molly Fong (MBA 2011) Wang Zhan Bo (Finance and Accounting 2004)
Provost Christine Ennew meets Mike Gascoygne, Caterham Technology and former F1 technical manager.
The launch of Nottingham MyResearch at UNMC.
26
Kang Nee Ting (BPharm 1995, PhD Biomedical Sciences 1999, PGCHE 2009) – pictured here at Everest Base Camp, received a Special Excellence Award in the Alumni Laureate Awards.
Appendix 1: Student and staff data Summary financial information: 2012 financial year Exhibit 1: Student population over time (May census date)1 Study level
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Foundation
560
543
670
927
1079
UG
2113
2349
2489
2740
PGT
429
501
455
PGR
140
210
Total
3242
3603
Exhibit 4: Student numbers on masters programmes (May census date) Subject area
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2972
Faculty of Engineering
17
32
35
52
44
495
433
Malaysian
5
7
13
14
13
238
263
285
International
12
25
22
38
31
3852
4425
4769
Faculty of Science
6
11
32
29
30
Malaysian
4
4
5
5
7
Exhibit 2: Student numbers on foundation programmes (May census date) Subject area
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
International
2
7
27
24
23
Faculty of Engineering
326
352
391
439
443
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
406
458
388
414
359
Malaysian
253
268
298
362
357
Malaysian
236
279
237
255
220
International
73
84
93
77
86
International
170
179
151
159
139
Faculty of Science
53
54
92
193
288
Total
429
501
455
495
433
Malaysian
31
45
74
162
259
Malaysian
245
290
255
274
240
International
22
9
18
31
29
International
184
211
200
221
193
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
181
137
187
295
348
Malaysian
111
98
122
188
245
International
70
39
65
107
103
Total
560
543
670
927
1079
Malaysian
395
411
494
712
861
International
165
132
176
215
218
Exhibit 5: Student numbers on PhD programmes (May census date)
Exhibit 3: Student numbers on undergraduate programmes (May census date)
28
Subject area
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Faculty of Engineering
67
110
116
124
137
Malaysian
60
91
91
90
95
International
7
19
25
34
42
44
59
82
92
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Faculty of Science
33
Subject area Faculty of Engineering
1248
1319
1342
1453
1534
Malaysian
23
35
48
67
70
International
10
9
11
15
22
Malaysian
905
928
976
1051
1129
40
56
63
57
56
International
343
391
366
402
405
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
Faculty of Science
282
314
378
483
628
Malaysian
26
34
36
33
33
International
14
22
27
24
23
Malaysian
176
187
259
375
501
Total
140
210
238
263
285
International
106
127
119
108
127
Malaysian
109
160
175
190
198
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
583
716
769
804
810
International
31
50
63
73
87
Malaysian
276
339
347
397
420
International
307
377
422
407
390
Total
2113
2349
2489
2740
2972
Malaysian
1357
1454
1582
1823
2050
International
756
895
907
917
922
May provides a consistent measurement point immediately after the April Foundation and prior to July intake and graduation. 1
Exhibit 6: Student numbers full-time vs part-time (May census date)
Exhibit 9: Malaysian student population by ethnicity
Subject area
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Faculty of Engineering
1658
1813
1884
2068
2158
Full-time
1645
1788
1855
2039
2133
Part-time
13
25
29
29
25
Faculty of Science
374
423
561
787
1038
Full-time
371
417
555
779
1016
Part-time
3
6
6
8
22
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
1210
1360
1403
1570
1573
Full-time
908
1018
1105
1265
1305
Part-time
302
342
298
305
268
Total
3242
3596
3848
4425
4769
Ethnicity
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Bumi
11
10
9
14
24
Chinese
1461
1593
1718
2065
2314
Indian
206
233
252
260
261
Malay
402
453
488
617
701
Others
26
26
39
43
49
Total
2106
2315
2506
2999
3349
Exhibit 7: Applications by year of entry
Exhibit 8: Registrations by year of entry
29
Exhibit 10: International students by country of origin Nationality
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Algerian
2
1
2
2
2
American
7
5
8
16
16
Australian
0
1
2
3
3
Austrian
0
0
1
1
1
Bahraini
5
5
5
6
8
Bangladeshi
23
33
37
50
54
Belgian
0
0
0
0
1
Botswana
113
103
1
1
0
Brazilian
1
1
98
31
0
British
25
23
32
35
41
British-HK
1
2
2
1
0
Brunei PR
0
1
2
2
1
Bruneian
2
2
3
0
3
Burmese
0
0
0
0
1
Burundian
1
0
2
0
0
Cambodian
0
0
1
1
0
Cameroonian
1
2
2
0
0
Canadian
4
4
5
4
3
Chadian
0
0
1
1
2
Chilean
1
0
1
0
0
Chinese
0
0
1
34
4
Chinese-China
48
41
39
38
62
Chinese-HK
1
1
0
0
0
Chinese-Taiwan
4
4
5
1
0
Djiboutian
0
1
1
1
0
Dutch
3
2
1
1
1
Egyptian
4
10
14
18
36
Ethiopian
1
1
1
0
1
Fijian
0
0
0
1
0
Filipino
2
4
5
7
7
French
1
2
2
3
3
Gambian
0
0
0
1
0
German
3
4
3
4
2
Ghanaian
2
2
4
2
4
Icelander
1
1
0
0
1
Indian
77
87
100
93
107
Indonesian
54
47
53
40
51
Iranian
21
26
31
52
39
Iraqi
7
9
10
17
12
Irish
0
1
1
1
2
Japanese
0
3
4
4
Malawian
1
1
2
2
2
Maldivian
42
45
41
33
27
Maltese
0
1
0
0
0
Mauritian
24
28
44
57
73
Mauritius
0
0
0
1
0
Moroccan
0
0
0
1
0
Myanmar
5
4
7
12
10
Nepalese
0
1
1
2
3
Netherlander
0
0
0
0
1
New Zealander
0
0
0
2
2
Nigerian
142
142
80
57
54
Norwegian
2
3
1
0
0
Omani
2
3
1
16
33
Pakistani
125
182
214
240
216
Pakistani/British
1
2
2
1
0
Palestinian
1
1
1
2
4
Polish
0
1
0
1
1
Russian
3
4
8
5
3
Rwandese
0
0
1
1
0
Saudi
0
0
2
0
0
Seychellois
0
0
0
0
2
Singaporean
9
13
14
21
24
Somali
3
6
6
9
7
South African
0
0
1
1
1
South Korean
0
0
0
2
50
Spanish
0
1
0
0
0
Sri Lankan
108
132
108
127
117
Sudanese
41
52
60
58
47
Swazi
1
0
0
0
0
Swiss
1
1
1
0
0
Syrian
2
2
3
6
6
Taiwan
2
3
3
4
0
Taiwanese
0
0
0
0
4
Tajikistani
0
1
3
3
2
Tanzanian
28
32
36
31
23
Thai
5
4
4
5
6
Trinidian/Tobagonian
0
0
0
0
1
Tunisian
0
1
2
2
1
Uganda
0
1
0
0
0
Ugandan
8
14
16
11
14
Ukrainian
2
1
0
0
0
8
Uzbek
1
4
7
9
0
0
0
0
2
7
Jordanian
3
4
6
6
4
Uzbekistani
Kazakhstani
15
32
35
51
72
Vietnamese
63
51
53
65
78
11
10
12
11
8
Kenyan
49
48
37
28
26
Yemeni
Korean
14
24
47
58
2
Yemenite
0
0
0
0
2
1
1
3
4
5
Kyrgyz
0
0
0
1
0
Zambian
Kyrgyzstani
0
0
1
1
1
Zimbabwean
2
1
1
2
3
Total
1136
1288
1346
1426
1420
Lebanese
1
0
1
1
0
Libyan
2
1
1
1
0
Malagasy
1
1
0
1
2
Exhibit 11: Academic staff numbers as of end September
Exhibit 12: Non-academic staff numbers as of end September
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Engineering
115
113
84
84
101
Science
30
45
31
54
Arts & Soc. Sciences
52
48
73
Total academic
197
206
Total all
395
427
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Engineering
58
62
65
43
52
61
Science
21
23
18
28
31
73
85
Arts & Soc. Sciences
15
17
16
21
85
188
211
247
Central
104
119
165
184
224
452
487
579
Total
198
221
264
276
332
2
Exhibit 14: SSRs (October 2013)
Exhibit 13: SSRs overtime
2 3
UoN-UK4
UNMC
UNNC5
Engineering
18.9
20.0
8.9
16.9
Science
16.6
19.6
22.4
20.8
19.6
Arts & Soc. Sciences
18.1
16.9
14.8
21.8
18.8
Overall
17.9
18.8
15.4
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Engineering
19.1
19.2
23.0
24.7
20.0
Science
13.0
17.3
23.2
18.5
Arts & Soc. Sciences
29.9
25.6
19.6
Overall
22.2
20.9
22.4
3
Reflects a recatergorisation of research assistants from staff to students Reflects a recatergorisation of research assistants from staff to students
4 5
UK figures are FTE based and unweighted averages for relevant faculties only. Total is an unweighted average.
Appendix 2: Summary financial information RM Income Tuition fee income
126,292,223.49
Scholarship awarded
(12,919,035.29)
Uncollected tuition fee
(229,080.26)
Net tuition fee
113,144,107.94
Other income
4,350,169.57
Net income
117,494,277.51
Operating expenses Pay costs
49,523,966.64
Non-pay costs
62,824,975.18
Total operating cost
112,348,941.82
Surplus before tax
5,145,335.69
Taxation
2,198,135.75
Surplus after tax
7,343,471.44
31
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Jalan Broga 43500 Semenyih Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia t: +60 (0)3 8924 8000 f: +60 (0)3 8924 8001