Monash remains right on the cutting edgeMonash University Malaysia president and chief executive Prof Helen Bartlett has big visions for the university. Her visions are driven by the desire to move from just being an Australian campus offering Australian courses to being fully integrated in Malaysia, and in the region.
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We have been here for 16 years and I think now, the community, businesses and industries are much more engaged with us in terms of understanding the opportunities for our students through internships, placements, projects, and working with them on collaborative projects. It reduces the gap between university and the real world.
“There is a wealth of expertise in business and industry, and we are working very hard at increasing our connections. We are inviting leaders to share their expertise and looking at how our research can be implemented and disseminated in the real world,” she said.
Research is critical to the university’s education and blending research into the educational approach is something that has taken shape, and will continue to be strengthened.
“We do a lot of work on tropical environments where we can gear units to take advantage of the natural experience, skills and opportunities that are here.
“A lot of research by our business school focuses on Halal eco systems and with that comes subjects like Islamic banking. In medicine, we are studying dengue fever and our units can incorporate more attention to tropical diseases.
“That is the way we are making our courses become more adaptable.
There is no point offering exactly the same thing that Australia has. We have more to offer as well. We are trying to develop units that reflect the essence of Asia,” Bartlett said.
The university is in the top 1% of the world’s universities and is ranked 83rd in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2014-2015). They are also ranked in the top 50 in three areas, namely arts and humanities, clinical, pre-clinical and health, and engineering and technology.
“There’s a whole range of things that contribute to the rankings including quality teaching and learning, international reach, and industry engagement. These things get wrapped up in a complicated formula to produce the rankings.
“The rankings signal to students and families that we have excellent staff that are experts in their field and are doing cutting-edge research. It also sends a message to employers that they are going to get a graduate who has been to a highly ranked university, and for our graduates, they will have good opportunities with a Monash degree,” Bartlett said.
She said even as undergraduates, students have the opportunity to do projects and have honours degrees, and it is very exciting for them to feel that they can be involved in knowledge creation.
“They can be at the cutting edge of generating solutions for society problems. It appeals to students to know that they can work alongside academics that have that background,” she added.
As a research active university, Bartlett said they have to keep investing in research to remain on the cutting edge. Their challenge is finding the balance between internal and external funding.
“Another challenge is ensuring our students have the opportunities for mobility. For students to travel and have different experiences in universities, businesses and industries in other countries means we have to have a mobility strategy.
“We have to also maintain quality standards in what we do so that our teaching and learning is the best. That means we have to recruit the best and make sure they remain the best.
“Academic mobility is a challenge too. They are like football players who can be enticed with better remuneration and conditions. We have to make sure we give them the best opportunities and support.
“We need to attract as well as grow them. We like to attract our undergraduate students to come back to do their honours and PhD, and then bring them on to the academic staff so we can grow our own,” Bartlett said.
She said Monash is focused on producing global citizens; this is embedded in its courses.
“We not only expect students to develop knowledge and application of the field but all the soft skills that are needed to be able to work in teams and in multicultural environments. The world is so mobile that everyone has to be able to work with different cultures.
“Students must be able to transfer their knowledge from one area to another. They have to be very adaptable.
“They have to have excellent communication skills and ethics, and students acquire these skills throughout their degree in Monash.
“Their skills are further enhanced by placements and internships with industries. They could go to Australia for a semester or longer if they want, or any of our partner universities all over the world. Students can also have placements arranged for them in other countries in relevant areas.
“If they cannot get placements overseas, we try to place them with multinationals. We try to focus on big companies where students get an understanding of what it is like working in a global organisation.
“Graduates got to be able to problem-solve and be critical thinkers. That is what companies want today. They want employees who can take initiative and make a contribution to the company,” she said.
Bartlett believes the Malaysian education is improving. “Its advantage is choice where there are many types of institutions you can go to from an open university to a technology university or industry-based university. The diversity is truly amazing.
“I think Malaysia can play to its strengths by promoting itself as a gateway for the region, making sure quality is regulated carefully and standards are improved but not over regulate.”
Bartlett is optimistic about Malaysia’s future as an education hub. “I think the goal of becoming a hub is not totally out of the question if they can maintain quality and promote Malaysia as a destination. We have to be very proactive in selling the story.
“Students can go anywhere in the world now and they are increasingly going to different places than Australia, UK and US. They are becoming more open to studying in different countries.
“There are a lot of students coming from China but there are also many students going to China, and Malaysia can be one of those.
“Malaysia has the opportunity to become a serious option for international students. There is still more to do as an international university here and we can contribute by collaborating with public universities and by working in partnership with the government.
“Sometimes it benefits us to collaborate and find a partner you can blend skill sets to have a better impact,” she said.
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1216850 
Feb 28 2014, 12:54 AM, updated 11y ago
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new building already done probably have to link the networks there as well
I didnt meetup with any lowyatian before....
it's the same price u are paying for the unit of this sem, unless they decided to adjust the price 
Just park in the Rm2 parking, peace of mind 
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