PENANG, 3 July 2013 - The university administrators, academics and students should take advantage of the online communication to enhance work efficiency and cost effectiveness.

This matter was addressed by Professor Dr. Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim, a professor in the field of social and pharmacy management and also the Associate Dean of research and graduate studies of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Qatar University in his public lecture titled ‘730 Days at Qatar University’ organised by the Centre for Innovation and Productivity in Public Administration (CIPPA).

Mohamed Izham is a USM alumnus who has served the university for 17 years before he decided to share his expertise at the international level, first with a university in Saudi Arabia before joining the Qatar University in 2011. In USM, he held the Deputy Dean’s position at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and also served as the Director of the Corporate Development Division.

According to Mohamed Izham, all the students at Qatar University are supplied with computers and communication was entirely done online, including matters pertaining to examination, upload of lecture notes which was done at least one day before class, communication with lecturers and also dissemination of information.

He added that the lecturers would have to assess the examination papers online and upload the results of the tests, quizzes or examinations in 48 hours.

According to Mohamed Izham, all the achievements and efforts of the academic staff, including the research and paper presentations were made online through a programme known as Black Board (BB9) that served as the main communication method at Qatar University and this effort was in line with the university’s paperless policy in administration and management including for meeting purposes.

The use of online communication allowed us to prepare annual reports and to conduct assessments in an objective and transparent manner, in fact, the work objectives and goals have been set and it can be achieved through a clear working process," said Mohamed Izham.

Mohamed Izham has gained much valuable personal experiences working in Qatar, a small but the richest country in the world with a population of around 2 million people.

"Online communication allows time to be fully utilised and it gives a clear picture on what has to be carried out without wasting time on non-beneficial matters, in fact, working time can be fully utilised for various purposes. It is the culture over here where no official activities are conducted after working hours, no interruption of phone calls at night and during holidays because they hold on to the principle of making the most of non-office hours as quality time spent with family," said Mohamed Izham.

He added that even though communication through e-mail was still being done after office hours but the important thing is that the available time can be capitalised to do planning and preparations including for research.

Therefore, Mohamed Izham encouraged USM lecturers and researchers to collaborate in research with the academic partners from Qatar University because they have huge and abundant funds and they are ready for this purpose even though the principal researchers would have to come from their own community.

"They are very careful in terms of academic development planning, publications and research in order to meet the future needs and developments of the country and the Arab world. This is in line with the 2030 Qatar Mission, Qatar National Research Strategy and university research priority areas to strengthen its Research Park," said Mohamed Izham.

Among them is the research on diseases such as diabetes and road safety which are the urgent needs of Qatar, he expained further.

He added that all the academic works will be posted online and they need to inform the faculty about their achievements. The dean’s task is to send a congratulation note and make known of their achievements by posting them on the website.

When asked on the adverse effect of online communication on interpersonal communication among lecturers, administrators and campus community, Mohamed Izham denied the statement.

"We still communicate in meetings, social gatherings and face to face communication, it is just that we do not waste time during working hours and we are more focused on the job at hand," he said.

Qatar University was established in 1973 with approximately 31,000 students and 24 academic programmes with the aim of becoming a model university with world academic standards and best practices.

"Even though they benchmarked their academic standards based on western model, but in the case of best Islamic practices, they look up to Malaysia as an example of a successful developing country," said Mohamed Izham.

Approximately 40 administrators and lecturers attended the experience sharing session. Also present were the Director of CIPPA, Dr. Haji Musa Ali and the CIPPA Fellow, Professor Dr. Osman Mohamad. - Text/Photo: Mohamad Abdullah/Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe