PENANG, August 2015 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will introduce TeRamPiL as the basis for its academics’ future career development.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman explained that TeRamPiL, an acronym for Teacher/Researcher/Practitioner/Leader, highlights quality improvement for career development focused around the four roles mentioned in the acronym.

“The TeRamPiL model will fulfil the needs of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (Higher Education) or PPPM-PT to produce academics who possess and master the four requisite skills in line with the need to be highly skilled and competent,” said Omar.

Speaking to around 200 USM staff members who attended the monthly gathering with the VC at USM, the Vice-Chancellor emphasised that all parties will be involved in this shift as it will be realised through training and the annual appraisal. It will also be taken into consideration for promotion exercises under the category of personal attributes, as well as functional and generic competencies.

Omar also urged the campus community to ensure the success of USM’s higher education transformation in its bid to fulfil the PPPM-PT in line with the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) which had been crafted through scenario planning and looking ahead to the year 2020.

“We are currently undergoing a transformation process to alter the landscape of higher education – a daunting task which nevertheless needs to be accomplished to support the shifts proposed in the PPPM PT, especially in producing talents needed by the university and the nation,” Omar explained.

Omar further explained that the transformation encompasses efforts to streamline the university’s performance and generate 30% income to cover operational costs by the year 2020, besides other efforts included in the APEX Research and Innovation Programme, APEX Leadership and Nation Building Programme, APEX Sharing, APEX Extension and Positioning, Academic and Student Development, Financial Sustainability and Institutional Development which are aligned to the 10 shifts of the PPPM-PT. Its core lies within USM’s vision to transform higher education for a sustainable tomorrow in its aspirations to be the university in matters related to sustainability whereas PPPM-PT similarly aspires to transform higher education towards excellence.

USM has long since determined and planned its future direction coincidentally largely in line with the requirements of the PPPM-PT, as such only 21.1% of its future plans need to be redefined while 25.4% of the PPPM-PT’s scope is not relevant.

“USM is continuing its efforts to achieve its aspirations under the 11th Malaysia Plan to become a world renowned university for cutting edge research in its niche areas besides becoming the university of choice for local and international students; at the same time we are also focusing on APEX Phase 2 planning which will see us becoming the university for sustainability,” added Omar.

All these endeavours will be part of USM’s efforts to support national planning to enhance inclusive development, improve the people’s wellbeing, develop human capital, move towards green development, empower growth levels and engineer economic development supported by high impact projects, quick action and low costs.

“We cannot retain the old mentality of lagging behind in action while languishing in our comfort zones and individualistic mind-sets, because the whole campus community needs to work together, across the board,” Omar reiterated.

USM’s present main strategy is to focus on efforts to attain global research prominence in selected niche areas, become one of the key players in national development by producing high-quality graduates through postgraduate programmes designed to increase graduate marketability, become an exemplary institution to be emulated by others besides branding USM as an institution with a difference, renowned for sustainability be it in research, academics or student activities, with relevant academic course offerings that tap into a framework of co-operation with prominent regional and international institutions. Sustainability should also be reflected in our ability to generate 30% financial requirements by the year 2020 and the efficiency of the organisation.

“As such, USM is strategising to achieve our 2020 goals through efforts to produce talents that are relevant to the needs of the country and the future global scenario, offering academic programmes that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (STEM) and the trans-disciplinary especially sustainability as the choice for students, empowering research programmes with high benchmarking in line with future needs as well as ensuring that USM remains competitive in terms of cost, efficiency and income,” he added.

On a similar note, the Vice-Chancellor pledged to step up efforts to expand USM’s off-shore academic programmes especially at international level of which several are already in the final stages of planning and discussion. A specific model for students’ and lecturers’ career development is also being mooted through the TeRamPiL model.

Translation: Dr Nurul Farhana Low Abdullah/Text: Mohamad bin Abdullah