PENANG, 15 October 2016 - The 21st century is where technology is one of the elements that drives the world forward, and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) being the country's only  university awarded the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX), need to be relevant, referred and respected (3R).

This was stated by the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail when interviewed for the Astro Awani programme recently, which was hosted by Kamarul Bahrin Haron, a USM 1994 alumni member here in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Asma, USM is relevant due to the emphasis given to sustainability, integrity, prescribed values and professionalism which form the fundamentals for its strength, along with the focus put on core areas - science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

"USM should offer solutions to what the people are focusing on, those from the industry and the community as the university is a place that puts emphasis on learning, learning and learning, and not only a place that focuses on employability. For it to happen, those at USM need to learn, go out into the community and seek answers on their wants, then come back to 'design' what needs to be done," said Asma.

Asma added that, flexible education needs to be implemented at USM. One example would be the need for students to discuss means of problem-solving in classrooms, as USM offers courses in the fields of Science, Arts, Engineering and Medicine.

Furthermore, Asma said that, USM needs to listen to do it, and students need to venture out into the outside environment and identify the problems, which is what is required to become problem-solvers in the first place.

"In this era of high technology, academicians also need to provide the students with opportunities for problem-solving; though if they fail, it could be part of the learning process for them, and from which they could be guided to learn from their mistakes."

"Those at USM need to create a balance between knowledge-generation and character-building for the future of the institution and also the nation," she further said.

Asma has also targeted for USM to become a global institution that would be relevant, referred and respected (3R), thus becoming a growth-led university and in order to achieve that, USM needs to adapt and move forward through the practice of to Learn, Un-learn, Re-learn and Co-learn collectively to bring improvements to society, the industry, the community, and the government among others.

Ending the interview, Asma reiterated that the APEX agenda will continue to be a relevant agenda for the nation.

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah