Prof. Nor with participants from the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia and the USA during the Farewell Banquet

Prof. Nor with (L to R) : Ms. Amy Mc Cann, Program Specialist in the Office of Economic Policy in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State, Washington DC; Asst. Prof. Terence Lee, Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Kuala Lumpur, 7 June 2008 - Professor Dr Norfadzillah Bt. Hitam, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at UCSI, had the honour of being invited to the world renowned Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) which took place between 7 - 12 June 2008 at the Schloss (Palace) Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria. Nominated by her doctorate programme sponsor, the East West Centre of Honolulu, Prof. Nor counts herself as privileged to have been selected from amongst the many candidates who applied to participate in this forum. She presented a paper entitled “Internationalizing Higher Education in Public & Private Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia. The Many-Sided Pacific: Structures for Cooperation. Twenty-three fellows, including Prof. Nor, seven faculty members and seven other organizing staff congregated for the symposium.
The Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) is one of the world’s premier forums for promoting international dialogues on pressing issues of global concern. It challenges current and future leader to develop creative ideas to solve global problems. Being an independent and a non-profit organization, the SGS provides an avenue for inventive thinkers and scholars from different cultures, professions and backgrounds to develop strategies for change. It is funded by the Freeman Foundation, established by Mansfield Freeman, owner and co-founder of the American International Group (AIG) – the international insurance and financial conglomerate which is based in Vermont (USA), with offices in New York City. The foundation is dedicated to augmenting international understanding between the USA and the nations of East Asia through the distribution of grants in the educational sector. It grants about USD50 million annually to various organizations and institutions, to strengthen and popularize the teaching of Asia in university classrooms.

The SGS fellows and faculty members came from different parts of Asia and the United States of America. Some were university professors from Keio University Japan, Chulalongkorn University, Monash University Melbourne, John Hopkins University, Harvard University, Peking University, and the University of Southern California. Other discussants and paper presenters included journalists and professionals from The Wall Street Journal, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, the National Public Radio Massachusetts, the US Department of State, the US Naval War College, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vietnam, the Institute for Strategic & Development Studies Manila, the Institute of South East Asian Studies Singapore and the Special Assistant to the Secretary General of ASEAN.

During the 5-day event, many papers were presented in intensive sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. sessions daily, which were then debated and discussed by members. At the end of the symposium, a plenary session was conducted to compile points and resolutions raised by members during the discussions, which were then published in journals and sent as Reports to members of the American Congress, Ambassadors in the USA and Asia, government (particularly education ministry) officials, think tank groups, the media, the business community and other relevant groups.

The illustrious group of intellectuals discussed current global issues such China’s Rise and Roles, The State of the Asia-Pacific Region, The Asia-Pacific Economy, Regional Issues & Cooperation, Environment, Resources and Health, Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues, Community Building in South East Asia, Regional Cooperation and The Role of International Education. 

For Prof. Dr. Nor, an exciting aspect of the seminar was that it was held at the Leopoldskron Palace which was the site for the classic 1960s movie “Sound of Music”, starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and his movie-cast “children” who make up the famous Von Trapp family who were fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria during World War 2. “Built by a lake and silhouetted against the magnificent Alps not far away in the background, the Schloss was simply beautiful! I can’t believe I was working and staying in the very Palace in that memorable movie I saw when I was very young,” Prof. Nor enthused. 

After her presentation, participants asked about UCSI’s academic programmes, particularly about how the university produces employable graduates in line with job market demands. “They were truly interested in our role in producing marketable graduates, which is one of UCSI’s core missions”. Prof. Nor explained that UCSI consistently keeps up with job market development through research and market intelligence, and introduce new academic programmes when needed. To make them employable, UCSI focuses on compulsory internship training every year of their studies, which is aimed at making graduates work-savvy and more employable. Called the Co-Operative Placement Programme (Co-Op), this provides students with crucial soft-skills training prior to the industrial training. 

Prof. Nor said that participants of the SGS automatically become members of the SGS alumni, “My trip to Salzburg has inserted UCSI into a wide international network of academic and non-academic organizations, fulfilling another of its mission of being “internationalized”. Now that I am an alumnus, I have an extensive network of friends across Asia and the USA, which would enable UCSI to tap into their resources when the need arises. Engaging with this group of think tank and proposing solutions for global problems was an exciting and at the same time humbling experience for me. My Salzburg sojourn is truly unforgettable” Prof. Nor concluded.

"Without prejudice to the rights of UCSI the information herein is correct at the time of printing and UCSI reserves the right to make amendments without prior notice."