Kuala Lumpur, 23 December 2003 - Since being upgraded to University College status recently, UCSI (University College Sedaya International) takes its Open Day to a new dimension.

Being more community focused, its Open Day recently (on Saturday 20 December and Sunday 21 December) was geared towards catering to the needs of the Community. 
While students came to make enquiries about courses available at the university college, there were a host of other activities going on that benefited the community.

UCSI’s Vice-President of Administration, Daniel Quah said the objective of the Open Day may be largely recruitment of students, but there is also the social aspects of the university life. “Being a corporate citizen, we also want to give back to the community. Our engagement with the community makes us a university that is relevant to society,” he said. 

The response to UCSI’s new status as a University College, he added, is also unexpected. “We are seeing very positive responses from students to our degree programmes,” he said. “Our Open Day this year is packed.”

Quah said UCSI will continue to work on special projects that will benefit the community through its future Open Days. During the recent Open Day, he said, the UCSI Clinic, for example, provided free medical consultation as well as vaccinations for Hepatitis B, influenza and chicken pox to the members of the public. 

Old folks from the Graceful Home for the Aged in Taman Midah took the opportunity to send some of its residents to do medical check-ups. Its caretaker, Jason Chan said he is pleased that the needs of the aged are also being taken care of. “We hope more of this could be provided to the old people who need medical check-ups,” he said. 

UCSI Clinic also provided free consultation to members of the public who wanted to quit smoking, through its Quit Smoking Clinic services.

Head of UCSI’s School of Nursing, Dr Nafsiah Shamsudin, also gave a lecture on nursing, which attracted nurses from the local medical hospitals.

Parents and students were also given a virtual tour of the new Taman Connaught campus by the eAdvantage team, besides being given an actual tour of the new campus by a separate team of people.

UCSI’s innovative Computer Notebook Ownership Scheme which allowed students to purchase a HP Compaq notebook for only RM1,700 was also launched to promote the use of wireless notebooks on campus. According to Quah, UCSI is one of the most advanced wireless campuses in the country. “We are ahead in our technology,” he said. “This is the future, and we have already established the wireless campus ahead of others.”

Extreme sports, including the Rodeo Bull and Space Ball were available free for the public. Manager of UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd, Anderson Yu said: “We want our young people to be adventurous and try out new and fun games,” he said. “They always need new challenges in life.”

UCSI Open Day in the future, Yu added, will also feature different types of Extreme Sports Games.