2008
23 OctUCSI IS A UNIVERSITY
Kuala Lumpur, 23 October 2008 - University College Sedaya International (UCSI) announced today that it has officially received its university status from the Ministry of Higher Education and will henceforth be renamed UCSI University.
According to Chancellor Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad, “The conferment of university status to UCSI is testimony of the high quality of education and commitment to service excellence of all UCSI University staff (both academic and administrative). This new status confirms that we have exceeded expectations.“
Founder, Group President and Vice Chancellor of UCSI University, Peter T. S. Ng said, “UCSI University had humble beginnings and in the past 22 years we have continued to excel as a premier institution of higher learning. It has contributed much to the national private education landscape and even invested millions of ringgit to provide quality education in several states.”
He said that UCSI University now has 3 separate campuses: one in Kuala Lumpur, one in Kuala Terengganu and also another in Kuching, Sarawak. UCSI University had announced at the beginning of February this year that it had acquired 160 acres of land in the Negeri Sembilan “Knowledge Valley” at Bandar Springhill, which will be developed as its main campus. This new complex will also house its corporate headquarters, an international school and a state-of-the-art 500 bed medical facility. It will also feature a centre dedicated to continuous research into Blue Ocean Strategy, an incubation centre for UCSI University’s subsidiaries and R&D spin-off companies, an applied nursery for research, and commercial facilities for the green industry to promote eco-tourism in Malaysia and the inclusion of facilities for Marine Biology studies.
Our commitment is to be major player in the Malaysian economy, not only in the education sector, but also in generating foreign income from non-education sectors,” added Group President Ng.
Staff of UCSI University are clearly overjoyed with the new status. Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at UCSI University and also member of the its University Council, a well-known figure in Malaysia’s medical circle, Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohd Roslani bin Abdul Majid said, “I’m proud to be part of this momentous event and believe that UCSI University’s efforts to continuously achieve excellence in all areas for the benefit of students particularly, and the nation as a whole, will be fruitful and it will reach even greater heights in the future.”
Muthu Kumar Veerapen, a Year 2 Biotechnology student at UCSI University said he is very happy that UCSI University has achieved university status and said that even as a university college, the courses, lecturers and facilities at UCSI University are on par with any local institution of higher learning.
UCSI University Student Council president and 3rd year Psychology student, Stephanie Liew Sze Wei said that the experience she had at UCSI University was second to none. She says that her experience here as Student Council President, has taught her valuable leadership skills both inside and outside of the classroom. She says that the lecturers imparted not just their knowledge but their experiences from the industry to better equip her for a career in psychology. She said that UCSI University well deserves this status.
A gala dinner was held to celebrate and launch this new university status and reveal its new logo and coat-of-arms. The Minister of Higher Education, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin officiated at the event.