Career in higher education institution in the new millennia is different from the traditional approach where higher education institution was known as a place of dissemination of knowledge and scholars all around the world would gather in the renowned higher education institution for knowledge transfer. Nowadays university, although it is still acknowledged as the hub of academic excellence has evolved from institutions focusing on teaching and learning only to research universities and then later on focused on the entrepreneurial universities (Ramli et al., 2010). Now university all over the world embraces a new status of a corporate university. The question then raised on whether the soul of academia is lost in the face of new status of the university. According to Haynes (2021), in order to safeguard soul of academia, three sustaining pillars must be protected at all time and they are (1) academic freedom, (2) academic integrity and (3) academic dignity.
Taking all these into consideration, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is in the right direction of preserving the soul of academia through embedding the core value known as ISES into the university setting and surroundings. ISES stands for Integrity, Synergy, Excellence, and Sustainability. In my opinion, successful implementation of ISES core values within the university setting will ensure the sustainability of the soul of academia within the UTM DNA. As an academic staff, I strive to ensure that UTM students will receive the best knowledge, experience, and practical skills needed to face the outside world and career life.
My passion is in T & L and academic research. I do believe that being passionate in whatever task you uptake, will create positive results and help you in achieving excellence. Good attitude is usually a reflection of the passionate nature of the upholder. Having said that, my vision and mission are set to be in line with UTM enVision 2025 towards achieving academic excellence.
References
Norris Haynes (Feb, 2021) Safeguarding the Soul of Academia Safeguarding the Soul of Academia: Protecting the Pillars, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349105065
Nasiibah Ramli et al. (2013) The Concept of Research University: The Implementation in the Context of Malaysian University System, Asian Social Sciences, Vol. 9 (5). DOI:10.5539/ass.v9n5p307