KUALA LUMPUR, 22 October 2014 – At the UTM management retreat session held between 20 and 21 October 2014, at Akademi Kenegaraan Biro Tatanegara, 10 parameters were set in UTM’s bid to attains its 2020 Global Plan.
The 10 parameters involve student enrollment, ratio between undergraduates and postgraduates, ratio between academic staff and students, ratio between academic and non-academic staff, percentage of academic staff with PhD qualifications, research university status (RU), rating, position in the QS World University Rankings, percentage of graduate employability and financial sustainability.
Starting from 2007, university management has set the maximum number of student enrollment to be 27,000. Of this, 60 per cent will be postgraduate students, while the remaining 40 per cent will be undergraduate students.
Additionally, from the total number of student enrollment, 20 per cent will comprise of international students, particularly targeted at the postgraduate level. A cap of 5 per cent of international students has been put in place for undergraduate studies.
The ratio between academic staff and student has been set to be at 1:8-10, while the ratio between academic and non-academic staff has been set to be at 1:1.3.
The status of UTM as RU will also need to be maintained for the coming years. Subsequent to being awarded the Research University (RU) status in 2010 by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the university has taken proactive measures which include setting the minimum qualification for academic staff wishing to serve the university to be at the PhD level.
Therefore, by the year 2020, the university management believes that the set target of 85 per cent of academic staff possessing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) qualification can be met.
The year 2020 will also see UTM targeting to achieve at least a level 6 in the Setara rating, and enhance its position in the QS World University Rankings (for Engineering and Technology) to become among the top 50 Engineering and Technology University in the world. Graduate employability will also be targeted to be at the 80 per cent mark.
UTM will also intensify activities that can generate financial income to the university. The ratio has been set to 70:30 (Government grant: Non-government grant), in tandem with the status of Autonomous University which UTM achieved in 2012.