JOHOR BAHRU – The Student Experience unit (UTM International), hosted an Engagement Session with Presidents of International Student Society (Country Chapters) on 21st October, 2020 and was aired live via YouTube and Facebook. The event attracted more than 1.8k viewers across the globe. It was organized as a part of Virtual International Student Orientation Program (VISOP) for welcoming the newly admitted International students of UTM for Semester 1, Session 2020/2021.

The event was graced by highly powered UTM International top management as well as the top committee from International Student Society (ISS) Central and selected country Presidents.

A total of six presidents from six different countries which are Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia served as panelists in the interactive session.

The moderator, who is the Vice President of International Student Society (ISS) Central, Mr. Abdulmumini Inda invited the Associate Director of Global Education and Experience (GEE) who introduced himself and his team followed by the other panelists from UTM International Student Society Country Chapter presidents.

The moderator and panelists of this virtual program are listed below:

Moderator: Abdulmumini Inda (Vice President of International Student Society (ISS) Central)

Panelists:

• Prof. Dr. Mohd Ariffin Bin Abu Hassan (Associate Director of Global Education and Experience)
• Abba Kyari Buba (President of International Student Society (ISS) Central and ISS Nigeria)
• Alpha Zufar (President of International Student Society (ISS) Indonesia)
• Manam Ahmed (President of International Student Society (ISS) Bangladesh)
• Ma Ming Zhi (Acting President of International Student Society (ISS) China)
• Ahmed Eslam Elsayed Mohamed (President of International Student Society (ISS) Egypt) and Mr. Mohamed Abdelkader Abokaram (Former President of International Student Society (ISS) Egypt)
• Muhammad Naeem Iqbal (President of International Student Society (ISS) Pakistan)

The UTM corporate video was shown for the newly admitted International students to have an idea of the nature of UTM campuses at a glance with a captivating short video showing both Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur campuses.

The opening speech was delivered by the Associate Director of Global Education and Experience (GEE), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Ariffin Bin Abu Hassan. He welcomed the new family members of UTM, and then further enlightened the new students on the organizational chart of UTM International; the roles and functions of Global Education and Experience as well as introduced the roles of ISS Country Chapters and ISS Central.

This engagement session became more exciting and livelier with interactive question and answer session with the Presidents of ISS Country Chapters and Associate Director of GEE. The panelists explained explicitly the type of ISS activities they did for the benefit of their members, before and during COVID-19 period. It is no longer new that COVID-19 has totally turned things in unusual way. The new normal brought the need for online global classes where the Associate Director encouraged the new students to cope with the status quo of the new normal where all teaching and learning is done virtually. This virtual platform has allowed everyone to stay connected while remaining in the safety of their homes.

The ISS-Central president explained how he channelled issues bothering the international students to the top management with the help of the UTMi office. The Associate Director for Global Education and Experience, UTM International, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ariffin Bin Abu Hassan further explained how UTM International resolves such issues in collaboration with the UTM top management.

The engagement session was concluded with question and answer session between the viewers and the panelists. The final session included words of advice from all the panels to the newly admitted International students. The event lasted for one and half hour and it was full of informative, educative and entertaining activities.

The UTM International as well as ISS representatives earnestly await a day to receive the newly admitted students to their new home which is University Teknologi Malaysia.

Congratulations to you all our dearest newly admitted students!