KOTA SAMARAHAN: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) is ready to welcome around 14,000 new undergraduate students through a wholly physical learning experience this coming October.
Despite the setback brought on by COVID-19, UNIMAS Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said numerous preparations had been done in anticipation of undergraduate students’ return to campus.
“Of course this is very challenging and we take the opportunity to restore some amenities such as dormitories and other facilities in the lab, lecture room, eating place and more,” he told reporters after officiating at the students’ oath-taking ceremony at Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, UNIMAS today.
However, he said there are some programmes or courses offered that would not be using laboratories or workshops such as management programmes and still to be conducted via hybrid; both online and face-to-face lectures.
During the ceremony, a total of 714 new students of the Centre for Pre-University Studies took an oath as a sign of their acceptance as UNIMAS students.
Meanwhile asked to comment on a number of academic programmes dropped from the Universiti Malaya (UM), he said that was actually a normal process as any university would review their programmes of studies.
“A programme that is no longer relevant to the market needs and current circumstances will be reviewed and replaced by new programmes.
“At UNIMAS, we have a policy where all programmes of studies will be evaluated every five years and we will receive consultation from industry experts to provide the latest input on the programme we offer,” he added.
UNIMAS, he said, also has many programmes that had been abolished before but the matter was not announced formally.
In fact, UNIMAS offers a new choice of programmes including a new faculty, namely Faculty of Built Environment (FBE).
The university introduced new programmes early this year which are Bachelor of Agrotechnology Science, Bachelor of Education (Islamic Education) as well as Master of Construction Design Management Science.
