Abstract
In 2009, Universiti Sains Malaysia was chosen over nine other universities in Malaysia as Malaysia’s Accelerated Program for Excellence University. This status enables the university enables an institution to receive special support and nurtured for world class standing.
Universiti Sains Malaysia chose sustainability as a platform to transform higher education for a new sustainable future. Sustainability applies to many disciplines, including economic development, environmental and natural resource management, food production, energy, socio-cultural dimensions and lifestyles engaged in a transdisciplinary mode of teaching. It is within this framework that Universiti Sains Malaysia focuses its vision of a sustainable tomorrow through promoting such values as equity, accessibility, availability, affordability and quality. Additionally, Universiti Sains Malaysia embraces the protection of the multiple ecosystems, the conservation and restoration of resources as well as the development of human and intellectual capital for this purpose.
Project Description
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was established in 1969. Since its beginning, USM has implemented a school system, as opposed to the traditional faculty system. What is unique about this system is that students can focus on a chosen area of study in a school and at the same time, they have the opportunity to explore other areas of study offered by another school. The interdisciplinary teaching approach ensures that USM, the first in the country to adopt this system, produce trained and multi-skilled graduates.
In 2007, USM was chosen as one of four research universities by the Ministry of Higher Education, elevating its status to the top of more than 100 public and private universities and colleges in Malaysia. In the same year, USM was rated as the only “excellent” or five star university in the Academic Reputation Survey conducted by the Malaysian Qualification Agency.
Other universities in Malaysia had well-developed academic and research programs on sustainability long before USM, but USM is a leader in bringing sustainability into the forefront. Their “White Coffin” campaign (http://thewhitecoffin.usm.my/), originally targeted at getting rid of polystyrene containers on campuses, has now become the rallying call to achieve a sustainable campus by reducing consumption and waste. The White Coffin campaign has inspired public and private universities to go green in Malaysia.
Since the launch of the White Coffin campaign in 2007, eight universities have emulated this plan. The Penang state government has also initiated USM’s green campaign to eliminate polystyrene foam containers and to reduce the use of plastic bags in government offices. Even the Consumers Association of Penang has cited USM in order to publicly pressure large events such as the Indian festival of Taipusam to go green. Each year, these national events generate a million pieces of polystyrene foam waste over a mere three days. As a result, the organizers of these events have committed to switch at least 10 percent of the disposable containers to be biodegradable and have “zero waste” as their long-term goal. Other activities being pursued on USM campus through the White Coffin campaign include reduce and recycling campaigns, environmental convocations emphasizing the sustainable development issue, participation in the global effort to combat global warming, and the Smart Energy Home campaign.
Furthermore, “sustainability” is now a buzzword on campus. Even obscure conferences or seminars have sustainability in the theme. In 2009, USM was selected as Malaysia’s Accelerated Program for Excellence (APEX) University. The APEX program seeks to propel a Malaysian university to become world-class within five years. In this journey, USM hopes to shift the focus beyond world rankings. USM commitment is to leverage research and teaching to benefit the community and the world-at-large, especially the 385 millions who survive on one dollar a day. Since the publication of their so-called “black book” (http://www.usm.my/my/apex%20download.asp) where USM laid out its vision on sustainability in higher education in Malaysia, other Malaysian universities have given the sustainable development agenda higher prominence. A top ranking official at the ministry of higher education reports that they now insist that universities seeking approval for courses must show how they have integrated sustainability into the curriculum. A survey at USM showed some 100 courses from across all fields claiming to have sustainability elements. There is also a trend of increasing the number of publications related to sustainability and climate change across the departments.
In 2007, USM was chosen as one of four research universities by the Ministry of Higher Education, elevating its status to the top of more than 100 public and private universities and colleges in Malaysia. In the same year, USM was rated as the only “excellent” or five star university in the Academic Reputation Survey conducted by the Malaysian Qualification Agency.
Other universities in Malaysia had well-developed academic and research programs on sustainability long before USM, but USM is a leader in bringing sustainability into the forefront. Their “White Coffin” campaign (http://thewhitecoffin.usm.my/), originally targeted at getting rid of polystyrene containers on campuses, has now become the rallying call to achieve a sustainable campus by reducing consumption and waste. The White Coffin campaign has inspired public and private universities to go green in Malaysia.
Since the launch of the White Coffin campaign in 2007, eight universities have emulated this plan. The Penang state government has also initiated USM’s green campaign to eliminate polystyrene foam containers and to reduce the use of plastic bags in government offices. Even the Consumers Association of Penang has cited USM in order to publicly pressure large events such as the Indian festival of Taipusam to go green. Each year, these national events generate a million pieces of polystyrene foam waste over a mere three days. As a result, the organizers of these events have committed to switch at least 10 percent of the disposable containers to be biodegradable and have “zero waste” as their long-term goal. Other activities being pursued on USM campus through the White Coffin campaign include reduce and recycling campaigns, environmental convocations emphasizing the sustainable development issue, participation in the global effort to combat global warming, and the Smart Energy Home campaign.
Furthermore, “sustainability” is now a buzzword on campus. Even obscure conferences or seminars have sustainability in the theme. In 2009, USM was selected as Malaysia’s Accelerated Program for Excellence (APEX) University. The APEX program seeks to propel a Malaysian university to become world-class within five years. In this journey, USM hopes to shift the focus beyond world rankings. USM commitment is to leverage research and teaching to benefit the community and the world-at-large, especially the 385 millions who survive on one dollar a day. Since the publication of their so-called “black book” (http://www.usm.my/my/apex%20download.asp) where USM laid out its vision on sustainability in higher education in Malaysia, other Malaysian universities have given the sustainable development agenda higher prominence. A top ranking official at the ministry of higher education reports that they now insist that universities seeking approval for courses must show how they have integrated sustainability into the curriculum. A survey at USM showed some 100 courses from across all fields claiming to have sustainability elements. There is also a trend of increasing the number of publications related to sustainability and climate change across the departments.
Project Results
Currently, USM has not given incentives to professors for output or work specifically based on sustainability nor provided special allocation for research on sustainability. It can be assumed that the university’s top management, especially the vice-chancellor and his four deputies, have done an excellent job selling their APEX University transformation plan to the faculty without compensation. In other words, many professors have bought into the idea of sustainability. According to its 2008 submission for APEX status, USM now needs to work on creating ownership across the whole spectrum or layers of the university, especially those at the lower levels of the organizational pyramid. In change management, change starts at the top, but real change happens at the bottom.
In late 2009, USM created the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS), a think tank with responsibility for coordinating sustainability efforts on campus. The sustainability office, headed by a coordinator, is part of CGSS. In addition, the Healthy Campus office continues fostering the sustainability agenda of student groups as long as the efforts are within the framework of volunteerism. One ongoing effort is a proposal by a group of biology students to start an organic farm on campus. Another ongoing effort is a project to turn the engineering campus into a truly sustainable campus. Moreover, green buildings are a major goal on the agenda, especially at the new science and arts park called SAINSatUSM about 10 minutes away from the main campus in Penang. Many of the old buildings on the main campus are heritage buildings built by the British military when the site was a military camp and will be protected or restored according to appropriate conservation guidelines. A commitment has been made by the university to adopt the Green Building Index.
Currently, USM has not given incentives to professors for output or work specifically based on sustainability nor provided special allocation for research on sustainability. It can be assumed that the university’s top management, especially the vice-chancellor and his four deputies, have done an excellent job selling their APEX University transformation plan to the faculty without compensation. In other words, many professors have bought into the idea of sustainability. According to its 2008 submission for APEX status, USM now needs to work on creating ownership across the whole spectrum or layers of the university, especially those at the lower levels of the organizational pyramid. In change management, change starts at the top, but real change happens at the bottom.
In late 2009, USM created the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS), a think tank with responsibility for coordinating sustainability efforts on campus. The sustainability office, headed by a coordinator, is part of CGSS. In addition, the Healthy Campus office continues fostering the sustainability agenda of student groups as long as the efforts are within the framework of volunteerism. One ongoing effort is a proposal by a group of biology students to start an organic farm on campus. Another ongoing effort is a project to turn the engineering campus into a truly sustainable campus. Moreover, green buildings are a major goal on the agenda, especially at the new science and arts park called SAINSatUSM about 10 minutes away from the main campus in Penang. Many of the old buildings on the main campus are heritage buildings built by the British military when the site was a military camp and will be protected or restored according to appropriate conservation guidelines. A commitment has been made by the university to adopt the Green Building Index.
Additional Resources: Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2008, Transforming higher education for a sustainable tomorrow, http://www.usm.my/my/apex%20download.asp
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