KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has announced it will introduce a new academic calendar once the movement control order (MCO) comes to an end.
USM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan said this was following an open discussion involving up to 73,000 people, including the academic staff, students, and parents.
“A new academic calendar will be introduced through the university’s Academic Management Division after considering all critical aspects, including the need to complete industry/practical training, final year projects, long holiday courses (KSCP) and special semesters,” he said in a statement posted on UMS Facebook page.
To this, two versions of the academic calendar will be crafted representing two possible scenarios, the first in which the MCO is expected to end by June, and the second in which the MCO is expected to end past June.
“The university is also prepared to consider making changes to the assessment components of a course. For example, 70 per cent coursework and 30 per cent final examination, or 80 per cent coursework and 20 per cent final examination. A change to 100 per cent coursework is also encouraged.
“All these will be implemented without sacrificing the requirements of professional bodies for courses concerned, as the university believes that the blended mode for teaching and learning would be best, as it combines online methods, face-to face and practical interactions. This will be put into action once the MCO ends,” Faisal said.
The synergising of academic and international components will also include postgraduate degree programme activities involving labs and fieldwork which will begin conducted in stages, with priority to final-year students, critical research projects and others.
“Industrial or practical training from home will be implemented after reaching an agreement with employers. If it is seriously affected by MCO, it could be then continued by adapting the new academic calendar and if need be, to be extended into the next semester.
“Teaching materials can be sent by post to assist those lacking internet access,” he said.
Faisal added that although UMS does not object to its Malaysian students returning to their hometowns during the MCO period, international students are strongly encouraged to remain on campus until the semester ends and for students to complete the semester without facing any unnecessary risk of being affected by the outbreak of Covid-19.
“Similarly on student welfare, the return to the campus will be done once MCO ends and in stages, in order for them to conduct final experiments at the laboratories or to clear out their rooms.
“Throughout the MCO period, the University will ensure the welfare of all students staying on campus, such as free provision of food and drinks from March 21 to March 30, monitoring students’ health by Pusat Sejahtera, monitoring and control of entry and exit of students and the public to avoid the risk of spreading Covid-19, and financial support by Pusat Islam to all B40 category students,” he said.
To preserve USM’s public health, the vice-chancellor also instructed any students engaging in part-time jobs off-campus to refrain from doing so until the end of the MCO. If students wish to continue with their jobs, they will not be permitted to stay on campus so as to break Covid-19’s transmission chain. The number of external parties coming onto all USM campuses has also been set at a maximum of 50 people daily.
“On staff affairs, non-academic staff members who work from home are requested to review their respective job descriptions and work processes within the scenario of Work From Home.
“Promotional exercise for academic staff will be implemented through online interview sessions, and we will begin with the Clinical and Teaching tracks involving the promotional exercise for Senior Lecturers and Associate Professors,” he said.
As with the student body, Faisal said staff will return to work in stages when the MCO ends, with those aged 50 and above, with critical illnesses, or are pregnant to be the last group to return to the campus.
“Consideration will be given on providing a Covid-19 Special Allowance to health frontliners at RM400 and for non-health frontliners at RM200 would be given every month. The allowance will be given for the month of March until May to acknowledge the sacrifices of both categories.
“Several other additional initiatives are also being planned, including a Covid-19 Special Fund in which an estimated RM1 million will go to support Covid-19 related operation. The bulk of the fund will be through voluntary contributions from the staff via salary deductions, from April until June,” he said.
First-aid and over the counter medication will be provided at all Desasiswa in all three campuses, and USM will also cooperate with telco providers nationwide to provide access to USM e-learning for students through their smartphones at no cost or a discounted rate.
“We also welcome external contributions, especially in the forms of cash, dried foodstuff and equipment that could be utilised by students and staff, particularly frontliners,” Faisal said.
