PPTI colloquium focused on professional management of the future

Some 100 Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) administrators attended the Administrator Transformation Colloquium titled, ‘Professional Managers of the Future’ that was organised by the Association of Administrative and Professional Officers (PPTI), together with the Registrar Office.

It was held at the Banquet Hall, Tun Abdul Razak Chancellery, UMP Pekan Campus on March 27, 2019.

The event was held in conjunction with PPTI annual general meeting and consisted of university officers from Grade 41 and above as well as those of various positions and field works.

According to PPTI President and Industry & Community Network Department (ICoN) Manager, Mohd Raizalhilmy Mohd Rais, the programme was a platform for them to share their expertise and experience in a move to enhance competency in governance.

He also announced that PPTI had agreed to rename its name to Association of Professional University Managers (PUMA).

He said PPTI also expressed its gratitude to two panels who spoke on their experience that would greatly help the administrators to further strive and drive the university towards excellence.

They were UMP Board of Directors’ Member and Managing Director of Asturi Metal Builders (M) Sdn. Bhd., Dato’ Sri Md Sharif Shamsuddin and former UMP Department of Research and Innovation General Manager, Datin Sri Hajah Fazia Ali.

The moderator was UMP Senior Publishing Officer, Muhammad Azli  Shukri.

Dato’ Sri Md Sharif said a leader was a khalifah whose responsibility and principles were based on the Al-Quran.

“Employees should also be trustworthy and should not cause any destruction on this earth which means one must stay away from corruption, backstabbing and other negative acts.

“In the Al-Quran, there are many guidelines stated for one to be a good worker. UMP being the best university should have administrators who can manage and increase a lot of products, and can move on its own just like a private university.

“That is the challenge thrown at us all,” he said.

He added that everything that was being done must have an objective and planning in order to produce the best result.

“An association in an organisation plays an important role in order to attain achievement. No matter how great a person is in his work, he needs others to complement and complete the work. Work done by a team of workers is of course far better than work done by one person, in terms of quality and quantity,” he said.

Datin Sri Hajah Fazia also shared her own experience of working in the civil service for 36 years.

She started her career in Univesiti Sains Malaysia (USM), gaining invaluable experience along the way while working in various departments and faculties.

According to her, an administrator must be smart when carrying out the tasks assigned.

“One of the challenging tasks in UMP was when we were assigned to launch the endowment initiative and MyGift UMP.

“It was an initiative to raise funds for various purposes such as sponsorship and scholarship, to build facilities for students and to help the needy.

“In 2011, the university also realised that there was a need to continue to move ahead in making effective, cost-saving measures and boost its revenues. Alhamdulillah, we were able to save costs up to RM10 million,” she said.

Datin Sri Hajah Fazia gave an advice that as a manager, one must be bold in giving opinion and at times, must also consider opinions of the staff so everyone could advance together.

She also shared her experience in dividing her time as a career woman and as a mother, something that was doable.

“Rise early in the morning will make you more proactive and you can manage your household better,” she said.

Also present at the programme were Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni), Professor Dato’ Dr. Yuserrie Zainuddin and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Professor Dr. Kamal Zuhairi Zamli.