Self-accreditation status testimony to high quality of Curtin Sarawak’s courses

Miri – 15 June, 2010 – Being granted self-accreditation status by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) through the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) is testimony to the high quality of the courses offered by Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), according to its Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Ian Kerr.

Professor Kerr received the award from Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The award was granted following an institutional audit that included a visit by a MQA panel of auditors to the university in October last year.

Professor Kerr said the self-accreditation status proves Curtin Sarawak’s maturity and credibility as a private higher education institution (PHEI) in Malaysia and brings many benefits and advantages to both the university and its students.

“It is testimony to the excellence of our teaching and learning, research output, staff calibre, and the quality of our graduates and their employability.

Coupled with the facts that our academic programmes are identical in every respect to those offered at Curtin’s main campus in Perth, and the degrees earned at Curtin Sarawak are awarded directly by the main campus under the Australian Qualifications Framework, parents, students and employers are assured that our qualifications and their delivery are of the highest standards, and are recognised both at home and internationally,” he said.

He added that most of the business courses, as well as all the engineering courses, at Curtin Sarawak are accredited by professional bodies in Australia, Malaysia and other countries. They include the CPA Australia, Malaysia Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Board of Engineers Malaysia, Engineers Australia and Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.

“Self-accreditation is really the accreditation of an institution’s internal quality mechanisms, with all the processes and procedures for quality assurance. At Curtin Sarawak, we are very committed to quality improvement and enhancement and have been very successful in the process of educating students within the framework of Curtin’s quality management system over the last ten years. By showing that we have a strong internal quality management system, we can now accredit our own courses,” said Professor Kerr.

Professor Kerr thanked the MQA for facilitating the audit process, adding that the academic performance audit report prepared by its panel of auditors reflected highly on the work being done at Curtin Sarawak.

He said, based on the report, Curtin Sarawak has reached benchmark standards in nine key areas, that is: its vision, mission, educational goals and learning outcomes; curriculum design and delivery; assessment of students; student selection and support services; academic staff; educational resources; programme, monitoring and review; leadership, governance and administration; and continual quality improvement.

“The report’s findings and the granting of self-accreditation status provide sufficient evidence that our quality management system is an all encompassing one that has been extremely successful in producing graduates who are highly sought after. The recognition certainly gives our programmes added value, as well as the impetus to continually enhance our programmes, operations and services,” Professor Kerr concluded.

Eight higher education institutions were invited by the MQA to apply for self-accreditation status in 2008. They comprised four public research universities and the four foreign branch campuses in Malaysia.

For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website at www.curtin.edu.my.

Professor Ian Kerr receiving award from Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin