A total of 24 participants from 19 public universities and 4 private universities, including Associate Professor Dr. Ooi Chee Pun, Dean of Faculty of Engineering (FOE), attended the second cohort of a three-phases of International Deans’ Course – Malaysian Chapter (MyIDC Cohort 2) spanning from June 2021-February 2022. MyIDC aims to nurture potential leaders in institutes of higher learning by strengthening the management and leadership skills of these talents, leading towards excellence in the Malaysian higher education system.
MyIDC is an initiative from a team of current and former deans who have attended the DAAD DIES-IDC over the years. A total of 11 trainers, who are Malaysian alumni of the DAAD/HRK DIES-IDC Southeast Asia including Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Koo Ah Choo (MMU) were selected and trained by Professor Dr. Peter Mayer (Osnabrück University of Applied Science, Germany), the IDC SEA/Africa Project Director and Professor Dr. Ong Duu Sheng (MMU) IDC SEA Regional Trainer and MyIDC Mentor, to conduct the programme.
This second cohort of MyIDC is a project jointly organised by several parties, namely the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), in collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), University Malaya (UM), Multimedia University (MMU), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). It is also organised with support from Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) which is coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and National Multiplication Training (NMT) supported through University of Potsdam, Germany.
MyIDC Cohort 2 has shown a strong collegial bonding, which is more than just the social networking of trainers and trainees. The exposure to various cultural elements and community contexts such as indigenous communities during the training is able to inculcate inclusive value among higher education leaders, aside from acquiring the knowledge and skills on leadership and management.
