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Friday, November 03, 2006

On Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM)

Posted by Reign226

Update: Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM) has changed its name to Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM).

First of all I do apologize for an extended hiatus that I have taken. I am currently enrolled in a local public university called Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM), which is a relatively new pubic university in the state of Melaka.

In this post today, it is my hope that I can tackle the stigma associated with being admitted into a local college university, instead of the so called 'full fledged' university that many people have misconceptions about. I also hope that by starting a dialogue, students who are keen to find out more about college universities will now have an avenue in which to voice their enquiries rather than continue ignoring it.

First of all, it is true that I have not chosen this place in any of my eight selections of the BPKP registration procedure. While I sometimes struggle to come to terms with the fact that my friends of similar CGPA is able to study in universities such as USM and UKM, I realized that it was a futile and ultimately dissatisfying way in which to continue my life in tertiary education. Hence as time passes, the circumstances which I have spent time trying to understand eventually turned into something that I derieve pleasure from instead.

What is a college university exactly (Referred hence as KU)? Well, the oldest KU has been around for more than thirty years and have grown to encompass several disciplines of studies. The more notable ones are KUSTEM and KUKUM. Most of my observations are however based on my own KU, KUTKM, which is if I am not mistaken the newest KU, opening in 2001. As such, any deviations of my observations from other KU is sincerely regretted.

The history of my particular KU is that it used to be a faculty that had ties with UTM. In fact, there was another KU that also used to have ties with UTM, which were eventually severed and out of that a new KU was born. I am not sure of the exact nature of the ties, but I am told by my seniors that many of the teaching staff still maintain close relations with UTM.

Nevertheless, as a result of these ties, KUTKM is purely an engineering university. All five faculties award engineering degrees and with the exception of FTMK (the IT faculty), all graduates from KUTKM can legally refer to themselves as engineers. Our universities also have close ties with German engineering Ecole Polytechniques and many of the staff at KUTKM have continued their Masters there. The syllabus is also supposedly created with close scrutiny of the German Ecole's own.

The reason why KUTKM is conferred a university college status is because first and foremost their specialization in only the engineering discipline. The second is that with less than 10,000 students, they cannot refer to themselves as a full fledged university. This is akin to a town, which can only be conferred a full city status upon reaching a certain population.

As a result of this, classes in KU usually have a very desirable teacher:student ratio. In my own class, we only have 18 students, so the teachers are able to devote time for each student. Lecturers also have a comparatively open schedule and can be approached easily as their responsibilities are only towards a small pool of students.

Indeed, the more established KUs are virtually indistinguishable from other universities both in terms of diversity and student population. As my own KU is relatively new, there are some annoying inconveniences that I have to put up with, chiefly the lack of a proper campus for my own faculty.

Recently, the government have announced that the college will probably be dropped from the name of the university, but I feel somewhat ambivalent on this as it would mean removing the distinguishing feature of many KU, which is the specializing of that KU in a particular field (engineering in my own, for example). Nonetheless, it is felt that the removal would allow less stigma to be attached to the name. I personally don't really agree in the significance of names per se, but that's just me.

I hope that you have learnt some things from this article. I plan to write more in the future regarding life in KUTKM, and I am open to any enquiries. Just attach a comment with your questions and I will try my best to get back with you in a timely manner.
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Comments
10 Comments

10 comments:

  1. Welcome back, Reign226! Happy to read your great post again!

    Do you know that our Minister of Higher Education has agreed to rename 'Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUKTEM)' to 'Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP)'? The change of name is because the words 'university college' (Kolej Universiti) has given bad impressions to people especially employers and also to satisfy Pahang residents' requests. Read the news on Utusan Malaysia Online (8 October 2006) and BERNAMA (7 October 2006).

    Recently, I met a senior who is taking Mechanical Engineering in University College of Engineering and Technology Malaysia. She said that since KUKTEM is relatively new compared to other universities, all the laboratory equipments there are new and complete. Besides that, if I am not mistaken, she also said that she can still stay in the university college for her third year in the university college because the hostel is so large that it can afford all undergraduates. So, getting into local university college isn't that bad, is it?

    On the other note, KUTKM was established on December 1, 2000 while KUKTEM on 16 February, 2002. So, KUTKM isn't the newest university college in Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hello. :) i just want to correct one fact. KUTKM started in 2001, and KUKUM started in 2002. so i guess KUKUM is the youngest one. but hell, there's no KUKUM today, they renamed it to UNIMAP (universiti malaysia perlis), which i think is very very stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  3. kUTKM IS THE FIRST KU OTHER THAB KUITHO THAT HAS ALL THE DEGREE RECOGNISED BY BEM AND JPA. KUSTEM AND KUKUM HAS PROBLEMS RIGHT......

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hows the quality of KUKTM in terms of facilities and education? I got Mechanical Engineering in Thermal Fluids.

    ReplyDelete
  5. you mentioned "german ecole polytechnique". the last time i checked ecoles were only in the french speaking countries, like france and canada. in france, ecoles are totally in a different league from unis, and only cater for the elite and the academically able, although, of course, some unis in france are also highly demanding like Sorbonne Paris and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris(Sciences Po).

    germany has the conventional universities(Universität) and university of applied sciences(Fachhochschule), and not ecoles.

    good luck in your studies.

    ReplyDelete
  6. err, ecole polythecnique in germany?
    i thought it is only in france.
    the 1 in france is the best grande ecole.
    for more info, search 'grandes ecoles' in wikipedia.

    ReplyDelete
  7. im very happy for the information given by you but do you mind telling me more about the rules and regulation for UTeM, i mean the physical appearence part especially the hair,,i just receive the offer letter from UTeM but they demanded me to obey the rules like cutting my hair till very short, ihope you will replyme as soon as posible tq verymuch

    ReplyDelete
  8. ecole in german...imaginary school? lol.

    kuktem propoganda? ntah lah.

    good luck with your study!

    ReplyDelete
  9. may i ask soem thing in here....hahha

    last 2 days , i been offered a diploma course(elekriek engineering)in UTeM.....but i din know whether that university is good?
    n wat is the minimum cgpa that i have to score in diploma wheni want to top up to degree in that UTem

    ReplyDelete
  10. unimap graduate easy find jog o not?coz the courses r pelik pelik like bioprocess engineering,metarullgy eng.....and plus more no main campus plus more courses r not accredited by BEM.
    i want go 4 unimap bioprocees eng or privat uni 4 chemical eng?

    ReplyDelete

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