Peace!

Having spent my last 15 years looking at Education Transformation in one mode or another, I felt it is timely that I share my thoughts on this matter. I had been lecturing intermittently in Universities and Colleges since 1996, from Foundation right up to Masters in fields such as Architectural Design, Architectural Theory, Web Design, Art & Design, e-Business and Leadership. At the same time, I had implemented a Learning Management System and set-up a company to manage it for 25,000 users at a Fortune 500 Company, set-up and managed a Training Academy for Board of Directors, designed and implemented a Public-Private Partnership with the Ministry of Education on the management of a group of schools, participated in the acquisition and management of 3 universities for a Governmental Private Equity (PE) company, and am now managing a private university for the said PE. This was all after practicing architecture for 4 years as well as co-founding and managing a dotcom company for another 4.

Taking the lead of a university which had 15 years of history and bearing the name of one of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, is no small matter. Planning a Transformational Change into a Next Generation University only adds substantial weight to the task. As a starting point, I consulted Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring’s “The Innovative University” ; Christensen’s Theory of Disruptive Innovation had been applied to various fields, and his take on differentiating a Higher Education Institution captivated me. It was probably the only reference I had which tackled change of an institution from a Gestalt approach.

During my days studying architecture at Scroope Terrace, one particular approach that I personally identified with was that of Phenomenology, exemplified in Christian Norberg-Schulz’s “Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture” and the architecture of Hans Scharoun. When designing (or transforming), one has to start with the ‘lay of the land’, respecting the surrounding context – physical, historical, cultural and anything that informs the intended action. In a similar vein, Christensen’s book introduced a Ghanaian proverb that is equally instructive: “Look at your past, in order to reclaim your future”. I then knew, with God’s grace, what to do.

This blog was envisioned as a retrospective and prospective journal that would record the thinking behind the transformation and progression of UNITAR International University. In order to structure this palimpsest, it will be categorised into the following sections:

1. Institution – its starts with looking at history and context in order to make a different history; the strategic direction, governance and sustainability approaches would be covered here
2. System – this looks at the geographic, political, regulatory and economic context
3. Learning – in my opinion, this is the single most powerful differentiation factor of a Higher Education Institution; includes teaching & learning methodologies as well as educational technologies
4. Operations – the oh so important cogs that provides the basis for any form of movement
5. Culture – probably the most difficult to address, yet so essential in a transformation process

If you partake in this journey with me, you will find honest sharing of highs and lows, regrets and celebrations. Read, and converse. Only then would we both learn, and hopefully, be more educated.

Wan