E-Prosiding Seminar Pengantarabangsaan Pengajian Tinggi 2022 (SPPT 2022)

In the current education scenario, the private high education institutions in Malaysia are seeking to enhance their internationalization in their efforts to adapt to the developments taking place in the country and worldwide. These developments include the response to globalization, the emergence of an international network and the role of English language that has resulted in universities to incorporate international collaboration. The aim of this paper is to highlight the impact of globalization on the internationalization of Higher education in Malaysia and summarize and describe some of the potential challenges in this regard to highlight Malaysia’s effort in internationalization to produce competent work force in its efforts to intensify globalization. Furthermore, the quality assurance framework in the Malaysian blueprint and its efforts in the upward mobility of higher education are discussed. To achieve this aim, relevant literature was reviewed, and conclusions were drawn in a critical review process. The solutions for the enhancement and futurity of globalization in higher education are summarized and suggestions are provided for policies and practices that can be adopted by private universities to enhance the recognition in the global market.

The internationalization of higher education and intense level of competition among tertiary education providers require universities to continuously improve its service quality. The national agenda to achieve 250,000 international students enrolment by year 2025 as projected in the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint 2015 to 2025 (MEBHE) provides opportunity to consistently increase the enrolment of international students. However, the scenario experienced by the nation is continuous declining trend of international student enrolment since 2018. The literature showed that many studies have been undertaken in the past, but little has explored the integration between the mediating role of trust in the context of higher education service quality in Malaysia. This study is one of the preliminary attempts to study the HESQUAL model with an integration of the Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing and the IS Continuance Theory within the context of private universities in Malaysia. The research objectives are, RO1: To investigate the influence of HESQUAL on trust in Malaysia’s private universities; RO2: To investigate the influence of trust on the continuance intention of study; and RO3: To analyse the mediating role of trust between HESQUAL and international students’ continuance intention of study. Positivism worldview using quantitative method guided this research. Data collection was administered through web-based survey questionnaire and a total of 395 respondents contributed to the survey out of which 346 data were usable. SPSS and SmartPLS software were used to analyse the data. The findings confirmed the significance of mediating role of trust with the HESQUAL dimensions towards continuance intention of study except the support facilities quality. Statistical findings proved the conceptual model with medium predictive power that signifies its replication for future research.

Globalization requires internationalisation. Higher education must embrace the internationalisation agenda by implementing innovative, strategic programmes and approaches. Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) is one of Indonesia's top universities, and it has a long-term plan for internationalisation. Technically, international programmes such as International Program for Islamic Economics and Finance (IPIEF) execute the internationalisation process. In line with internationalisation, IPIEF refers to the department of economics' vision and mission to become a reputable international programme (2015-2020) and research excellence university (2020-2025). IPIEF's programmes indicate serious efforts and commitments based on integrating Islamic and conventional values in its curriculum. Integration aims to show that internationalisation isn't just about pragmatics, but also about values. International instruments are divided into five pillars and buffered by activities within each pillar. IPIEF proposes a masterplan as a raw model with standardised input, process, and output business models, vision, and mission. Internationalization agenda is expected to showcase university agenda as part of international community and promote community impacts.

Promosi adalah strategi utama kepada hampir semua Institut Pengajian Tinggi (IPT) terutamanya Institut Pengajian Tinggi Swasta (IPTS) untuk mengangkat nama IPT dan menarik minat pelajar untuk memohon pengajian. Medium promosi yang berkesan sangat diperlukan mengikut keadaan semasa yang tidak menentu seperti penularan Pandemik Covid-19 pada tahun 2020 dan keadaan endemik. Oleh itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji keberkesanan semua medium aktiviti promosi yang diguna oleh Bahagian Pemasaran, Jaringan Industri dan Komuniti (BPJIK) Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah (UniSHAMS) bagi tahun sebelum, semasa dan pasca Covid-19. Kaedah kajian ini berbentuk kuantitif iaitu analisa deskriptif dari data-data yang diperolehi daripada pihak BPJIK. Kajian ini juga mengenal pasti permasalahan dan cadangan penambahbaikan melalui sesi temubual daripada 2 responden yang mewakili pihak BPJIK dan Pusat Pengurusan Akademik (PPA). Hasil kajian mendapati jurang perbezaan yang ketara diantara bilangan permohonon, penawaran dan kemasukan. Punca perbezaan ini adalah kerana UniSHAMS tiada garis panduan yang jelas tentang tugasan kerja di setiap Kulliyyah, Pusat dan Bahagian (KPB). Dicadangkan UniSHAMS mempunyai sistem pemprosesan permohonan dan penawaran yang sistematik ; mempunyai prosedur operasi standard (SOP) kerja yang jelas dan bertulis; dan mengaktifkan semula Jawatankuasa Induk Promosi sebagai platfom perbincangan dan penyelarasan kerja promosi.

Institutional Internationalisation is one of the utmost agendas for every university and higher learning institution around the globe to enhance their academic and research quality, as well as sustaining their global visibility and branding. This strategy is extremely important as the world has become more open and everyone in university needs to interact, works together and strives for the well-being and prosperity of mankind. As this global visibility will lead to a sustainable international collaboration, therefore it is a must for every university and higher learning institution in this era to have a good partnership with other institutions from other countries. In this borderless world, any academic programme and research activities will also become more inclusive and comprehensive if it is organized in synergy with other institutions, especially from different countries. As a young university, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has outlined three main models of collaborations to outreach any potential international partners from all over the world. The first model is bi-lateral agreements which is based on one to one agreement between UTM and another institution. The second model is focusing on academic networks or consortiums of universities based on niche focus areas. The last model is a strategic international collaboration with reputable universities. Focusing on the collaboration via alliances, rather than just being a member of other international networks, UTM has also formed its own alliance which is known as Asia Technological University Network (ATU-Net). Therefore, this paper will illustrate how UTM establishes and manages ATU-Net and its impact on enhancing UTM's global visibility. The impact, which is visible through the addition of UTM's new partners, more joint activities and programmes with other international education institutions, aligns with the significant improvement in UTM's global ranking.

The number of international students’ enrolment at Malaysian Public Universities constantly increasing in the last 10 to 15 years. This is aligned with government aspiration which is expecting to receive about 250,000 international students (IS) in the year 2025. Despite a hopeful increase in international student numbers, some international students reported experiencing adjustment problems and issues, especially in academic, psychological, and sociocultural aspects. However, it is believed that social support is one of the potential coping mechanisms that can help IS during their adjustment phase. By using a qualitative literature analysis, this paper report the research findings of Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to explore the role of social support in helping international student’s adjustment problems and issues especially during their adjustment period to home country. This search put social support in general as it can be from any sources such as family, peers, academic instructor, special person and society. The findings reveal that the presence of social support can give positive impact to IS especially in emotional, psychological and IS’s resilience in campus. It is no doubt that the presence of social support will enhance IS’s experience and quality of stay in host country. In a nutshell, social support networks are an essential strategy that can be used by public universities in Malaysia especially during the adjustment phase of IS.

Higher Education in Malaysia, particularly private higher education is one of the contributors to the country’s economy through services sector. Throughout 2015-2020, Malaysian economy grew at an average annual rate of 2.7%, mainly driven by the services and manufacturing sectors. The services sector was significantly contributed by the traditional services subsector at 71.1%, while the balance 28.9% was by the modern services subsector, in which private education services is one of the subsectors. According to the data by Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), Malaysia has recorded a downward trend in 2018 and 2019 and steady increase of international students’ applications in 2020 and 2021. The positive trend signals a growing interests from international students in pursuing study in Malaysia. Furthermore, according to the data by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), it is seen that the biggest fraction of international students in Malaysia is from South Asia region and considerable portions of them are from East Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Southeast Asia (SEA) and Africa regions. Thus, it can be concluded that the data predominantly shows that a very small fraction of international students is from the first-world or high income countries. Therefore, the current marketing narratives are suggested to be reviewed and improved by incorporating Malaysian identity across online and offline touch-points; boasting Malaysia’s expertise and advancement; leveraging Malaysia’s Foreign University Branch Campuses; defining Malaysia via niche industry-focused curriculum and universities; and empowering international alumni as Malaysia’s Mini Education Ambassadors (MEA).

Peningkatan enrolmen pelajar antarabangsa yang melanjutkan pelajaran di Malaysia sama ada di Institut Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) atau di Institut Pengajian Tinggi Swasta (IPTS) kian meningkat. Pada tahun 2019, jumlah bilangan pelajar antarabangsa di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) negara adalah berjumlah sekitar 182,536 orang. Pada tahun 2020 pula, bilangan pelajar antarabangsa telah menurun kepada 177,710, hal ini berikutan wabak virus Covid-19 yang telah melanda dunia seterusnya menyebabkan semua aktiviti pendidikan, perniagaan, ekonomi dan pelancongan terjejas dan lumpuh. Walaubagaimanapun, peningkatan kemasukan telah berlaku pada tahun 2021, di mana jumlah bilangan pelajar antarabangsa di Malaysia meningkat sebanyak 181,901 orang. Senario pendidikan tinggi di Malaysia mengalami perubahan ideologi bagi memenuhi aspirasi pembangunan negara dan pasaran antarabangsa. Ini selaras dengan hasrat Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi untuk menarik minat 250,000 pelajar antarabangsa seterusnya menjadikan Malaysia sebagai hab pendidikan global. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti peranan ISS bagi merapatkan jurang perbezaan sosio-budaya di dalam kampus. Seramai 20 orang wakil pelajar antarabangsa yang terdiri daripada ahli jawatankuasa tertinggi dalam Persatuan Pelajar Antarabangsa di UTM telah dipilih sebagai responden melalui kaedah persampelan rawak mudah. Hasil kajian mendapati komunikasi yang lemah dari segi perbezaan bahasa, amalan dan norma merupakan aspek yang menjurus kepada jurang sosio-budaya di kalangan pelajar antarabangsa dan komuniti tempatan. Oleh yang demikian, pemerkasaan terhadap peranan ahli persatuan pelajar antarabangsa telah menjadi elemen yang sangat penting untuk merapatkan jurang perbezaan sosio-budaya yang wujud. Selain itu, Universiti juga harus bertanggungjawab mewujudkan persekitaran yang harmoni dan lestari agar jurang perbezaan budaya, agama dan bahasa dengan komuniti tempatan UTM serta masyarakat setempat dapat di integrasikan.

University websites provide information that may influence international students’ choice of an institution. In the context of Malaysia, studies on university websites remain minimal and highly contextual. To address this gap, this study will conduct a discourse analysis on websites of both public and private universities in Malaysia. A total of 40 websites were selected to form a corpus. The analysis involved the identification of significant collocates for the key words “international” and “student(s)”. These collocates were then discussed through academic capitalism framing. The findings indicated that university websites offered information that was either procedural, or that which explained how an institution was international. This analysis painted international students as customers requiring assistance from a university. Findings also showed that being an international student in Malaysia would bring about social mobility through interactions with other international students.

International collaborations between higher education institutions bring significant contributions to the overall ecosystem of an organisation, from the personnel, students, and the global community as a whole. The internationalisation of an institution is one of the mechanisms communities adapt to the idea of globalisation. This paper discusses the effective methods of strengthening international collaboration between Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) and German universities via a dual-degree programme. The dual-degree programme is designed to invent graduates who are extensively prepared to face the future challenges of globalisation. The institution has implemented various approaches to strengthen the programme's strong foundation to intensify the primary purpose of internationalisation, such as establishing a comprehensive German language proficiency test to prepare the students for the dual-degree programme. However, language is not the sole approach to boost internationalisation as intercultural skills, extensive academic collaboration programmes, and mobility programmes are interconnected to the idea of internationalisation. These approaches are momentous to ensure the dual-degree programme's efficacy in attaining the purposes of academic collaboration and enriching students' experiences. In addition to the approaches adopted, different initiatives are recommended to improvise the internationalisation notion to facilitate the advancement of the internationalisation programme of the university. In conclusion, the essence of internationalisation requires various concepts to be implemented by the institution to strengthen international collaboration.

In this fast-growing world, education is not sparred either. People have been moving and studying abroad for some reasons to embark on their studies. Malaysia is one of the destinations in Asia as the chosen place for students to further their tertiary education. This paper starts by addressing some issues or reasons why people need to study overseas. In particular, this paper describes the roles that the office of International Centre (IC) in UniSZA need to play to cater to the need to their international students. The university wants their international students to get some valuable experiences and good time, personally and academically before they graduate and return to their country. Some problems are identified plaguing the international students in Malaysia, especially in UniSZA. At the same time, some efforts and endeavours have been made by the office of IC to facilitate the need of the international students. Method of the study is empirical based on the practices and activities done on and off the campus and their relations and impacts on the experiences they gain. The research finds that the office of IC has played its crucial role, albeit some constraints and limitation it has, to ensure the international students will enjoy their stay and study at UniSZA as a place with some good lasting memory in their minds. In summary, the office of UniSZA has given everything they have , with heart and soul, to make the students stay as a memorable one.

COVID-19 pandemic and its afterward endemic phase has caused a huge change on the educational institutions, yet provided new opportunities for universities gaining new breed of online generation, and enabling universities to be more diversified and potentially to extend for hybrid teaching and learning. International mobility programme has always been a good input and resource for universities, and the experience by students completed their course have extensive influence to the junior at their respective institution, in becoming new batches of international mobility students. This paper will discuss on two different perspectives of international mobility students based on the conventional programme right before the pandemic, discussion on the feedback and several cases being mentioned, as well as the new SHARE COIL course that getting more popular amongst 32 partner universities listed under COIL. Results on the impact of SHARE COIL course enriching students experience are also being reported in this paper. The paper here provides an insight that would always be meaningful to the international mobility students came from different countries within the past many years. It is concluded that the success of international mobility programme could be much impacted by the facilitation process exercised by the international relations office of each respective universities, and requires joint effort for a great internal ecosystem. Added-value could be well obtained when there is mutual understanding and commitment between management to provide full support, international relations office to facilitate, and faculty to execute. Coordinators for mobility students and education exhibitions would indirectly impact the success of the programme as well.

Malaysia and South Korea started a partnership in 1962 and since then the partnership has become stronger including in education. In line with this encouragement, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) has strengthened its partnership with South Korean educational institutions through TVET Campus which has developed since 2017. One of the institutions is Korea Polytechnics (KOPO). UTHM-KOPO partnership is relatively new and considering this new pandemical era, a representative partnership model that considers both UTHM and KOPO’s capacities and circumstances has not yet been well established. The absence of a representative model could result in complex challenges, especially in identifying important and necessary steps to internationalization, and further create financial, energy, and time loss. Thus, this study aims to develop a representative model of the internationalization management framework for Malaysian higher education. The development adapts the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify (DMADV) technique which is commonly used in the field of quality management. There are two phases will be involved; (1) 'Define' and 'Measure' stages where a preliminary framework will be established and (2) 'Analyze', 'Design' and 'Verify' stages where a comprehensive internationalization framework will be developed. Both phases involve document analysis of policies, procedures, and monitoring processes, and meta-analysis of related internationalization acts and literature of Malaysia and South Korea. The framework will also be conceptualized against the current internationalization practices of both countries especially to embed any potential added-value elements in producing a systematic, practical, and economical model tool for UTHM and KOPO in operationalizing international activities. As such, planned internationalization activities could be well coordinated for a sustainable internationalization process. In the longer run, the model should assist the Malaysian and South Korean education ministries to monitor the progress of internationalization in both countries.

To be a top player in internationalisation, universities attempt to provide international students with an overall rich and rewarding experience that kick-starts their careers post-graduation, especially in terms of employability in the post COVID19 pandemic era. However, the international student experience should also serve to remind international students of a positive and memorable time in their lives, filled with a myriad of opportunities for cross-cultural learning. Thus, from the moment they arrive in their host country, universities could help international students to connect meaningfully with local students and also the local community. Using archival study, the authors offer a conceptual discussion on the notion of “local encounter” to demonstrate the exposure international students can gain from taking part in local events designed for them; examples from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) are used as evidence. The research finding shows that there continues to be room for practitioners to rethink how they may enrich their overall international student engagement through the local network, an area that is often underrepresented in international education studies.

The economic recession due to the COVID-19 crisis has influenced the affordability of most international students to further their studies overseas. The fear of the global health crisis and the lockdowns has affected the demand for international education, including international student recruitment. This paper discusses the experience of the international office of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, a public university in Malaysia, in enhancing marketing and promotional strategies during the pandemic to attract international students. It analyses the marketing and promotional strategies implemented, including the strengths and constraints faced in getting international students. This paper is divided into several subheadings, which are the strategies employed to attract international students, including repositioning brand visibility, student recruitment agencies, digital marketing, and virtual info day, where each strategy is scrutinised and assessed thoroughly based on the author’s observation as the person involved in international promotion. All the strategies employed were found to be the most effective types of marketing strategies to be implemented during the pandemic. The findings would assist policymakers, universities and international office personnel in reviewing their current promotional strategies.

To increase visibility of an institution and to recruit a growing number of international students, marketing and promotion of a university are vital. University Sultan Zainal Abidin is one of the youngest and smallest of the 20 public universities in Malaysia. It is also one of three Islamic public universities in the country. With limited resources in terms of a dedicated marketing team for internationalisation, the International Centre at UniSZA looks at marketing and promotion from a pragmatic perspective and has focused on 4 key areas that serve to increase international student enrollment at the institution. By supporting a well-functioning ecosystem on campus, collaborating with scholarship bodies, engaging with individual agents, and taking advantage of new opportunities, UniSZA has been able to recruit and maintain a healthy international student population. This in turn serves to support Malaysia’s higher education internationalisation aspirations.

Penjenamaan pengantarabangsaan pendidikan tinggi negara telah dilaksanakan secara berterusan sejak dua dekad lalu. Beberapa dasar pengantarabangsaan telah diperbaharui dan diperkenalkan untuk mempergiatkan program promosi pendidikan negara ke mata dunia. Untuk negara menjadi hub pendidikan asia dan dunia, pelbagai inisiatif dilaksanakan sehingga membawa kepada kewujudan agensi kolaborasi seperti Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia, Education Malaysia Global Services dan sokongan dari institusi pengajian awam dan swasta bagi memastikan peta pendidikan negara dapat dilukis glokal & global. Namun cabaran penjenamaan antarabangsa pendidikan negara kini perlu diperhalusi lagi dari segi strategi komunikasi penjenamaannya (branding communication strategy) dan ianya boleh dimulakan dari pelbagai sudut seperti meningkatkan taraf kedudukan indek tinjauan antarabangsa, merubah klise program promosi antarabangsa, memperkemaskan reputasi pengurusan pelajar antarabangsa oleh IPT dan dasar keselamatan negara boleh melebarkan lagi jaringan ekosistem promosi pendidikan ke pentas dunia. Kertas ini cuba merungkai permasalahan penjenamaan antarabangsa pendidikan negara yang belum mempunyai penyelesaian dan kaedah baru untuk mengatasinya. Kertas ini memberikan perpektif baru didalam melihat kejumudan program penjenamaan pendidikan negara yang kini semakin kerap diasak oleh negara-negara rakan Asean kita seperti Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam dan Filipina yang sudah mula mengorak langkah untuk menjadikan pendidikan sebagai salah satu sumber pendapatan negara dan bakal menyumbang kepada pembangunan kemanusian, sosial dan permodenan masing-masing. Segala pendapat yang ditulis adalah berbentuk makro dan ditujukan kepada penyata polisi pendid ikan negara untuk mula memikirkan kepentingan penjanamaan pengantarabangsaan pendidikan negara yang baru untuk menyambut kedatangan masa depan dunia yang tidak ketentuan ini.

Matlamat penawaran kursus Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi oleh Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi di IPTA dan IPTS adalah bertujuan untuk membantu pelajar asing supaya dapat bertutur dengan menggunakan Bahasa Melayu mudah serta dapat membiasakan diri dengan budaya dan kehidupan di Malaysia. Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat beberapa permasalahan yang didapati berlaku semasa pelajar mengikuti kursus ini selama satu semester. Hal ini kerana, kursus Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi merangkumi komponen linguistik yang menjadi teras utama dalam pembelajaran bahasa dan pada masa yang sama terdapat juga beberapa elemen budaya Melayu yang bercanggah dengan budaya penutur asing yang tidak tepat apabila diterjemahkan menerusi aplikasi sedia ada dalam laman web. Oleh itu, objektif makalah ini akan membincangkan masalah-masalah penutur asing dalam mempelajari Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi dari sudut linguistik, iaitu fonetik dan fonologi, morfologi serta sintaksis. Makalah ini akan menggunakan video tugasan akhir yang dihasilkan oleh pelajar Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi di Universiti Xiamen Malaysia sebagai data kajian. Perbincangan akan dibahagikan mengikut komponen linguistik supaya permasalahan yang timbul dapat dijelaskan dari sudut bahasa secara khusus. Hasil dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat masalah yang timbul semasa proses pembelajaran semasa penutur asing mengikut kursus Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi, namun permasalahan ini dapat diselesaikan sekiranya elemen linguistik diambilkira dalam pengajaran kursus ini.

The internationalization process of an organization is a process of increasing the visibility of the organization at the global level. This process takes into account the number of international students, student mobility programs, staff exchange, as well as collaborative collaboration in the academic and research fields. In order to realize the process, a creative and targeted promotion and marketing strategies play an important role. In the post-pandemic which the global situation that is still uncertain, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) has not been spared from the effects of the pandemic which has resulted in a drastic decrease of international student as well as various other internationalization activities. However, UTeM has taken some proactive steps to face this challenging post-pandemic situation. For example, UTeM has actively participating in online interactive promotion and marketing, empowering agents appointed for marketing purposes, increasing participation in online mobility programs, strengthening international relations through courtesy visits to foreign embassies in Malaysia in addition to participating in promotions at educational exhibitions in the international level. Through the steps that have been listed, several improvements are suggested to further improve the internationalization process at UTeM.

Academic recognition from overseas universities is an important matter for international students. In fact, international students must go through various challenges which require them to adapt to the system and cultural differences. This study explores the learning experience of international students in Malaysia who are pursuing academic studies at a local university by focusing on the students' perceptions, values, and emotions towards the experience. A total of 47 international students participated in answering the question. Data were analysed using a frequency and thematic analysis. There are three types of learning experiences encountered by international students, namely positive experiences, negative experiences, and mixed experiences. Each type of experience is supported by statements that highlight the students' values, emotions and perceptions of the events that happened to them. It is hoped that this study can help educational institutions build a support system for international students as well as improve the quality of learning experience at local universities.