Download November 2005 Issue - Malaysian Institute of Planners

24CAMPUS NEWS - UiTMDEPARTMENT OF TOWN ANDREGIONAL PLANNINGFACULTY OF ARCHITURE,PLANNING AND SURVEYINGUNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA, SHAHALAM AND SRI ISKANDAR, PERAKThe Department of Town and Regional Planning atUniversiti Teknologi MARA is one of the ten departments inthe Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying. It isone of the pioneer departments in the Faculty.The department was established in July 1969 with anenrolment of 16 students offering the Diploma in Town andCountry Planning (later changed to Diploma in Town andRegional Planning). In 1972, a two year Certificate in Townand Country Planning was introduced followed by theAdvanced Diploma in Town and Regional Planning in 1975(later renamed Bachelor of Town and Regional Planning(Honours) ). A Master and Ph.D. research programs werefirst offered in 1996. The department is one of the oldestplanning departments in the country and the only one thatoffers all five level of programs, i.e. Certificate, Diploma,Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. Its Bachelor programs caterfor full and part-time students (Off Campus Program) andaccept students from Diploma levels as well as STPM andMatriculations. The Department created history when itproduced the first Ph.D. of UiTM in 2000 – Dr. DasimahOmar who is also one of the senior Associate Professorsin the department.The Department is the largest planning department inMalaysia boasting of 54 full time academicians and over700 students. 27 of the academic staff are in Shah Alamwhile the rest are in Sri Iskandar. Eight of the lecturers arePh.D. holders while the rest hold Master degrees. Inaddition, eleven staff are fellows of corporate members ofMalaysian Institute of Planners. The academic staffcurrently include Vice Chancelor of UNISEL, UiTM BranchCampus Directors, Deputy Dean, Council member ofMBSA and former head of MITRAN. The academic staffare trained locally as well as in the U.K., U.S., Australia,New Zealand, and Europe. Thus, the department canclaim to have the expertise in the academic andprofessional fields as well as having the exposure innational and international planning.The mission of the department is to produce competentgraduates in the field of town and regional planning at thetechnician, semi-professional and professional levels whoare creative, innovative and sensitive to the environmentthrough integrated and balanced learning, enriched bycontinuous research and development. Since its inception,Contributed by Jamalunlaili Abdullahthe mission of the department has been to provideprofessional education and training to Bumiputeras in thefield of town and regional planning. Thus, the programsoffered are to provide manpower at the technician, semiprofessionaland professional levels. The main focus of theprogram has bee to produce graduates with strongtechnical knowledge, practical and analytical skills, andprofessional capability. This include the ability to analyze,synthesize and formulate recommendations and solutionsto overcome not only physical problems but also thoserelated to socio-economic aspects of urban and ruralsettlements in Malaysia.Cuurently, all Certificate and Diploma in Planningprograms are offered at the Sri Iskandar campus while theBachelor, Master and Ph.D. are offered at the Shah Alamcampus. However, Master and Ph.D. by research can alsobe conducted under the supervision of academic staffs ofSri Iskandar.The Bachelor of Town and Regional Planning at UiTM hasbeen continuously accredited by the MIP as meeting therequirement of professional program. The current five yearaccreditation was conferred in 2002 and will run through2008. Its syllabus follows the recommendations set byMIP while the department’s external board consists osfprofessional planners from the JPBD, local authorities andthe private sector. While the curriculum is modeled afterthe requirement of MIP, the planning department at UiTMis noted for its strength in physical planning and urbandesign. The department plans to enhance its contributionby offering a one and a half year taught Master of UrbanManagement in June 2006.Although the department is noted for its teachingexcellence, it is also active in research and consultancy.The department was involved with the JPBD in studies thatproduces various planning guidelines such asGarispanduan PErancangan Golongan Kurang Upaya danGarispanduan Perancangan Sususnatur PerumahanOptima, to name a few. In addition, their academic staffshave published several books on planning and theenvironment. Various other studies have been completedand seminar papers presenter at national and internationalseminars.For further information please logon at www.uitm.edu.myof call Assoc. Prof. Haji Zakaria Ahmad, Head ofDepartment at 03-55444343