STRATEGIC PLAN - Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi

Phase 1 Status SummaryOverall, the development of the Code of University Good Governance (CUGG), the University GoodGovernance Index (UGGI) and the Guide for Preparing and Conducting an Audit to Determine theReadiness for Autonomy were completed in the year 2010. The effectiveness of these instruments will betested in a pilot audit that will be conducted in March 2011 in three Public HEIs: Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.The aim of the Governance CAP and the Ministry in developing these instruments for measuring thereadiness of the governance system of the Public HEIs was to ensure that the autonomy that will beimplemented by the Public HEIs will benefit the government, the Public HEIs and the people. This is notan easy task as we are faced with implementation issues such as the following:• The planned audit will be taking place in an environment where there has already beena deluge of audits conducted;• The instruments were built on the assumption that the same concept of good governanceas used in the corporate sector can be imposed onto the Public HEIs;• There are challenges in getting the Public HEIs themselves to understand the necessityfor evaluating their internal system in order to measure the readiness level of theirgovernance system to implement autonomy;• Central agencies have to be convinced that the instruments are capable of measuringthe governance system of the Public HEIs to ensure that integrity, responsibility andaccountability will be practised;• The differences in how autonomy is interpreted by the Public HEIs and by the governmentmust be managed wisely. There is a tendency for the Public HEIs to equate autonomywith its western conception as it is perceived to be more attractive and fashionable.On the other hand, defining autonomy in terms of government funding is a challengingendeavour as it appears to run counter to the general expectations about how agovernment and a university in a country with a mature higher education system shouldrelate with each other;• Autonomy is often defined by universities and their academic staff as the freedom touse grants as they see fit for the advancement of academic matters, sometimes withoutconsidering whether such spending is efficient use of funds; and• Universities may neglect the fact that as public institutions, their actions will bearimplications on the government and the people. The interests of the government andthe nation must be protected at all times.The National Higher Education Action Plan 2011 - 201521