STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Tey Jun Ren (J.R.)

In Malaysia, we have Universities & College Universities Act (1971), it is a piece of legislation which governs the establishment, maintenance and administration of our universities. By virtue of Section 15 & 16, it never infringes the students’ right of participating in the management. Notwithstanding the nice piece of legislation, the main concern and inclination of the universities are more to the enhancement of the study quality and facilities in the campus. The role and contribution of students to the governance of university departments is a relatively neglected area of inquiry. In Malaysia, student leaders experience a complex motivations and conceptions of the representative role and were particularly sensitive to the perceptions and expectations of academic staff. Role ambiguity was the greatest challenge reported by student representatives, and the overall effectiveness of the role was perceived to be reliant on the willingness and ability of academic managers and staff to engage in constructive dialogue with students. Indeed, the universities managers tend to perceive that their decisions are always the best for the students. By all means, none of any universities will implement or impose a system which is harmful to the students. Nonetheless, what we matter is the effectiveness of the implementation of such system. In determining whether a system works or in contrary, the crucial part is whether such imposition brings a positive impact to the students. It might sounds so “perfect” theoretically, but in practical it does not work. Therefore, it is very important to have an amicable solution and it is argued that universities need to adopt a more proactive approach to the development and support of students. Apart from that, the university should listen to the students’ voice. “Listen”, in the sense that not only a mere discussion with the students but to study thoroughly the issues of which being raised by the students.