Unis need renewal at the top

Multiple hats: The job of leading a university is not dissimilar to that of running a corporation with significant strategic, financial, people and organisational responsibilities. – 123rf.com

The Higher Education Ministry’s (MoHE) recent decision to review the Universities and University Colleges Act (Auku) 1971 has generated quite a stir. Although student freedom has been the focus of much discussion, something that deserves more attention is the autonomy of universities to select their own leaders.

Generally, Malaysia follows the system in the United Kingdom, where university leaders assume the positions of the vice-chancellor (VC) and the de facto chief executive officer.