Established 1993 Affiliations nil. | Members c. 8,000 total | |
Institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Location Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia | ||
The UNIMAS Student Representative Council is the official students' union of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), representing the interests of its members to the university and the outside world. It is better known in UNIMAS by its acronym, MPP UNIMAS. It exists to represent UNIMAS students in University decision-making, to act as the voice of students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body.
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History
The university was officially incorporated on 24 December 1992. With about 30 academic staff, the University opened its doors to the first batch of 118 students on 8 August 1993. The students were registered in the two pioneering faculties, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Resource Sciences and Technology.
The first ever campus election was held on 24 November 1993 and the cabinet members of the first UNIMAS Student Representative Council was officially installed on 29 November 1993. Throughout the years, the number of seats have changed due to the changing number of faculties the student represented. The first batch of the UNIMAS Student Representative Council has a total of eight cabinet members and the current cabinet has twelve members - the smallest number among all 20 Student Representative Councils from Malaysian public universities.
Membership
Reflecting the federated nature of UNIMAS itself, MPP UNIMAS is both an association of UNIMAS' more than 7,000 individual students and a federation of the Residential College Student Representative, the 40 odd clubs and societies and the Faculty Student Associations that represent all students at the University's eight faculties.
Finances
MPP UNIMAS is financed by a block grant from the University known as the Student Activity Vote and the usage of the grant is controlled through special grants for specific projects, activities and positions, approved by the Paperwork Approval Committee chaired by the Deputy Vice Chansellor of the Student Affairs and Alumni.
MPP UNIMAS' primary activities are: the Freshmen Orientation Week, the Students' Award Gala Night, etc.
Governance
UNIMAS MPP is led by a 12-member Executive Committee whereby all of them are part-time officers who serve while continuing their studies. Unlike some student council, MPP UNIMAS does not have sabbatical officers.
The Secretariat of MPP UNIMAS acts as the sovereign body of the MPP UNIMAS, and the number of eligible members changes every year.