Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

History

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) received an invitation from the Malaysian Ministry of Education to establish a university in July 2001. The then President of the association, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik chaired a committee that drew up a framework for the establishment of the university after receiving the invitation. Datuk Dr. Ng Lay Swee, then the Principal of Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, a tertiary education institution that was also established by the Malaysian Chinese Association, was appointed to lead another committee, including Dr. Lai Fatt Sian, who was then the Head of the School of Business Studies in Tunku Abdul Rahman College, to assume the headship in the Faculty of Accountancy and Management, to get the necessary papers ready for the approval from local authorities to set up the university. The other two faculties are the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) and the Faculty of Information Communication and Technology (FICT), separately headed by Dr. Yeoh Suan Pow and Dr. Tan Chik Heok, respectively, as their founding Deans.

Tun Dr. Ling was later appointed as Council Chairman of the university and Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Ng, the first President and CEO.

UTAR opened its doors to welcome its pioneer batch students to its first campus, the old premises owned by the publisher of a local daily called the Star in Section 13 of Petaling Jaya in June 2002.

Through three newly established faculties – Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, and Faculty of Accountancy and Management, the university offered its first eight honours degree programmes At that time, the Faculty of Accountancy and Management, FAM in short, with Dr. Lai Fatt Sian as its founding Dean, hosted more than 6,000 students and was hailed as the largest business faculty in a private university in Malaysia. However, due to space constraints and the popularity of the courses offered with multi-faceted exemptions, the intake was required to cut-off at a remarkably high intake requirements and many were disappointed having their application rejected. This ultimately resulted in market-driven high calibre graduates strongly demanded by the industry.

An official ceremony was held to launch UTAR on 13 August 2002 at the main hall of Tunku Abdul Rahman University College. At the ceremony to launch the university was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, who also officiated the university's groundbreaking event at it campus site in the Kampar town in the state of Perak Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Ng Lay Swee retired as the President on 31 March 2009. Following her retirement many pioneering staffs who worked with her from the inception of the University left the establishment as well.

UTAR is member of EMC Academic Alliance.

Admission

There are three intakes every year on January, May and October for foundation, bachelor honours degree and postgraduate programmes.

For the entry requirements, students with only Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) / Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Vokasional (SPMV) can apply for the one-year UTAR Foundation programmes such as Foundation in Science and Foundation in Arts. Those have completed the Foundation programmes will then be eligible to continue their Year 1 of the UTAR Honours Degree programmes. Other than the UTAR Foundation programmes certificate, students with other qualifications such as Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), A-Levels, South Australian Matriculation (SAM) and Canadian Pre-University (CPU) can also apply for the Bachelor's Honours Degree programmes. Besides, students with a Diploma from a college / institution / polytechnic may also apply for admission to UTAR programmes with chances of getting successful entry with credit transfer.

Nonetheless, all the local and foreign students applying for the entry of UTAR programmes are required to be proficient in the English language as almost all the courses are taught in English language (except some Degree programmes regarding Chinese Studies). Students are usually needed to have a credit / relevant score in either SPM English Language, O-level English Language, UEC English Language, MUET, TOEFL, IELTS, CPE, CAE, SAT or ACT.

Students who wish to apply for admissions can do it online by filling in the forms available on the official website of UTAR They can also visit the UTAR Division of Programme Promotion or Division of Admissions and Credit Evaluation, available at both the Sungai Long Campus and Kampar Campus, for more information of the programmes and requirements for admissions.

Faculties

UTAR Sungai Long Campus

UTAR Kampar Campus

Teaching and degrees

The structure of UTAR Foundation and full-time degree programmes consists of three semesters per year. The first two semesters, which start in January and May, are considered as long semesters, which are around 19 to 20 weeks (usually summed up by 14 weeks of teaching, 3 weeks of exam, 2 to 3 weeks of semester break), The short semester that starts in October is only around 13 weeks (7 weeks of teaching, 3 weeks of exam, 3 weeks of semester break).

The teaching in UTAR is usually carried out through lecture, tutorial and practical classes. Lecture in UTAR is conducted in a large class by qualified lecturer (at least Master degree qualification for bachelor degree programmes). A typical lecture class in UTAR can accommodate up to 200 or 300 students. Tutorials are the smaller classes (usually consists of ≤30 students) where you can ask questions and have discussion with the tutor or other students. Practical classes are commonly arranged for science, engineering, information technology programmes that require hands on learning through practical or laboratory work.

Scholarships and financial support

UTAR offers scholarships and loans based on the following criteria:

List of UTAR Scholarships available:

UTAR also provides interest free student loans to those financially needy students who are pursuing foundation or undergraduate degree programmes.

Accreditation and Memberships

All programmes are approved by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and accredited by Malaysian Qualifications Agency and Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA).

UTAR also recognised by the Governments of the following economies:

Since UTAR's all Engineering degree programmes are recognised by Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), this allows all engineering graduates to practice in 18 countries includes USA, UK, Australia and Canada under Washington Accord.

List of Programmes Recognized By Professional Body Besides MQA Accreditation

UTAR is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), educational member of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and school member of The Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow (ABEST21).

Rankings and Reputation

UTAR is ranked the third among the most productive institutions in the research discipline of mobile commerce and its application.

UTAR was rated tier 5 (Excellence) for Malaysia Quality Agency(MQA) SETARA Rating 2011, SETARA Rating 2013 & Malaysia Quality Agency(MQA) D-SETARA Rating 2012 for Engineering. UTAR also was rated tier 4 for Malaysia Quality Agency(MQA) D-SETARA Rating 2012 for Health Sciences.

On 11 May 2013, UTAR's Perak campus won the Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) Gold Award in the education category at the PAM Awards 2013 for its inspiring architecture and landscape. UTAR is also ranked within the Top 100 UI Green Metric World University Ranking 2014 with this attractive campus.

Student Representative Council

UTAR Student Representative Council (SRC) serves to represent all students within the University. It was founded in July 2012.

Currently, there are two SRCs: SRC UTAR Kampar Campus and SRC UTAR Sungai Long Campus.

The SRC is organized in two tiers: Campus level and University Level.

The Council membership is as follows:

University SRC

Campus SRC

Representative from each faculties

Societies

Numerous student-run societies exist in order to encourage people who share a common passion or interest to periodically meet or discuss. As of March 2017, there were 56 registered societies.

Accommodation

As of 2017, both the UTAR Kampar Campus and Sungai Long Campus still do not have their own hostels for students.

Students studying at the UTAR Kampar Campus have easy access to accommodation facilities. They usually stay in these locations:

Students studying at the Sungai Long Campus also have easy access to accommodation facilities. They usually stay in these locations:

Notable alumni

UTAR has produced many notable alumni who have contributed significantly towards the development of Malaysia and abroad.