Through the late nineties, during the recession of the Asian economies, it became increasingly expensive for Malaysians students to go abroad and study at universities in United States or Europe. Many Malaysian families no longer found the foreign universities affordable and started to look around for higher education on the domestic market. At the same time the Malaysian government was working to encourage more Malaysians to take a higher education and to educate themselves in the new information communication technology (ICT). This opened new markets for the growing Malaysian education industri and created space for UNITAR, Malaysias first virtual university.

The students at UNITAR have joined from all over Malaysia and even as far away as Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Syria, Jordan, Somalia and Ghana. They are offered undergraduate, graduate, and PhD programmes that are authorised by the Malaysian Government and which are recognised by influencial universities in the West. The key to the succes of UNITAR is believed to lie in a learning process which is technology savvy, multimedia enhanced, collaborative, self-driven, self-motivated and independent. More than anything else virtual universities is easier accessible and opens new opportunities for groups in society that traditionally have been marginalised from higher education.

History

The idea to create a virtual university in Malaysia came up in KUB Malaysia Berhad, who owns UNITAR, in the early ninetees but it lasted several years before it started to take shape. The first recruitment was made in December 1997 and in September 1998, after nine months of intensive planning, organising and preparations, UNITAR was ready to open its doors to the new students. 162 students joined for the first semestre and since then the number of students enrolling has increased every year. Today the university fascillitates a total of 7,000 active students. In August 2001 UNITAR had the great joy of organising its inaugural convocation with 28 students receiving their schrolls.

Beneficiaries.

UNITAR started out as a university which most notable quality in the opinion of the public, was to be a cheap alternative to other private universities. Most students choose to enrol because their test results did not allow them admission to the public funded universities and UNITAR was the cheapest alternative. UNITAR subsequently developed a student profile dominated by a weak social and economical background. After UNITAR has overcome a number of beginner's difficulties and strengthened obvious weaknesses, it has become a real academic alternative to the more established universities. Highly qualified students started to join from vast parts of Malaysia and from other parts of the world. This has made it increasingly attractive to students with better grades, as well as to recognised academic institutions. Especially UNITARs pioneering experiences into virtual education have made them attractive collaboration partners to other institutions.

Infrastructure

UNITARs intelligent building in Kuala Lumpur is their very obvious counterbalance to the virtual accademic programme. The building is equipped with state of the art ICT fascillities and features a comprehensive research library. The primary use of the building is to facilitate the first year students, who attend most of their classes there. The accademic staff is also housed in that building, both as a practical concern and because it helps to bring some accademic familiarity to the university.

In the basement of the UNITAR building is their redundant server system which garantees the students against technical errors. Through the web-site the students can easily attend their classes, search litterature at the virtual university or search old teaching materials. Announcement of social activities such as soccer games, discussion clubs etc are also made through the web-site.

It has been a major concern for UNITAR to create an accademic environment which could foster fruitful discussions and breathe a learning spirit. Though the technical fascilities are outstanding, UNITAR insists that the uniqueness of learning at their institution lies in the total e-learning experience.

Academic Programme

UNITAR have three accademic faculties: Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Information Technology and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The university have additional departments and units which support the faculties including Centre for Graduate Studies, Academic Affiliation and Collaboration Department and Academic and Student Affairs Division. UNITAR offers more than 10 programmes in the fields like Business Administration, Information Technology and Humanities and Social Sciences from undergraduate level to doctorate degree level.

During the first year at UNITAR the students will attend most classes at the UNITAR building, where they will be introduced to various ways of studying. When the student reaches beyond the first year and start to feel more confortable with their studies, their classes will be conducted virtually. At that point the student will in many cases be handed an assignment, a deadline and the flexibility to coordinate his/her studies. At the end of the semestre all students will face the exams that are conducted face to face. The reason that UNITAR insist not to have virtual exams is is partly due to their principle that skills must be used in real life; partly to prevent students from cheating at the exams.

Lessons Learned

UNITAR choose to jump in the deep end of the water and threw an intense nine month working plan for its - in regards of virtual universities - unexperienced staff to implement the university. It was therefore not a surprise that UNITAR suffered from many technical lacks and errors during its infancy.

During this period the management had to obtain information and decide on which is the right equipment and design to use for the server system and the UNITAR building. Furthermore teaching staff had to be recruited and the compendium put together. UNITAR CEO, Datuk Dr Othman believes that eighteen months would have been a more appropriate timeframe for the implementation than the nine they had at their disposal.

Since the start up, most technical problems have been eliminated and the curriculum improved. The result has been a dramatic increase in the quality of the education and in the qualities of the students. The number of students who enroll have therefore also risen and likewise have the interest of other accademic institutions around the world. The diverse geografical background of the students indicate that it is possible to capture students who are not traditionally in the limelight of the higher learning institutions.

A part of the explanation of UNITARs good results must also be found in their management of human ressources. There is a widespread satisfaction with the way UNITAR has choosen to devide between real time education and virtual education. The first year students have after their first year on the school bench generally adapted very well to the virtual study methods and since been faithful to the university. The independent and self-motivated learning process have driven many of the students to perform their best which together with their ICT experiences have made them actrative to the private sector. The decission to conduct the examines face to face have also been a successful one , which have assured the university that the knowledge of the student is as it appears. It has furthermore helped UNITAR to achieve recognition in the accademic world and in the private sector.

Sustainability and Replication

Despite big investments in facilities and equipment UNITAR is expected to break even already by the summer of 2002, which is a bit earlier than expected. The errors that occurred in the early period of UNITARs existence have been corrected and there have been no unforeseen obstacles to hinder the development of the institution. The increase in the number of students from 162 to 7,000 was expected by the management, and the fascilities have proven to be fully capable to handle the increased pressure.
UNITARs technical setup has proven to be both simple, flexible and effective. It is furthermore quite easy to replicate and adjust to other requirements and needs.

Datuk Dr Othman stresses that when one moves into a foreign market it is not sufficient to replicate the allready existing Malaysian model. A new branch must be carefully adjusted to the national telecom infrastructure in the respective contries as well as the social, economical and political structures.
Foreign organisations have allready shown interest in UNITAR and contacts have been formed. UNITAR staff have f.x. worked as consultants to UNESCO in connection the establishment of other virtual universities. UNITAR itself has allready opened a virtual university in Cambodia and are planning to open further in Indonesia, Thailand and China next year.