KUALA LUMPUR – The Higher Education Ministry has decided not to proceed with the proposed merger of the Communication and Media Studies Faculty (FKPM) with two other faculties by Universiti Teknologi Mara.
UiTM mass communications alumni president Basree Rakija, in a statement, said the matter was informed by Higher Education Director-General Datuk Husaini Omar at a meeting with representatives of the UiTM management and alumni association in Putrajaya today.
Among those present at the meeting were Higher Education Minister Special Duties Officer Noor Azleen Ambros; UiTM vice-chancellor Datuk Roziah Janor; College of Computing, Informatics and Media Studies assistant vice-chancellor Haryani Haron; and UiTM communication and media studies head Wan Hartini Wan Zainoddin.
The proposed merger would involve the Communications and Media Studies Faculty with the Computer Science and Mathematics Faculty and Information Management Faculty to become a new entity known as the College of Computing, Informatics and Media.
It was announced by Roziah at FKPM’s 50th-anniversary celebration in October last year as part of the austerity measures put in place by the university.
Basree said FKPM had contributed greatly to the country’s development and needed to be strengthened, especially in this challenging era of digital communication.
“The mass communications alumni will continue to work with FKPM to implement programmes to ensure that the industry-university network is strengthened in an effort to produce more credible FKPM graduates,” he said.
He also expressed his appreciation to the Higher Education Ministry for having responded positively to the protest voiced by the association over the merger. – Bernama, February 20, 2023
