By Mahadhir bin Monihuldin
GOMBAK, 26 November 2017: Students must absorb everything they are currently studying in IIUM, should they seek to join the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) and rise up the corporate ladder upon graduating, advised the newspaper’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Hamid.
Datuk Abdul Jalil shared, “You need to make full use of your precious time in the university to learn as much as possible.”
He continued his advice saying, “You have to work extremely hard. There’s really no shortcut to working hard. At the same time, you need to have interest in what you do in your studies.”
He gave his words of wisdom during his official visit to IIUM’s Communication Department as its new Adjunct Professor on Thursday (23 November).
An adjunct professor is usually someone appointed or engaged by a university on the basis of the institution’s high recognition of the individual’s profile and expertise in a specific field to improve the standing of the institution and its graduates.
Datuk Abdul Jalil has been in the field of journalism for more than 25 years having served with Malaysia’s national news agency BERNAMA for seven years as its acting economic editor and Johor’s bureau chief, and been with global news organisation Reuters for 18 years as a foreign correspondent and deputy bureau chief, before joining the NST as Group Managing Editor in October 2011. He was appointed to his present post as CEO of NSTP since March 2017.
His appointment as IIUM’s adjunct professor took effect from September this year.
He was humbled to share his knowledge with the students. “I am very honoured to be part of the IIUM’s Communication Department because the standard it has as an educational institution is very impressive as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
“It is also very international, and I like the initiatives taken by the Department to engage in external parties, specifically the media industry, to provide input in order to further improve its academic programme.”
In lieu of this, IIUM’s Communication Department is working to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NSTP in the hope of enhancing the Department’s curriculum and employability of its graduates.
The MoU will include plans for a curriculum retreat, engaging in research projects, initiating a book project, and providing a training platform to improve the overall quality of communication students of IIUM.***
