By Aina Mardhia Ismail
GOMBAK, 21 January 2021: IIUM Student Union (IIUMSU) once again proved its significance as an independent body representing IIUM students rights and voices through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the university which was conducted in a simple ceremony held on Wednesday (20 January).
The MoU was signed by the Rector of IIUM Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak on behalf of IIUM, and the President of IIUMSU, Amir Nadzim representing the Union.
Initially established as IIUM Student Union Working Committee (SUWC) in January 2019, this ceremony manifested as a stepping stone for a more solid Union in upholding the spirit of autonomy and a separation of power with the university to serve the students efficiently.
œThis MoU is a symbol of student empowerment where we are entrusted by the administration to run and manage students independently, President of IIUMSU, Amir Nadzim told IIUMToday.
Amir further explained that the MoU practically separates IIUMSU from the university administration which had enabled them a space or given it a chance to help the students more progressively and to carry out administration on a higher level such as in managing finances of student societies, presentation of policies needed by students to higher-level administration, thus upholding the idea and spirit of student empowerment and autonomy the Union is initially built upon.
œA new phase unlocked for IIUMSU through the MoU to explore things which were initially restricted to engage with when it was still a Student Representative Council (SRC), such as in independently coordinating the financial management “ an integral part of every decision made by IIUM officially, Amir added.
IIUMSU will always represent students’ interest in IIUMs decision-making process. The Union managed to fight for student fee reduction as financial assistance to ease their burden faced during the pandemic time for Semester 2, 2019/2020 session through a working paper proposal made by the President and the Unions Welfare Office to the University Management Committee (UMC).
Following the MoU, the agreement is applicable to IIUMSU across all university campuses. The IIUMSU official Twitter account had posted a new line-up consisting of student representatives of IIUM Kuantan and IIUM Pagoh as IIUM Stakeholders and Advisors as a result of unionising of unions of the campuses.
Commenting on IIUMSU’s future plan, Amir explained that the Union is focusing on the election which would be executed differently from how it used to be done that includes advocacy of election and membership.
Also participated in the signing ceremony were Deputy Rector for Student Development & Community Engagement (SDCE), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkifli Hasan, Deputy Campus Director for Student Development and Support Services (DCDSDSS) of IIUM Kuantan campus, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Razman Mohd. Rus, IIUMSU Stakeholders’ members, IIUMSU Election Commission and IIUMSU Advisors. ***