By Izzud deen Redzuan
GOMBAK, 29 April 2015: IIUM Quality Day 2015 with the theme ‘Efficiency and Effectiveness: Our Commitment was held today at the Main Hall of Cultural Activity Centre (CAC) aimed at honouring internal agencies and staff of the university for quality services performed during 2014.
The ceremony was attended by the President of IIUM, Tan Sri Dr. Rais Yatim, accompanied by the Rector of IIUM, Prof. Datuk Seri Dr. Zaleha Kamaruddin, and the event’s chairman, Deputy Rector (Academic and Planning), Prof. Dato Dr. Md. Tahir Md. Azhar.
An annual event, the Quality Day was also intended to create awareness among IIUM members on the importance of incorporating positive values in their work to achieve quality standards.
The ceremony started with the recitation of Quranic verses by the Deputy Director of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque, Muhammad Asfandyar Dilawar Khan followed by an opening speech by the university’s President.
In his opening remarks Tan Sri Dr. Rais said he noticed after being here for about two years, IIUM has done a lot better than other public universities in Malaysia, and is the university where people look up to. In fact, he said, he enjoyed a great deal of satisfaction for every achievement and award received by IIUM, both locally and internationally.
He urged everyone in the Main Hall to adhere to Islamic teachings, disciplines and virtues. “By any means, it will produce great ummah that practise a virtue to be the best, a virtue to be knowledgeable, a virtue of caring, and a virtue of manifestation of culture,” he said.
To this end, he acknowledged that the presence of a big number of staffs today was a proof of this event being well planned by the organiser. He then congratulated Prof. Md. Tahir and his team for their commitment to make this event enlivening towards achieving its main objective.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Zaleha Kamaruddins speech at the ceremony outlined the achievement of IIUM in 2014. She began by expressing her gratitude to all those present as this was an indication of their enthusiasm and active participation to cherish this annual event, a so-called ˜Family Day of IIUM.
She stressed that as the premier International Islamic Research University, its responsibilities extended beyond acting as an Islamic learning institution, but to be a research institution to help the Muslims worldwide in line with its vision to serve for the betterment of the ummah.
As a tradition, Prof. Dr. Zaleha delivered the university’s status report in terms of financial sustainability, staffs and students development followed by a showcase of performance indicator in a way that will become an aspiration for the staffs to work harder and more efficiently in the future to achieve the university’s objective.
The President later presented twenty-three Quality Day 2015 awards to the winners. He was accompanied by the Rector and also the event’s chairman.
This Quality Awards ceremony was an effort by the University to acknowledge staffs and agencies that have excelled in their performance, duties and responsibilities in various ways to achieve the quality standards in both academic and administrative functions.
The awards presented were: Best Teacher Awards, Best Journal Awards, and Highest Citation in Citation Index Journal Awards, Ismail Al-Faruqi Publication Award, Quality Administrative Staff Awards, Best Sport Team and Individuals, Quality Customer Service Award, and Quality Agency Awards for both academic and non-academic staffs.***