Rachel Soon Rui Chee, who took BA (Hons) in Event and Tourism Management at UCSI University, is now a reservation consultant at Niseko Central, Japan – the place where she underwent a six-month internship previously.
KUCHING: The UCSI University Sarawak Campus, which houses one of the best hospitality and tourism schools in the region, has officially moved to Kuching Isthmus.
The new campus is taking shape and can be seen just opposite the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on the fast-developing Isthmus Commercial Hub.
The campus is fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, housekeeping suite, culinary laboratory, pastry and bakery laboratory, gastronomy laboratory, chemistry laboratory, biology laboratory, lecture theatres, lecture halls, tutorial rooms, recreation areas, learning studio, students’ lounge and library.
UCSI University, a model of transformative change in the city, started as the humble Sedaya College at Jalan Haji Taha here before becoming a university college.
“Now with the development of the UCSI Hotel, it is being demonstrated that UCSI University is fulfilling its aspirations of becoming a praxis university, resulting in close interactions with businesses and key industry players,” said the university in a statement.
Housing the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management (FHTM), Centre for Pre-University Studies (CPU), as well as the Faculty of Business and Information Science (Fobis), UCTS University offers various programmes such as Diploma in Hotel Management, Diploma in Culinary Arts, Diploma in Leisure Management, BA (Hons) in Hospitality Management, BA (Hons) in Event and Tourism Management, BA (Hons) in Commerce under FHTM.
The Foundation in Arts and Science, under CPU, leads to over 100 programmes offered across the UCSI University campuses of Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak and Kuala Terengganu including such disciplines as medicine and health sciences, pharmacy, architecture, engineering, social sciences and applied science programmes.
Three new programmes – BCom (Hons) in Accounting and Finance, and BCom (Hons) in Marketing – have kickstarted the enrolment of students for the May 2017 intake under Fobis.
UCSI, as a praxis university, emphasises the students’ exposure to and experience in the workplace related to their disciplines of studies and career goals through Co-operative (Co-Op) Education.
“Through Co-Op, the students’ employability is greatly improved as the students acquire insight into performing in a real working environment.
“To provide a better future career for their students, UCSI engages with various five star hotels locally and overseas through which students can undergo their Co-Ops. To date, university students have had their internship in countries like Japan, New Zealand, Macau, China and Maldives,” UCSI University said.
The university continues to approach and engage Co-Op partners in more countries to elevate its international internship profile. As for local hotels, the industry partners engaged in Co-Ops include well-known hotels such as Concorde Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Traders Hotel and Legoland.
For students wishing to undergo degree programmes overseas, the International Degree Pathway (IDP) programme offers them the flexibility of transferring courses undertaken at UCSI University to various international partner universities to enable students to obtain a degree from any of the partner universities.
So far, the partnering universities include various prestigious institutions in Australia, Canada, the UK, Poland, Ireland and New Zealand.
UCSI University is also the first private university in Malaysia appointed by the Korean Food Federation to deliver a Korean cuisine programme in line with the Korean government’s efforts to promote culture, food and music around the world.
UCSI University has also been organising their yearly Korean Showcase to feature their students’ culinary skills and other talents related to Korean culture.
Another yearly event held by the university is the ‘Next Big Chef’ cooking competition, which is open to local secondary school students.
Not surprisingly, UCSI University has been receiving an overwhelming response from local secondary schools year after year since the competition was introduced in 2012.
The competition, though it varies each year, always assesses the following key culinary arts competencies – the participants’ skills and creativity in ingredient preparation, meal preparation, taste tests and signature dish presentations, along with time and financial management.
Various scholarships under the UCSI University Trust are waiting to be won from within the following categories – Tan Sri Ahmad Razali Merit Scholarship Award, UCSI University Trust Scholarship, UCSI University Trust Pre-U Scholarship, UCSI University Trust Sports Bursary, UCSI University Trust Education Grant and UCSI University Trust Financial Assistance.
The May 2017 intake is now open for registration. For further information, call 082-596965 or go to UCSI Sarawak Campus Facebook page.
UCSI is among the exhibitors in this year’s Borneo Post International Education Fair (BPIEF), taking place at Vivacity Megamall here on March 11 and 12.