The year 2020 had all the makings of a momentous year. The COVID-19 outbreak sent global industries and economies into a tailspin. In Malaysia, the Movement Control Order (MCO) kicked off on 18th March, and severely curtailed economic activities.
INTI International University & Colleges organizes regular sanitizing in all its classrooms, lecture halls and common spaces.
Whilst these volatile times have put various industries, including the education forefront, through a stress test, the silver lining lies in the emergence of opportunities for new ways of thinking and doing things. This includes finding new strategies to revitalize, restructure and rebuild towards a sustainable future.
Amidst this crisis, we have seen leaders of industry formulate strategies to adapt and overcome the uncertainties posed by the pandemic.
INTI International University & Colleges (INTI) is no exception. The pandemic may have hit the organisation from all corners but its teams worked harder to provide the best experience for its stakeholders, and most importantly its students.
“INTI’s management team came together as early as January to brainstorm a sustainable COVID-19 Response and Readiness plan that would provide the best for our new and returning students in the new normal. We adjusted to the disruptive events with speed and agility and collaborated with various parties to find solutions that contributed to the recovery of our ecosystem,” said Tan Lin Nah, Chief Executive Officer, INTI International University & Colleges.
Every individual that enters any INTI campus is required to scan their respective mySejahtera app, or INTI’s registration portal as a safety precaution.
Lin Nah added, “With a firm Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and quick responses to various challenges, we are continuously working hard to ensure that student experiences are not compromised, even as we do our part to curb the spread of the virus in our communities. With more cases on the rise now, we should not lose hope and continue adhering to the guidance provided by the Ministry of Health to safeguard ourselves and our families.”
As an education institution that supports over 17,000 students nationwide, INTI prioritises their students’ health and safety, while providing them with the best experiences possible – including providing both lessons and activities online.
“We have done and are still doing all we can to ensure our students, staff and communities remain safe,” states Lin Nah as she explains the ongoing initiatives across all INTI campuses.
During the short window when students returned to campus in May, and moving forward as the institution gears up for students being back on campus by mid-February, there are dedicated security personnel posted at every checkpoint to ensure temperatures of individuals entering the campuses are checked, mySejahtera apps are scanned, or manual check ins via a log book are completed.
Hand sanitizers are made available at all entry points; main entrances, classrooms, lecture halls, labs, cafeterias, and common spaces. Also throughout the buildings, clear SOPs and social distancing guidelines are implemented – students are required to scan a QR code upon entering any designated spaces, and clear 1-meter distancing have been marked out in classrooms, lecture halls and common areas to ease movement and socializing.
“Above all, to ensure the health and safety of every individual on campus, regular sanitizing schedules have been put in place for classrooms, lecture halls, washrooms, lifts and all other facilities. Our cleaners are guided to use masks and other equipment to ensure they keep themselves and others safe while providing their services,” shared Lin Nah.
COVID-19 has forced us to familiarize ourselves with new ways of working and operating businesses. Adapting to the new normal and ensuring sustainability in students’ academic progression, INTI has digitalized most of its processes including its student applications and submissions.
“Prior to the MCO, we had parents and students walking into our campuses to enquire about the available courses and filling in their details on hardcopy forms, but it’s different now. All student applications, submissions and enquiries about a programme is done via Microsoft Flows, a process and task automation tool that helps connect different applications and services together at a quicker pace,” Lin Nah articulates.
Students progressing and transferring from one programme to other courses at INTI can also submit their applications through the Microsoft Flows application.
“Beyond the digitalization of our teaching and learning processes to ensure students are able to successfully complete their studies and graduate despite the challenges of campus closures, enabling a sustainable approach in all our processes for our students and their parents in the long run eases their ability to continue their education journey. Needless to say, the pandemic is definitely enhancing the society’s paperless efforts and empowering us to think beyond the box in how we continue to live life to the fullest – even with physical distancing,” affirmed Lin Nah.
Beyond sustainable administrative processes, the digital economy’s evolution towards becoming the new normal in this time of great change and uncertainty requires Malaysia’s young talents to be even better prepared for professional success post MCO. Acknowledging the pandemic’s impact to fresh graduate unemployment, INTI also organised a series of virtual events to cultivate student engagement with industry.
These events serve as a platform for students, faculty and industry partners to discuss the latest trends encircling topics like employability, skills development and trends that are relevant to all scopes of work in today’s post pandemic employment market.
“Industry exposure and experience are vital elements when one enters the higher education scene. Despite the inability to organise face to face events and practicals, we continued to prioritise these engagements, focusing on ensuring sustainability of our career programmes which serve as a necessity for students making up the future workplace. We also have our student counsellors offering counselling services remotely – something that has greatly helped students cope during these times, library resources made available online, and many other operations have been shifted online to engage students whilst they are at learning from the safety of their own homes, anywhere in the world,” said Lin Nah.
Lin Nah concluded, “All of these efforts aim to ensure our students remain current in the new world and with the opportunities and realities they will inherit. We strive to ensure our students are able to continue to rise up to their aspirations from wherever they are and to be able to pursue those dreams, even when the going gets tough. As we continue to live the values of ‘Kita Jaga Kita’ in managing actual contact hours on campus, our mission remains the same in providing students with the best experiences that will empower them to both survive and thrive in the new world they will inherit.”