Following through from IHEC 2022, the 2nd IHEC Conference held at Movenpick Conference Centre on the 30th March 2023 proved to be an exciting physical platform planned and designed to consider the challenges encountered by universities during the Covid 19 pandemic and its impending changes in education particularly in providing online courses and platforms to support student learning which in turn sparked numerous innovations within the educational field. Nevertheless, the measures adopted during the pandemic were not entirely effective in addressing underlying causes and issues facing higher education and, in this context, IHEC 2023 provided a unique platform for senior academic management, practitioners and researchers to share their experiences and views on best practices along with improvements and opportunities that should be explored to provide for better solutions to combat such problems in the future.
The Conference was officiated by Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mohammad Shatar Bin Sabran, the Chief Executive Officer for the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Malaysia, who shared his perspective on the future direction of learning within the higher education sector.
The Conference accorded senior leaders of both public and private universities from different parts of the globe and within the Nilai community to share their views on contemporary issues in managing universities for the future. The Conference was carried out in an interactive manner of roundtable sharing sessions on different topics in which key senior leaders shared their views and experiences.
R1 Vice Chancellors’ Roundtable: University Management for the Future
The first roundtable session on “University Management for the Future”, accorded Vice-Chancellors, Presidents and Rectors to share their vision on university management for the future. Issues considered included but were not limited only to the future outlook of higher education but also the transformation needed and the transition of management, resources and talent management in the future management of universities.
R2: Academic Management for the Future
The second roundtable session accorded Deans and Directors the opportunity to consider issues in managing the transition on the ground in relation to academic operations and service management at the front line given the paradigm shift witnessed since the pandemic and the changes within the mindset of academic members and learners. Deans and Directors shared their views on how to manage the transitions in higher education on the ground in the future.
R3: Global Collaboration for the Future
The final roundtable discussion considered the insights and strategies on collaboration models and innovative ideas pertaining to collaboration by universities in the future designed to renew the higher education industry by experiencing opportunities offered for more creative models on collaboration within the industry.
The Conference concluded with IFTAR dinner and networking amongst the delegates and participants.