Life in Public Uni VS Private Uni

[Athersin]

Hey guys , i know most recomers are from private uni or college rite?

Many of u guys are sponsored by scholarships and i am sure u hv sth else to share about ur private uni or colleges? Be it academically, facilities, lecturers or some pros and cons of studying in private institusion .

those from Local uni too could hv some says on that too:)

[henry_yew]

Hey guys , i know most recomers are from private uni or college rite?

Many of u guys are sponsored by scholarships and i am sure u hv sth else to share about ur private uni or colleges? Be it academically, facilities, lecturers or some pros and cons of studying in private institusion .

those from Local uni too could hv some says on that too:)

Well, when it comes to local institutions of higher learning, there may or may not be vast differences between one another. I find, however, that private institutions of higher learning would have more to share about.

If you are asking for my opinion about my life in UTP, I would say that while life is fair here, it is nonetheless imperfect. In terms of academic facilities, academic staff, etc. UTP may have some of the most competent lecturing staff and academic facilities, however racial balance is much too be desired.

Do not label me as a racist or someone who promotes racism, but of all the 400 to 600 new students that come into UTP every semester (one intake in January, and one in July), only about 50 to 60 are non-Malays. The most non-Malay intake was in July 2007 when there were about 120 non-Malay students out of the supposedly about 600 students. Apart from academic staff, I would say that all the non-academic staff, if not most, are Malays. While I do wonder why there are no non-Malay non-academic staff holding the Senate post or administrators posts, I am in no position to question their rationale. (Upon my inspection, there is an Indian lecturer who is in the Senate as he is the head for the Foundation programme in UTP.)

Apart from the racial imbalance which, thankfully, I am able to adapt and cope up with (not many other students can accept such a scenario; many have faced culture shock), the administrators, under quite a strict eye from the Vice Chancellor, are actually quite organised and professional. My Vice Chancellor (whom we call as the Rector) is a very dedicated man who constantly has the students as his primary concern. Although it is quite against the communication protocol, he openly accepts e-mails from students who constantly have much to complain about the university, and he would personally see to it that the administrative staff would help to solve the students' whims. Often, he forwards the students' e-mails to appropriate departments and instructs the administrative staff to deal with the matters raised by students.

Being a new university, UTP still has much to learn from its counterparts (local or international). Cafeteria administration in UTP is quite lax; it is not uncommon to find cafeteria operators not maintaining a very high level of hygiene. Various complaints have been lodged against such irresponsible operators for not being very hygienic. Flies are a common sight, and the stacking of plates, cups and bowls one on top another is quite a norm while waiting for the cleaners to take them away. The cleaners are not necessary there in the cafeteria all the time, and unfortunately it has not been a practice in UTP to return the plates, bowls, and cups to the respective stalls after finishing their meals. I have, in my past experience, encountered a fly in my plate of rice, and my friends have had the unfortunate moment of seeing fly-eggs in their food as well. It is a very worrying situation, and while the university did take certain actions (that is, to evict the operators and get in new operators), the effectiveness of their actions would last no longer than two months.

Despite the setbacks here and there, I am quite grateful that the university has, at least, some support for the arts. Over the years, various musical groups have formed, among them include UTP Orchestra Classical & Jazz, UTP Orchestra Chinese Musical, UTP Orchestra Indian Musical, UTP Virtuoso Group, UTP Choir Group, UTP Performing Arts Group, UTP Gamelan Group, etc. The university has also recently, last semester, purchased a new grand piano. It is quite evident to see that the university encourages students not to be just bookworms, but to also bond with other people through music. Little do people realise that music bonds people very effectively.

For those who are more kinesthetically inclined, there are also the sports facilities with gymnasium, swimming pool, new basketball courts and new futsal courts. In terms of life in UTP, though there may not be much entertainment to offer, there are definitely many other facilities, clubs and societies which students can participate to spend their time (then, there is, of course, trips down to Ipoh, where you can at least find some "civilisation" there).

Generally, life in UTP should not be so boring. The setbacks, problems and issues that we encounter often keep us quite occupied most of the time (academic timetable problems, events, etc.), although at times for the wrong reasons. Life in my campus has been quite easy-going, although not without its ups and downs. Student politics are not something new for us, too, and actually various events have come under fire by some students despite the events being purely meant for proper entertainment (some students use hedonism as the main reason to urge the administrators not to approve events like band competitions, etc.).

Therefore, you can see that UTP, being a private institution of higher learning, has much to provoke our thoughts, so much so that we get fed-up of event protests, intervention of some non-Muslim couples strolling at night on Valentine's Day by Muslim students, etc. etc. These things DO happen, but we have all learned to live with it and live through it.

At the end of the day, if there is anything I can boast about, it would be that I will have good adaptation skills. :D

P/S: I know that there are many UTP students in ReCom, too. Many of them may not agree with what I have written, but these are purely my two cents worth.

[bush26]

Well, when it comes to local institutions of higher learning, there may or may not be vast differences between one another. I find, however, that private institutions of higher learning would have more to share about.

If you are asking for my opinion about my life in UTP, I would say that while life is fair here, it is nonetheless imperfect. In terms of academic facilities, academic staff, etc. UTP may have some of the most competent lecturing staff and academic facilities, however racial balance is much too be desired.

Do not label me as a racist or someone who promotes racism, but of all the 400 to 600 new students that come into UTP every semester (one intake in January, and one in July), only about 50 to 60 are non-Malays. The most non-Malay intake was in July 2007 when there were about 120 non-Malay students out of the supposedly about 600 students. Apart from academic staff, I would say that all the non-academic staff, if not most, are Malays. While I do wonder why there are no non-Malay non-academic staff holding the Senate post or administrators posts, I am in no position to question their rationale. (Upon my inspection, there is an Indian lecturer who is in the Senate as he is the head for the Foundation programme in UTP.)

Apart from the racial imbalance which, thankfully, I am able to adapt and cope up with (not many other students can accept such a scenario; many have faced culture shock), the administrators, under quite a strict eye from the Vice Chancellor, are actually quite organised and professional. My Vice Chancellor (whom we call as the Rector) is a very dedicated man who constantly has the students as his primary concern. Although it is quite against the communication protocol, he openly accepts e-mails from students who constantly have much to complain about the university, and he would personally see to it that the administrative staff would help to solve the students' whims. Often, he forwards the students' e-mails to appropriate departments and instructs the administrative staff to deal with the matters raised by students.

Being a new university, UTP still has much to learn from its counterparts (local or international). Cafeteria administration in UTP is quite lax; it is not uncommon to find cafeteria operators not maintaining a very high level of hygiene. Various complaints have been lodged against such irresponsible operators for not being very hygienic. Flies are a common sight, and the stacking of plates, cups and bowls one on top another is quite a norm while waiting for the cleaners to take them away. The cleaners are not necessary there in the cafeteria all the time, and unfortunately it has not been a practice in UTP to return the plates, bowls, and cups to the respective stalls after finishing their meals. I have, in my past experience, encountered a fly in my plate of rice, and my friends have had the unfortunate moment of seeing fly-eggs in their food as well. It is a very worrying situation, and while the university did take certain actions (that is, to evict the operators and get in new operators), the effectiveness of their actions would last no longer than two months.

Despite the setbacks here and there, I am quite grateful that the university has, at least, some support for the arts. Over the years, various musical groups have formed, among them include UTP Orchestra Classical & Jazz, UTP Orchestra Chinese Musical, UTP Orchestra Indian Musical, UTP Virtuoso Group, UTP Choir Group, UTP Performing Arts Group, UTP Gamelan Group, etc. The university has also recently, last semester, purchased a new grand piano. It is quite evident to see that the university encourages students not to be just bookworms, but to also bond with other people through music. Little do people realise that music bonds people very effectively.

For those who are more kinesthetically inclined, there are also the sports facilities with gymnasium, swimming pool, new basketball courts and new futsal courts. In terms of life in UTP, though there may not be much entertainment to offer, there are definitely many other facilities, clubs and societies which students can participate to spend their time (then, there is, of course, trips down to Ipoh, where you can at least find some "civilisation" there).

Generally, life in UTP should not be so boring. The setbacks, problems and issues that we encounter often keep us quite occupied most of the time (academic timetable problems, events, etc.), although at times for the wrong reasons. Life in my campus has been quite easy-going, although not without its ups and downs. Student politics are not something new for us, too, and actually various events have come under fire by some students despite the events being purely meant for proper entertainment (some students use hedonism as the main reason to urge the administrators not to approve events like band competitions, etc.).

Therefore, you can see that UTP, being a private institution of higher learning, has much to provoke our thoughts, so much so that we get fed-up of event protests, intervention of some non-Muslim couples strolling at night on Valentine's Day by Muslim students, etc. etc. These things DO happen, but we have all learned to live with it and live through it.

At the end of the day, if there is anything I can boast about, it would be that I will have good adaptation skills. :D

P/S: I know that there are many UTP students in ReCom, too. Many of them may not agree with what I have written, but these are purely my two cents worth.



whatever he said is true and i cannot understand why petronas have to set up the uni in the middle of the forest and have imbalance intake

[Athersin]

one thing cannot deny: Private college and uni always emphasize more on english language than local public uni.Thus this make the diff in proficiency between the 2.

[wnka86]

This may not be directly involve the life of public vs. private uni but it does also involve the view of a private college goer.

My life in a private college took place between January 2004-end of 2007. I would say that the life in private college is simply different than a public uni because the medium of conduct is totally in English. I underwent the Canadian Pre-University in 2004. It gives a mixture of an international culture where the lecturer and classmates came from various backgrounds. It makes our discussion even more interesting where the lecturer will even encourage us to even debate on issues that may provoke our thinking.

Many of the lecturers came from world renown universities and have been well-established in the industry even before coming into the academia world. They are able to relate their real life experience as to compare to what the book is telling us so that we are able to get an insight of what to expect in the real world.

The industry ties between the college / universities have allow us to undergo specific internships related to our studies. I was very fortunate to be allow the opportunity to indulge in real hands-on experiences when I underwent my Bachelor Degree. Both local and international opportunities were being made available to us.

In a private institution, I was fortunate to be allow to communicate with people from all walks of background and culture. We do not only confine ourselves to strictly one dominated race but it gives us an array of kaleidoscope of an international arena.

[bernardkhoo]

i think life in private uni is more fun! public uni very boring!