By: Noor Eszereen Juferi
SERDANG - The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has announced the appointment of Prof. Dr. Ismi Arif Ismail as UPM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) for a period of three (3) years, effective from April 25, 2022, until April 24, 2025.
He replaced Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Saripan, whose term expired on February 14, 2022.
Prof. Dr. Ismi Arif Ismail, 51, holds a PhD (Continuing Education) from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, a Master's in Extension Education, UPM, and a Bachelor of Education with Honours (Teaching English as a Second Language - TESL) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He specialises in the areas of extension and continuing education, teaching and learning, youth development, leadership and human resource development.
Prof. Dr. Ismi was born in Kedah and has served in UPM for over 22 years. He started his career as Lecturer in the Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education in 2000 before being appointed as Senior Lecturer in 2008, Associate Professor in 2012 and Professor in 2020.
He was appointed as the Head of the Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education in 2008, Deputy Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, from 2012 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2020. He was later appointed as the Director of the Institute for Social Science Studies (IPSAS), UPM, from 2020 to 2022.
He was seconded as the Deputy Director of the Teaching and Learning Leadership Centre at the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), between 2013 and 2015.
Prof. Dr. Ismi is the Executive Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Youth Studies (formerly known as the Malaysian Journal of Youth Studies) and a member of the SAGE Open Editorial Council and Asian Council of Science Editors. In addition, he is a referee for several international journals, including BMC Medical Education, European Journal of Training and Development, Journal of Social Sciences, and Journal of the History of Education Society.
Prof. Dr. Ismi is also a think tank for the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES), Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia. He is one of the expert panels that produced the Malaysian Youth Policy 2015-2035 and the Malaysian Youth Index since 2011. He was also involved in producing the book National e-Learning Policy (DePaN). Prof. Dr. Ismi is also a permanent member of the National Education Special Task Force (STF NE), National Employment Council (NEC) since 2022.
In the international arena, Prof. Dr. Ismi is actively involved in consultation activities with the Commonwealth Youth Secretariat, London, Commonwealth Higher Education Youth Work Consortium, UNESCO and consulting firms such as Khazanah Research Institute, McKinsey & Company, Ernst & Young and Hay Group. He has attended professional leadership training conducted by experts from Harvard Business School, Harvard University, USA and Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Australia.
His portfolio includes leading and being responsible for the overall administration of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) and enhancing the development of academic policy, promoting the quality assurance process, improving teaching and learning quality and being responsible for the development and promotion of international affairs.
UPM management believes the appointment of Prof. Dr. Ismi Arif Ismail will help uphold the university's strategic goals related to the teaching and learning process, including enriching students' experience in acquiring knowledge and continuous professional development of university’s academic staff. – UPM
