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UM House of Aspirations
Excellence
Objective 1: One of the key challenges for Universiti Malaya (UM) is to weather the
Towards a volatile financial climate ahead. It is estimated that 85% of the funding
self-sustaining for the university is heavily dependent on a single source, namely the
university government. The current traditional cost management practices in public
universities, such as restrictive rules on expenditure and emphasis on
rewarding expenditure rather than savings, coupled with diminishing
reserves, revenue and investment income, pose a great challenge to the
university’s financial sustainability. Theme 1 Champion New Governance & Business Model

Realising UM’s need for a continuous, stable income, as well as financial
sustainability, Theme 1 of the UM Transformation Plan (UMTP) focuses on
two threads: first, identifying new business models, new income streams,
and new business opportunities aimed at achieving financial sustainability;
and second, on developing a new governance model or approaches to

UM support those primary aims.
TRANSFORMATION Theme 1 of the UMTP is aligned to both the UM Strategic Plan and UM
PLAN THEME 1 House of Excellence.

Process Overview 11

UM Strategic In the early stages, stakeholder engagement and syndication sessions
Plan (2021-2025) were conducted to identify issues, current gaps, and challenges, as well
Pillar 1: Income as to explore new opportunities. Special interview sessions were also held
Generation with selected individuals including corporate figures, representatives from
the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the Ministry of Finance (MoF)
and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).

A one-day Action Lab was conducted with shareholders, stakeholders,
process owners and invited guests. It covered six main topics, including
long term income generation, exploring new businesses, endowment
& donations, professional services, and total income restructuring. The
outcomes of the Action Lab were discussed and refined through further
meetings and discussion sessions. Further discussions were held with,
and findings were reported to, the UM Vice Chancellor and the Bursar,
who are the sponsors of Theme 1, UMTP.

Through these processes, five main objectives were identified. Each
objective addresses different issues and challenges, but all lead towards
the same goal of achieving financial stability and sustainability for UM. A
total of 12 strategies and 17 initiatives related to these main objectives
were drawn up. Objectives 1 and 2 focus on two progressive and long
term efforts which will create their own additional strategies, initiatives and
taskforces as UMTP continues over the years. Objectives 3, 4 and 5 of
Theme 1 already have dedicated Taskforces set up specifically to carry out
the associated strategies and initiatives prescribed.