More importantly, he or she is very much in sync with current events in the world as well as the immediate surroundings. A quality graduate is open to change, new ideas and innovations.
He or she is a team player and an independent worker. A quality graduate is also both a good leader and a good follower - able to assume any position and rise to the occasion.
Through education, we can mould our learners and raise them to a higher level. But most definitely, a quality OUM graduate must be an all-rounder - confident, knowledgeable as well as IT - and technologically-savvy. He or she must also be able to manage time well, communicate effectively, be persuasive when making presentations.
This means they are clear about what they want and are all out to achieve specific goals. Consequently, our graduates are definitely on par with, if not better than, those from traditional universities. A quality OUM graduate is not only competent, determined and ambitious but also has staying power without which he or she will not succeed.
Quality tutors pave the way for quality learning. Of course, quality graduates can only come about when learners are provided with quality learning material. This is why OUM is upgrading its print modules and is constantly exploring ways to make teaching and learning more effective and engaging.
We also have in place a quality assessment system. In May this year, we introduced an alternative mode of assessment - MCQ (multiple choice questions). We hope to eventually migrate to this mode of assessment for 80% of our courses.
We do not just focus on academia. OUM prides itself on being a caring organisation. Our Centre for Student Management regularly checks on the progress of learners and organises activities to help them, for instance, by holding workshops on study skills for those who require such guidance.
Seminars and colloquiums are held several times a year to expose learners, tutors and facilitators to best practices from all over the world so that they, too, can strive to be world-class. In the pipeline is the setting up of a professional chair for e-learning. We hope to appoint a professor by next year.
We are now also looking into ways to encourage more research to advance teaching and learning. All these efforts are ongoing and geared towards ensuring that OUM produces top-notch, quality graduates.
I would say that we have been very successful in producing quality graduates. The feedback that we get indicates most of our graduates perform on the job and are able to meet the expectations of employers. Many were promoted after completing their courses at OUM.
Of course, certain checks and balances have been put in place by the institution. These include tracer studies conducted regularly to give us new input on ways to improve services, ongoing training to ensure that academic staff upgrade their skills, and open channels of communication between learners, academic staff and the top management of OUM.
To do this, we ourselves must be of quality - this means we should constantly strive to upgrade ourselves. Truly, learning never stops. Also, our salaries are paid by our learners, so we have to put them first. Make sure they have a wonderful experience at OUM and support them as much as you can in achieving their goals.