Sejahtera Academic Framework (SAF)

146 145 AWHOLE NEWTRANSFORMED EDUCATION SAF is seen as a major breakthrough from WIT point of view towards revamping the concept of education at IIUM. SAF helps to tie up the different aspects of WIT which aims to humanise education. Through SAF implementation, education will be values-based, which is of paramount importance in the pursuit of balanced graduates. SAF is also key in the quest of “humaniversity.” Linking formal education to community engagement in a more objective and structured framework will ensure the potential of students’ involvement in transformational change is realised (Galimberti, 2020). Education under SAF is also comprehensive, both in terms of knowledge and delivery. As aforementioned, education will no longer be the sole ambit of academics, but everyone in IIUM. In other words, everyone will have roles to play in the delivery of education and also in the shaping of the ecosystem nurturing students to become balanced graduates and ultimately Insān Sejahtera. Teaching and learning will not only be confined to the classroom, but also through daily interactions between staff and students, between students and the communities, and between students and their surrounding environment. Thus, everyone and every KCDIOM must begin to explore how best they can contribute and facilitate this transformation in education. Staff and KCDIOM must not rest on their laurels, thinking that they have done their best and there is nothing more that they can offer. Status quo must be challenged and red-tapes must be eliminated, so that SAF can be successfully implemented. Students must also take part and play their roles in ensuring the success of SAF. Students must be willing to go the extra mile to harness their skills and competencies. They must be free of the spoon-feeding mentality, instead strive to put forward their own ideas and opinions. They must be steadfast in adopting and practising values and ethics as a Muslim imbued with KHAIR attributes. RCE GREATER GOMBAK AS A NEW MODEL OF A ‘JAMI’AH INSĀNIAH’ The continuous changes in the higher education landscape especially for the past 20 years have forced universities to respond with a diverse model of university to make themselves relevant. The pressure is getting stronger when university activities are put to almost complete halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now every single university in the world is searching for a new model that is very resilient not only to withstand any disruption but more importantly a model that can transform the challenges faced into a learning platform and opportunities. An RCE with its structure of a very close collaboration vertically, horizontally and diagonally, among some of the internal and external stakeholders namely community, university, government agencies and industries can serve as a perfect co-learning platform and ecosystem for any real-world issues – a Jami’ah Insāniah. IIUM, as the centre of the RCE, has long been striving to promote such a concept of learning environment within its institution and with the surrounding community. The living and learning in IIUMhave been designed to alignwith and for Islamic practices which by default encapsulate the concept of Maqā ṣ id Ash- Sharī ʿ ah . The introduction of the sustainability concept is perfecting the ecosystem of the university. With the WIT, IIUM views the campus operations and facilities management of the university as not just a physical operation but rather part of an academic tool to provide learning opportunities to its students' and staff’ daily routines. It is undeniable that the student learning time spent outside the formal curriculum is relatively higher. Thus, in IIUM, all routine operations and facilities which have been usually taken for granted need to be adjusted so that it should be translating and showcasing a sustainable lifestyle. In realisation of this need, it is not an overstatement to propose that until and unless this model is fully adapted and adopted, the effort to achieve institutional sustainability will not be successful. The success of the RCE agenda of education for sustainable development starts inside out whereby it is so much dependent on how IIUMas a sub-community can function as a sustainable community itself before extending its internal culture to the surrounding community. In a more general implication of RCE’s framework, the whole university’s functions, from the formal graded courses to extra-curricular activities, the various research activities, and everyday operation in administrative offices, cafeterias, hostels and every place in the university should be geared and re-oriented towards sustainable development-oriented ecosystem with the implication of Maqā ṣ id Ash-Sharī ʿ ah reinstated in all appropriate occasion. For instance, any course on environmental education would emphasise on the negative consequences of plastic usage but this lesson will be of limited value when the university communities encounter cafeterias that are still offering plastic straws and mineral water bottles are still readily available for purchase everywhere in the campus without any notices and reminders on their environmental impact. The WIT approach implies the integration of sustainability aspects in every aspect of university governance and administration and the delivery of the three fundamental functions - teaching and learning, research and development and community engagement - in a more structured and pre-designed way. Concurrently, with the integration of Maqā ṣ id Ash-Sharī ʿ ah into the university strategies and performance measurement, the IIUM community is sensitised and realised that all the environmental practices are very well aligned with the teaching of Islam and the concept of Islamisation that the university has been advocating for the past many years.