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Wednesday 22 February 2012

UCSI UNIVERSITY AND MAXIS TEAM UP TO BRING HIGH-SPEED INTERNET TO STUDENTS

Kuala Lumpur, 22 Apr, 2011 - UCSI University and Maxis Berhad are teaming up to offer University students high-speed Internet access. The two entities established a smart partnership today as part of the Maxis Integrated Partner in Education (MIPE) programme that launched last week. Under the agreement, Maxis will provide high-speed Internet to the University and become one of the University’s industrial partners. UCSI University Vice Chancellor, Dr Robert Bong and Senior Vice President for the Maxis Business Division, Mr. M Fitri B. Abdullah, signed a certificate of partnership in front of a crowd of nearly 200 students during a ceremony at the University. 

In his speech, Dr Bong said the partnership is part of UCSI University’s commitment to bring in modern technology to augment its teaching and learning environment. He said the University is currently pursuing software that will allow lecturers to create virtual “classrooms” with lectures, materials and forums online.

“Our goal is to provide our students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in life in the most effective way possible,” he said. “With blended learning, we will be able to use a variety of tools to make both teaching and learning more efficient, more relevant and more accessible through modern technology.”

Under the agreement, Maxis will provide high-speed WiFi services of up to 50mbps that can be subscribed to directly using mobile phones. 

The Maxis WiFi service will enable students to interact with their lecturers outside the normal classroom setting, combining the usual face-to-face learning with online delivery methods as part of the University’s blended-learning teaching philosophy, championed by its Faculty of Education and Centre for Learning Excellence. The high internet speed will also enable students to quickly download podcasts of their lectures, access online resources, conduct research and join online group discussions, enhancing their learning experience. The availability of high-speed internet access across campus grounds also increases student connectivity and mobility, creating a conducive environment for one to learn on the go. The WiFi service is currently on a free three-month trial basis, after which it will be available at a low daily, weekly or monthly rate for students.

The partnership with Maxis will enable UCSI University to enrich the university experience for its students, with the introduction of the University Hot Ticket, a supersaver prepaid card from Maxis, customised to suit the University’s academic, community and social events. Maxis will be contributing part of the sales for the prepaid cards to social causes and events championed by the students, heightening student awareness of and participation in, community and social issues. 

Maxis and the University’s Faculty of Management and Information Technology are also working together to fulfill the MIPE commitment to developing student entrepreneurship. UCSI University is the first out of Maxis’ tertiary education partners, to deploy Hotlink dealership kiosk businesses on-campus. Currently, there are two kiosks in operation, offering students preferential incentives as well as further blended learning opportunity to put into practice lessons from business courses and to take away new experience from a current communications business model. 

Mr. M Fitri B. Abdullah in his speech said, “On 5 April, Maxis launched its Maxis Integrated Partner in Education programme, a unique offering of an end-to-end array of integrated services to the university sector. Today, we are pleased to see the promise of education enabled by communications technology and partnership commitment, bearing its first fruit at UCSI University.”

“At Maxis we certainly believe in the power of integration of strengths from different areas to create a synergistic service ecosystem and unique customer experience which is greater than the sum of its parts. We can see that the committed and innovative staff and students of UCSI University also believe in the spirit of combining capabilities and of reaching across borders, to arrive at a form of knowledge and preparedness which will truly mark them out as the next digital native generation.”

New international students at the University will also benefit from the partnership, with a special bundled package made available by Maxis and UCSI University. They will receive both prepaid mobile services and broadband internet worth RM200 for free upon their arrival at the University. This ensures better integration for the international student community on campus with the local community while easing their transition to their new life in the country. 

Through this smart partnership, Maxis will also be part of the University’s Co-Operative Industrial Placement Programme, which currently has close to 900 industrial partners. This allows internship opportunities for UCSI University’s students, who need to complete at least two months of industrial training in each academic year. This format, unique to the University, ensures students are constantly in touch with industrial practices, while applying what they have learnt in the classroom. 

In conjunction with the University’s 25th Anniversary, UCSI University and Maxis also recently worked together on a major charity project worth more than RM40,000, which involved more than 200 students. The students and staff of Maxis visited 25 charity homes in a day to paint and clean up the homes, and also to interact with the residents in fun games and activities.


Source : UCSI

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