| James Kon |
UNIVERSITI Brunei Darussalam (UBD) welcomed 932 new students as part of its intake for the first semester of the 2018/2019 academic year during the opening of its bi-annual Fresher’s Week yesterday morning at the university’s Chancellor Hall.
Of this figure, which includes international students, 179 individuals are taking Masters and PhD programmes, 554 are taking undergraduates degrees, 16 are doing advanced diplomas, and 189 are under the UniBridge programme.
UBD Vice-Chancellor Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz in her welcoming speech highlighted that the university places great importance on the learning process, and seeks to provide the new intake a profound learning experience as well as instil within them an ethos of lifelong learning.
She added that in the world of today and tomorrow, graduates need to be able to constantly remain relevant.
“You must be able to adapt to new challenges. You will need excellent communication skills, as well as the ability to think critically, innovatively and to reason well. Above all you will need courage,” the vice-chancellor said, highlighting that the university’s GenNEXT programme will play a key role in helping the students achieve these goals.
“The UBD GenNEXT programme,” Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina explained, “gives students more flexibility in choosing the content of their programmes, allowing you to shape your learning experience according to your area of interest and chosen career paths.”
She continued, “Another great feature of the GenNEXT programme is the Discovery Year where students get to experience real-world learning outside of UBD. This will involve students doing either a study-abroad programme, an internship to work on an innovation project, or involvement in a community outreach project.”
The vice-chancellor also gave the new students some advice.
“Being at university means that you will need to cultivate your attributes, especially your ability to be creative and innovative. You will find that the university education system is very different from what you are used to previously, and you will need to challenge yourselves in a number of aspects such as your way of thinking and mindset as well as work harder and think outside the box,” she said.
“You will also find that certain sacrifices have to be made. There will be constant studying, struggling to balance both academic and non-academic activities, late nights working on assignments and revising for exams – all these challenges will be part and parcel of your transformative learning journey.”
Fresher’s Week comprises a four-day orientation programme organised by the university’s Student Affairs Section (SAS) in collaboration with the Student Representative Council 2017/18 with support from student volunteers.
The orientation programme is meant to help the new students transition into their new environment smoothly, familiarise them with the university’s student services (for example career advice and counselling), as well as relay information on essential matters relating to university life.
Following the vice-chancellor’s speech, the new students took an oath marking their official entry into the university, in a ceremony witnessed their parents.
The students later participated in a series of talks on academic and non-academic topics presented by a number of speakers.