Dear Tan Sri,
Voices of concerned students-FABEsaa student’s discontent/disapproval/disappointment over FABE’s management
It has come to our attention that for the past three years, changes made at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment have taken a turn for the worse in regards to the quality of education received here. To make things even worse, reliable sources have informed us of lecturers being terminated or made to leave. It has also come to our knowledge that many lecturers who are currently teaching us might resign in the near future. We therefore appeal to you to address these issues
Quality Education.
1. It is in our best interest to have quality education, which includes proper facilities, efficient management, prompt service and good lecturers. We are entitled to receive all of this benefits as promised during registration at the beginning of our first day in this school. None of this is possible if there is no order within the faculty management and organisation. We are extremely concerned with the state of our well being, as we are at the receiving end of it all.
Financial support from faculty for school activities
2. Requests for funding during site visits are slow and regularly rejected. As you know site visits for projects, competitions, exhibitions and student meets are important to the program we are currently involved in. It provides us with the opportunity to broaden our experience.
3. We currently have no permanent gallery to exhibition of our vast collection of works. As a result we often have to be as to sent our work and help put up exhibition at a moments’ notice by the faculty. This is difficult as we constantly have submission of assignments.
4. There is no proper storage facility. Our work is not kept well, treated with utter disrespect and is disposed of instead of being archived properly.
5. Our classrooms are dire and the roofs are full of leaks. Only until recent air conditioning have been fixed and installed after three year of working under unbearable conditions.
Resignation of senior and valued lecturers
6. Another concern here is that many lecturers leave suddenly and under mysterious circumstances. There is a lack of transparency in the way the faculty runs. This clashes with the principles of honesty and integrity that we should see in the running of the school. These managers should not do as they please without being accountable to the students, who are the clients of this university. Taking and disposing of lecturers flippantly and carelessly is something that we definitely do not prefer. We are well aware of the shortage of staff in general moreover good ones.
7. In the past three years lecturers who have left due to their dissatisfaction with the faculty management includes Mr. Mior, Ms. Hanim, Mr. Zul, Mr. Dennis, Mr. Ramesh, Ms. Marsitah, Ms. Nora, Ms, Ayu, and many part time staff.
8. At the beginning of this semester Ms. Saedeh, Ms. Husna, Ms. Shikin and Mr. Siva have tendered their resignation. Mr. Chek has left in a similar manner as well, and his departure marked a downturn in the Computer Aided Design department. Even students who had not graduated at the time were called in by the management to start lecturing as a desperate measure because of the lack of qualified lecturers.
9. The most recent case which has occurred would be the termination of Ms. Suzy Sulaiman. She was terminated on grounds that she was never hired by the university to teach part time. The letter, in effect, terminated her services abruptly and without prior notice. No reasons or logical terms were given. This has cause problems in the subjects she was teaching.
10. These were teachers we value and appreciate. They are dedicated professionals, equally patient and extremely helpful to us. No doubt, this has affected the morale of the staff, and has cast doubt in the minds of newcomers. It is obvious that senior staffs are growing increasingly jaded with the way things are run here.
11. Mr. Faisal, the newly appointed Programme Leader for Architecture Science, has managed to recruit some of experience lecturers from the industry to compensate for void left by these lecturers. There are changes made to key personnel in design classes. Student tutors were introduced to assist us in the preparing our assignments. Workshops are held to teach us new skills. Classes are better managed and conducted by these new lecturers. It is evident in the work we produced. However, these efforts will be useless if more lecturers resign in the near future.
Delay in payment and contract approval for lecturers and student tutors
12. Part time lecturers and student tutors have also reported problems with contracts, delays in paperwork and payment. This, in principle, signifies tardiness and genuine disregard for the welfare of faculty members, who have worked for their dues.
13. In view of this callous treatment, we fear that these lecturers might leave. Should this happen where does it leave us then?
Poor leadership in faculty management
14. Many actions have been taken before by some of the lecturers throughout the years, but the school still does not realize the severity of the situation within the faculty. We require the faculty to be more sensitive to our needs and concerns.
We would be grateful if you could assist on this matter, and that a meeting would be held among said involved parties.
We strongly hope our appeal to you will be heard justly.
Signed,
The Students.