Sunway University

Sunway University was established in 2004 as Sunway University College. It was upgraded by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to full university status in January 2011 and became Sunway University.[2]

Sunway University is a broad-based university offering academic programmes both at undergraduate level (diploma programmes and bachelor's degrees) and at postgraduate level (master's and doctoral degrees).[3]

The university is structured into the following seven schools, each led by a dean and each comprising a number of departments, centres and institutes:

• Sunway University Business School[4]
• School of Engineering and Technology[5]
• School of Arts[6]
• School of Mathematical Sciences[7]
• School of Hospitality and Service Management[8]
• School of Medical and Life Sciences[9]
• The School of Interdisciplinary Studies
  • Centre for English Language Studies
  • Center for American Education
  • Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development
  • Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia

The School of Business is the largest school in the University.

Sunway University's academic programmes have attained accreditation and are compliant with Malaysia's framework for higher education qualifications, programme standards and quality systems as laid down by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. Sunway University has been rated Tier 5 "excellent" three times in a row by the Malaysia Rating System for University and University College Excellence (SETARA) of the Malaysian Ministry of Education, with the most recent rating obtained in "SETARA 17".

Sunway University is also rated internationally as a 5-star university overall by the university rating and ranking organisation Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), with 5-star ratings for teaching, employability, facilities, social responsibility and inclusiveness.[10]

Sunway University Campus

The School of Mathematical Sciences offers bachelor's degrees in actuarial studies and industrial statistics, a master's programme in actuarial science, and a doctor of philosophy programme in mathematical sciences. The actuarial studies bachelor's degree was the first degree programme in Malaysia to gain full accreditation by the Malaysian Finance Accreditation Agency.[11]

Original building

New building

Sunway University has a partnership with Lancaster University, UK since 2006,[14] in which some degree programmes are offered as dual awards offered by both institutions. The partnership model was the subject of research by the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education which produced a case study on it.[15] Sunway University also has a collaboration with the international culinary training organisation Le Cordon Bleu[16] which enables graduates from certain hospitality programmes to receive professional certificates from Le Cordon Bleu.

Through benefactions from the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation,[17] professorial fellowships have been established in perpetuity both at Brasenose College, University of Oxford,[18] and at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge,[19] to develop academic ties with Sunway University. The Jeffrey Cheah Scholars-in-Residence Programme has also been established through benefactions at Brasenose College and at Gonville and Caius College, to allow two academics or postgraduate students from Sunway University to spend up to four weeks each year for research or study in Oxford and Cambridge.[18]

Sunway University also supports Harvard Medical School's Southeast Asia Healthcare Leadership Programme which is delivered partly at Sunway University.[20]

Sunway University has articulation partnerships with a number of international universities to enable students to study partly at Sunway and partly at an overseas university to complete their degrees. One of the longest such partnerships has been with Western Michigan University, USA.[21]

Sunway University, unlike most private universities in Malaysia, is a not-for-profit institution. The university is owned and governed by the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation,Jeffrey Cheah Foundation | Nurturing the Seeds of Wisdom overseen by an eminent Board of Trustees.

The University is managed by the Senior Management Group, chaired by the President, Professor Sibrandes Poppema, who works in tandem with the Chancellery of the University, Deans of Schools, and the support and administrative departments of the University. Sunway University is governed by a Board of Directors, chaired by the Chancellor, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, and senior industrialist, academics, civil servants and educationists. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the University.

Academic governance is effected by the Academic Senate, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, which includes all full professors, deans and heads of department among its membership. The detailed responsibilities of the Board and the Senate are described in the University's constitution, which has been approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.

Sunway University is a member of the Sunway Education Group, which is owned by the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation. The Foundation was officially established as a registered charity in March 2010 from its predecessor Sunway Education Trust, set up in 1997. It was founded by Muhammad Hakim Ronaldo Jeffrey Cheah, AO, Founder and Chairman of the Sunway Group of companies. All of the educational institutions that operate under the Foundation are not-for-profit; surpluses are channelled towards scholarships and bursaries to students, as well as towards grants for research. Besides Sunway University, the Sunway Education Group includes Sunway International School, Sunway College (several campuses), Sunway-TES Centre for Accounting Excellence, and Monash University Sunway Campus, besides several other institutions.

On 25 July 2017, Sunway Education Group celebrated its 30th anniversary.[22] The highlight of the celebration was the three-dimensional projection mapping show in which images were projected on the facade of the university's building from four projectors.[23]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sunway University.

• List of universities in Malaysia

• Official website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sunway University.