Enhancing Employability of Graduates through Educational Collaborations with Professional Institutions: The Experience of the Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya

This paper presents the experience of the Faculty of Built Environment at the University of Malaya, Malaysia in enhancing the quality and employability of graduates through collaboration with professional institutions. The paper reports the approach used and outcomes from such collaboration with professional institutions on students' employability and academic performance (soft skills, curriculum review, accreditations, seminars and conferences). The review of various collaborations with different professional institutions revealed that the quality of student and employability of students fared better compared to the period when there was not any collaborations with professional institutions. In addition to this the authors' observations showed that the collaborations had a positive impact on the image, confidence and overall competitiveness of our students. The other effect is that members of the Faculty are always on their toes to ensure that the academic programmes and students' performances meet the industry's expectations. This paper also provides examples of types of collaborations and activities between the Faculty of Built Environment and professional institutions. Based on the authors' observations, there is a need for continuous collaboration between public institutions of higher learning and professional institutions. The paper reports the Faculty of Built Environment's experience and outcomes from educational collaborations with professional institutions.