7th December 2022, Indonesia - The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) has physically conducted its 35th University Consortium Executive Board Meeting (UCEBM) on the 25th – 26th November 2022, hosted by Universitas Brawijaya in Malang, Indonesia. The meeting was attended by representatives from its:

• six (6) regular members Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Kasetsart University (KU), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and Universitas Brawijaya (UB),
• two (2) associate members; Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) and National Taiwan University (NTU),
• three (3) affiliate members; Maejo University, Thailand, Visayas State University, and Central Luzon State University, both from the Philippines and,
• the Secretariat; itself (SEARCA).

UPM was represented by Prof. Dr. Zalilah Mohd Shariff, (Dean of School of Graduate Studies as a UC Executive Officer), Prof. Dr. Firdaus Mukhtar, (Deputy Dean of School of Graduate Studies as a UC Coordinator) and Ms Nur Nadjla Ahmad Razei (Assistant Registrar of School of Graduate Studies).

During the meeting, each UC member presented their Coordinator’s Report and three (3) proposals were made to be introduced under the UC whereby one of it was prepared by UPM specifically on the introduction of new grants. The meeting also conducted its annual assessment of the Affiliate Members and reviewed the presentation from three (3) new universities applying for UC membership, whereby all of them were from the Philippines.

Towards the end, activities for 2023-2025 were drafted and it was agreed that UPM will be hosting the 2024 UC Faculty Forum.

Date of Input: 06/12/2022 | Updated: 03/01/2023 | aslamiah