SINTOK, 2 February 2026: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) is intensifying efforts to enhance its academic performance, particularly in Scopus-indexed publications, through the restructuring of lecturer’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and improvements to the annual performance appraisal system.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr Ahmad Martadha Mohamed said that the university’s current publication index stands at 0.67, which is well below the target of two indexed journal articles per academic staff member, underscoring the need for concerted action from all stakeholders, including the Deans and Schools’ leadership.
“Lecturers must publish. That is the foundation. Our aim is to achieve at least two indexed journal articles per lecturer overall,” he said, while stressing the importance of full institutional support at the school level.
As a strategic measure, the university has decided that highly productive lecturers, particularly those actively publishing in Scopus Q1 and Q2 journals, will be assigned dedicated KPIs focused solely on publication without teaching responsibilities.
“We do not want to burden them with teaching. If they are capable of producing up to 10 publications, then it makes sense to focus their KPIs exclusively on research output,” he said at the Vice-Chancellor’s New Year address held at EDC-UUM.
Meanwhile, the recruitment process for new lecturers has been strengthened, with candidates’ H-index now assessed as a key selection criterion. New academic hires are expected to have an H-index of at least one or two. Recently, however, the university recently identified a promising young lecturer with an H-index of 13.
“This is a valuable asset to the university, Young lecturers tend to have a different work culture and are highly productive,” he noted.
The university is also increasing the intake of local and international postgraduate students as part of its strategy to raise the proportion of first authorship, which currently stands at 51 per cent.
With the recruitment of at least one Scopus-indexed publication for postgraduate students, supervisors will automatically have opportunities to be listed as first or second authors, thereby improving the university’s publication metrics.
To ensure fairness, the performance appraisal system and promotion criteria will be reviewed to account for disciplinary differences and supervision challenges, particularly in fields with lower student enrolment, such as mathematics.
In terms of research support, the university provides various incentives, including RM10,000 in research funding for new lecturers, RM 5,000 for each Social Innovation Grant Scheme (SIGS), as well as encouragement for Schools with surplus allocations to establish internal grants for their lecturers.
“There should no longer be cases where a lecturer has no grant and ends up with a zero-research score despite genuine effort,” he emphasised.
Beyond academic excellence, the university is also prioritising graduate employability, with a target for premium starting salaries of up to RM 4,000 and above, particularly through active student engagement in entrepreneurship.
The provision of entrepreneurship kiosks, in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), has contributed to increasing students’ income.
Efforts to strengthen zakat, waqf and endowment funds are also ongoing, with a target to surpass the RM9 million raised last year. This includes strategic collaborations with alumni and industry partners such as Perodua, which has agreed to brand student residential facilities under a RM 350,000 initiative.
Concluding his address, the Vice-Chancellor reminded the university community that the achievement of all KPIs must be grounded in spiritual values and sincerity, citing Surah Al-Anfal as a source of inspiration in driving collective success.
Also present were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), Prof. Dr Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof. Dr Ram Al Jaffri Saad who is performing the duties of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni); Registrar, Mr. Ahmad Rasidi Abdullah as well as the Bursar, Mr. Mohtar Hasim.
