Ciri Akademik Cemerlang di Universiti Awam Malaysia

In a university system, the key to identifying and rewarding excellence is through academic promotion to professorship. However, research on the characteristics of professors as excellent academic leaders and how they enact leadership activities is very limited. The main issues include unclear definition of excellent professors and in-depth research on the notion and concept of academic leadership. Thus, this study aims to explore the elements of excellence among senior professors in the Malaysian public universities by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their leadership contributions. Based on a qualitative study and using a document analysis approach on curriculum vitae, ten senior professors holding VK 5 post (Grade A) were selected as respondents using purposive sampling method. They represented the four types of public universities namely research, comprehensive, technical and focused. The findings revealed that in general, the senior professors’ excellent contribution is unbalanced and skewed towards elements related to teaching, research and management. The senior professors reported less contribution involving professional development and public intellectual activities. The findings also showed that they contributed excessively to activities within their own university ecosystem, but less on activities outside their university, and at the regional and international levels. The findings point to several implications for academic leadership theories, policy development, and the status and relevance of the academic profession in Malaysia.