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UUM ONLINE: Director of Â鶹ֱ²¥ (UUM) Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC), Dr. Shahrina Othman proved that UUM lecturers have both ability and the credibility in the eyes of the world when she was selected to represent the country as a coach for the Virtual International Facilitator Development Workshop (V-IFDW) organised by the British Council from 20 to 29 July. The Workshop comprised 30 hours of online training and offline activities.

According to her, she received the notification via email from the British Council Malaysia informing her of the selection to the global level after participating in Training of Trainers: Active Citizens Social Enterprise for Higher Education Institutions last year.

She said, of the 26 coaches from East Asia who had participated in the Social Enterprise programme in Hanoi, only eight coaches were selected and she was the only participant from Malaysia.

"All the selected participants are academics representing their respective countries and universities, in fact there are as many as 55 participants from 34 countries that have been certified as Certified Trainers (Active Citizens Social Enterprise).

"I am pleasantly surprised and happy to be selected and we were trained to use the modules developed by the British Council UK. The modules will help participants to familiarize themselves with online learning, develop virtual facilitation skills, develop skills and values for dialogue and inter-cultural networking virtually, in addition to promoting a quality delivery model,“ she said.

Dr. Shahrina expressed hope that with her appointment, she would be able to elevate her confidence with a broader knowledge, be able to expand the network of contacts with active citizens from around the world who participated in the programme.

According to her, with a background in the field of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise, she express hopes that she could share knowledge and experience with all academics who are interested in the field.  She reiterated that by doing so it would indirectly help contribute to the social entrepreneurship industry and further elevate the UUM brand at international level.

She said, at the programme, all coaches were asked to plan the organization of a workshop such as the one they were attending in the participants’ respective countries in an effort to expand authorization to more academics with similar backgrounds.

"However, when the world was hit by the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, the British Council UK conducted online training online which was not only conducted through Webinars, but it also included pre-determined tasks.

“As a qualified coach, the other participants and I are responsible for making changes in the community where we need to understand the purpose and vision of the programme involved, be confident in the learning process and gain experience that allows direct delivery to future participants and communities, build skills and values for dialogue and inter-cultural networking as well as developing facilitation skills," she said.