Universiti Utara

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), which was officially established on 16 February 1984, is the sixth Malaysian public university. It is the only university that was set up to specialise solely in management education from the very beginning of its establishment.

The planning of the construction of this sixth university began in August 1983 when the Ministry of Education Malaysia began to give form, in earnest, to the idea of setting up this university. On 19th October 1983, the Cabinet gave its official approval for this project in Kedah. At that time, the project was called “The Sixth University Project”. Several months later, the temporary office of the sixth university, officially named Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), was officially opened on 15th February 1984 in Jitra.

UUM has evolved into an open campus where outsiders and tourists are allowed the freedom to visit and utilise the various amenities within it. An area encompassing 107 hectares of forest has been developed into various facilities both to attract tourists to the northern region and to satisfy the recreational needs of the members of the campus community. Among these facilities are a picnic area, a nine-hole golf course, a go-kart circuit, a shooting and archery range, an equestrian site, and many others that are fast gaining popularity among tourists and the members of the campus community alike.

The UUM Transformation Plan, which is essentially a roadmap for the future pursuits and endeavours of UUM, is divided into two phases. Phase One, which is from 2011 till 2015, is focused on unequivocally placing UUM on the local academic map in a systematic and planned manner. During this period, greater emphasis will be given to ensuring the successful achievement of the objectives of the First Phase while, at the same time, being mindful of the imperatives of the Second Phase of the Transformation Plan, which will be from 2016 till 2020.