The Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC) further strengthened its presence in Malaysia through a series of onsite revisits to previously accredited institutions. The latest to undergo the three-day accreditation exercise was the Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (POLISAS) located in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia from October 1-3, 2019.

Prior to this onsite visit, the institution was first visited on March 17-19, 2015 and it resulted in its receipt of the Gold-Level status from the commission.

Assigned to this onsite revisit is Engr. Marjorie Mendenilla as the Lead Accreditor; Engr. Abdul Ghani Rajput as the Member Accreditor, and Mr. Rae Emmanuel Echaveria as the Documentation Officer. They were assigned to examine the compliance of the institution to APACC’s quality standards based on the seven established criteria through interviews, campus tours, and discussions.

They were welcomed by the POLISAS team led by the Director, Dr. Hj. Abdul Latif bin Ahmad, Deputy Director for Academic, Tn. Haji Che Alias bin Mohd Yusof, and the Deputy Director for Academic Support, Mr. Shahrul Nizam bin Mohammed. Present as well during the opening ceremony and the first day were representatives from the Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education (DPCCE) of Malaysia including the Director of Governance and Excellence Division, Tn. Haji Mohd Nasir bin Abdul Ghani; the Director of Curriculum Division, Pn. Noor Aidi binti Nadzri; and Ck. Nabil binti Yaacob from the Governance and Excellence Division.

The officials of DPCCE, APACC, and POLISAS (left-right): Pn. Noor Aidi bt. Nadzri (Director of Curriculum Division, DPCCE); Engr. Abdul Ghani Rajput (APACC Member Accreditor); Engr. Marjorie Mendenilla (APACC Lead Accreditor); Dr. Haji Abdul Latif bin Ahmad (Director of POLISAS); Tn. Haji Che Alias bin Mohd Yusof (POLISAS Deputy Director for Academic); Mr. Shairul Nizam bin Mohamed (POLISAS Deputy Director of Academic Support), and Mr. Rae Emmanuel Echaveria (APACC Documentation Officer)

In the speech welcoming the accreditors and the POLISAS team, Tn. Haji Mohd Nasir cited the importance of APACC in ensuring that the Malaysian polytechnics are “internationalized”. He also mentioned the importance of this direction to Malaysia’s economic development, in line with its vision to become a developed country by 2020. He welcomed the APACC team to POLISAS and Kuantan and wished for a productive and meaningful three-day activity.

The Director, Dr. Abdul Latif, presented relevant facts about POLISAS including its vision, mission and client charter. He also presented some of POLISAS’ achievements and the actions that they have implemented to address the recommendations from the previous onsite visit.

In response, Engr. Mendenilla vowed to continue APACC’s mission of helping institutions in the region achieve the recognition to affirm the quality of operations. She also expressed her gratefulness, on behalf of the APACC team, for the warm hospitality of the POLISAS team and wished for the success of the institution in the coming years.

For three days, the team proceeded in conducting a tour of the whole institution in which they personally saw the developments that it has done since the last onsite visit in 2015. They were also able to review the documents presented to them to validate the scores indicated in the self-study report submitted by the institution. At the end of the three-day activity, Engr. Mendenilla presented a qualitative report that indicates the summary of the commendations, affirmations, and recommendations found by team.

Engr. Mendenilla asking the students regarding their library use experience during the onsite visit tour
The accreditors verifying some documents in the Guidance and Counselling office during one of the onsite visit tours

Engr. Rajput discussing the purpose of APACC to the students of ICT in one of the classroom tours

The team with the members of the POLISAS student government during a visit to the Students’ and Alumni Center

The POLISAS team and the accreditors at the façade of the institution.