School of Management (SOM)

Good day dear juniors. First of all, we would like to congratulate and welcome you all to the School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Your many years of hard work had finally paid off. Right now, you are about to embark on a brand new chapter of your life. If you are having any doubts or confusions, here’s the FAQs that hopefully will be of help to all of you.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What will students study in a Management degree?

Management is a 4-year degree course and in order to graduate successfully, students will have to accumulate 136 units (credit hours) including 21 units of several papers required by the university (English, Bahasa Malaysia, TITAS, Ethnic Relation etc). Management students are required to choose a major and minor from the lists below.

Major:-

Finance
Marketing
Operational Management
Organizational Behavior
International Business
Islamic Finance

Minor (whatever School that provides Minor courses):-

Economics
Political Science
Southeast Asian Studies
Psychology
Computer Science
Information Technology
Communication Studies
Science and Environmental Journalism
Islamic Studies
English Language
Translation and Interpretation
Japanese Language Studies
Chinese Language Studies
Communication Arabic

SOM do not offer double major programme currently. And programmes offered for major cannot be chosen as a minor. Eg. Students CANNOT major in Finance and MINOR in Marketing. Students must choose ONE from the major list as major and ONE from minor list as your minor.

Students will only be asked to choose minor during 3^rd semester and major during your 4^th semester.

So, for first year, students will normally take subjects about the basics or some fundamental of those major courses. Students will take papers such as Principle of Marketing, Finance, Organizational Behaviour, Operational Management and International Business. All the papers mentioned above will unveil what can expect from those majors.

2. What is the best major or minor?

There is no such thing as the best major or minor. It all depends on what students like and enjoy the most. So, when the time comes, choose something that you are interested in.

3. What will students study in an Accounting degree?

Similar to the Management program, Accounting is a 4-year degree course and in order to graduate, you will have to accumulate 137 units (credit hours) including 15 units of several papers required by the university (English, Bahasa Malaysia, TITAS, Ethnic Relation, Core Entrepreneurship etc). Students will get more details about this inside a guide book that will distribute during orientation. Accounting program is a professional course so students are not required to have no minor subjects.

4. For accounting students, what qualification we may get after graduate?

The Bachelor of Accounting degree graduates are recognized by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). Graduates will be obtained a certificate in Bachelor of Accounting (Hons.) and accepted as Certified Accountants after gaining 3 years of working experiences at an accounting firm or an industry.

*For more information, you can get from http://www.mia.org.my/new/members_being_application.asp

5. How many examination papers can exempted from professional accounting bodies? (*subject to changes)

(a) CIMA – The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (10/16)

Syllabus – http://www.cimaglobal.com/PageFiles/360026951/CIMA%20Syllabus.pdf

http://www.bpp.com/professional-qualifications-course/cima/levels

Exemption – http://www.cimaglobal.com/Starting-CIMA/Starting-CIMA/Exemptions/Exemption-Search/University-Sains-Malaysia-USM-9859/?qualification=1-2NIVF22

(b) MICPA – The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (exemption granted – professional stage exam)

Advanced stage syllables – http://www.micpa.com.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/List_of_approved_qualifications_2017.pdf

Exemption – http://www.micpa.com.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/List_of_approved_qualifications_2017.pdf

Exemption:

https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/ManageApplications/AccreditedCourse.mvc/AccreditedCourseDetails?accreditedCourseId=b8917255-2ab5-e611-80e6-0050569a1c9a

(d) ACCA – The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (9/14)

Exemption:

http://www.accaglobal.com/sg/en/help/exemptions-calculator.html

(e) ICAEW – Institute of Chartered Accountant in England and Wales (8/15)

Exemption:

https://apps.icaew.com/cpldirectory/Search/AcademicCreditsAvailable?id=385&cplName=Bachelor%20of%20Accounting

6. What is the medium of teaching in management and accounting program?

English. Lectures, tutorials and examinations are all conducted in English. However, for Minor courses, it may be in English, BM or other languages.

7. How to register the courses for the first semester?

For the first semester, School of Management provided automatic courses registration. Students are only required to check the courses that auto-registered.

8. Do students have to do internship?

For management program, the students will do their internship during the 8^th semester which is the last semester. For accounting program, the students will do their internship during the 6^th semester.

9. Do students need to buy textbooks?

Textbooks will be recommended by lecturers. We do not encourage photocopying of textbooks but students may make their own decision. For some papers, lecturers will require students to take online quizzes which carry weight into coursework grades (eg. 5% or 10% of coursework grades). In order to take those online quizzes, students will need to have an activation code that comes along with the purchase of textbooks. So in this case, students will have no choice but to buy the textbooks.

Lecturers will be using slides to teach most of the time, and USUALLY, students will be given the lecture notes (PPT slides or PDF). Anyway, for those courses don’t have the online quizzes, juniors can try to get the textbooks from seniors for free or buy the textbooks from seniors.

10. What is the proper attire for attending lectures and tutorial classes?

In discussing this issue, USM is comparatively liberal among public universities. Students do not have to wear formal to attend classes every day. As long as they wear long pants and covered shoes. Round neck t-shirts are also acceptable in USM.

11. How do students get access to Internet?

Within USM compound, students can connect to USM network using their own IDs which will be given upon entering USM. However, being able to connect does not guarantee the speed of the connection.

12. Can students choose not to attend lectures or tutorials?

Students are required to have at least 70% and above attendance or else they may be barred from final examinations. So, students are not endorsed to skip lectures and tutorials. Moreover, lecturers might give tips for examinations during certain lectures or tutorials. Some lecturers may choose to give pop quizzes to ensure students attend their classes.

13. Must all students join any co-curricular activities?

USM does not force students to join co-curricular activities. However, students might need the units (credit hours) from co-curricular activities to graduate successfully. So, to join or not is up to students own preferences. 1^st year students will be given more information during orientation week.

USM also have a lot of societies or clubs which they can choose to join. These societies or clubs offer NO units. However, by joining those societies or clubs, students will be able to gain MyCSD points (important to secure a hostel room in second year). MyCSD is My Continuous Student Development in full. It is a program that intends to build a holistic student personality under the APEX program. Having a low MyCSD points will lessen the chance of getting a room in subsequent year in USM. Again, joining these societies or clubs is based on students own preference.

14. Can students drive in USM? How to get the sticker?

First year students are NOT allowed to bring in any vehicles into USM. If students get caught driving any unregistered vehicle in USM, they will receive a summon. Students can only bring their own vehicle to USM start from second year. Still, students have to get a sticker and register their own vehicle with Jabatan Keselamatan in USM. In order to entitle a sticker, students have to be active in societies and clubs. Stickers are limited and they are only given to students who are actively participating in the clubs. Anyway, vehicles without stickers can be parked at Padang Kawad ONLY.

15. Can students take foreign language? Is it compulsory to take it?

Yes, management and accounting students are allowed take foreign language. It is not compulsory but you can take foreign language to fulfill the units (credit hours) in order to graduate successfully.

Foreign languages that are available in USM:

Spanish

Japanese

Arabic

Korean

Mandarin

Tamil

German

French

Thai

15.Where is School of Management located?

School of Management is in building E45. It is located opposite the Hamzah Sendut Library 2 (E41) and School of Educational Studies (E43).