Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei (second from left) and Sheila Shanmugam (third from left), holding up the agreement, while Ms Dearna Kee June Chen (leftmost), Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Creative Industries (FCCI) and Ms Chan Wan Lih (rightmost), Managing Director of Mindshare Malaysia, look on.
Joining the MoU signing ceremony are Bachelor of Communication (Hons) in Advertising students.
“Hey Google, what does the future hold for graduates?” – A pertinent question. Industry 4.0 calls for a crucial transformation on how students and young graduates’ minds are moulded to be inquisitive thinkers and problem solvers in preparation for the workforce. This is where the collaboration between TAR UC, a higher learning institution and Mindshare Malaysia, a global media agency network, come into play, to strengthen the bridge between academia and the industry.
The interaction between universities and the industry is of paramount importance in advancing learning and education beyond classrooms and preparing employable graduates that can hit the ground running. This represents the core of the collaboration that is outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing session today between TAR UC and Mindshare Malaysia.
Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, President of TAR UC, said: “The collaboration between TAR UC and Mindshare Malaysia marks a significant and meaningful milestone for the University and its students in partnering with a global media agency network as a training ground to create sufficient knowledge and skills for students to be prepared for future jobs in the media and advertising industry.”
Ms Sheila Shanmugam, Chief Executive Officer of Mindshare Malaysia, who shared the same vision said: “At Mindshare, we always challenge and inspire, and create an empowering social impact through the work that we do, which includes education-related initiatives with TAR UC and we believe this collaboration will first and foremost benefit students and young graduates, in addition to building a sustainable talent pipeline for the media and advertising industry and contributing to nation-building.”
Through the signing of the MoU, Mindshare Malaysia and TAR UC will jointly collaborate in media and advertising related initiatives to expose students to real life client problems and to propose solutions through pitching sessions. At the same time, Mindshare will also be one of the industry experts and advisors to offer relevant media and advertising training to keep students and lecturers up-to-date on industry practices and changes.
“Today, we have invited some of our key partners in the media industry such as TikTok Malaysia to share their knowledge and industry’s best practices with TAR UC advertising students as well as a study tour around Mindshare Malaysia’s office as a learning hub to enhance their learning experience and understanding on the departments, processes and practices in the media industry. We think this is imperative to prepare them for the real world,” Shanmugam added.
It is also anticipated that this collaboration will open up internship and employment opportunities for students under TAR UC’s Faculty of Communication & Creative Industries (FCCI). “We look forward to accelerating our collaboration with Mindshare Malaysia and we’re committed to exploring opportunities and supporting each other on potential collaborations that will expose our students to real life industry practices. We commend Mindshare and its management team for their time and effort in training our students,” Prof Ir Dr Lee said.
The collaboration also supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4, namely ‘Quality Education’. Through this industry-academia collaboration, both Mindshare Malaysia and TAR UC will stay committed in bringing together the best of both worlds to create an empowering social impact to the community.
