The ISP Advantage: More international students are flocking to Binary because of its ISP Certified programmes.

"IT is imperative for parents and students to check if the degrees or diplomas they are enrolling for are fully accredited by Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and recognised by the Public Services Department (PSD). Many are not," said Datuk Professor Joseph Adaikalam, Vice-chancellor/ CEO of Binary University College.

"That is why we are educating the public with the motto: Invest wisely in education."

He said all Binary’s masters, degrees, diplomas and foundation courses are accredited by the National Accreditation Board (LAN) which later became the MQA.

"Enrol only in accredited courses, as education is an investment that is going to pay you for a lifetime. If you invest wisely in accredited and recognised courses, there is little to worry about in terms of career development," added Adaikalam

In addition to joining courses that are fully accredited and recognised, it is also vital to ask the question "Can I get a job upon graduating?" he added.

"Today there are more graduates than jobs. With greater access to higher education, obviously we have more and more people who are graduates today compared to 10 years ago. As such having a degree today does not guarantee a job. Many degrees are merely academic qualifications which do not prepare graduates well for the job market. Employers are fed up with academic graduates who have no clue about the demands of the industry. It is for this reason that Binary University College adopted the concept of producing ISP (Industry Specialist Professional) graduates through strategic alliances with leading firms," said Adaikalam.

He urged students and parents to find out what the job market wants, and evaluate for themselves how many universities actually provide them with the knowledge and skills that match industry requirements.

"Private universities must complement the role of public universities. After all, private universities are charging higher fees. This is why we, as a private university, offer more than just an academic degree. We produce ISP graduates, graduates who are specialised in specific industries," he added.

"Today, if an employer from a finance company is looking for a marketing executive, what he would get from most universities is a marketing degree holder who knows next to nothing about the finance industry. But is this what employers want?" he asks

"An ISP is not just there to meet the needs of an employer but to delight employers with the knowledge and skills-sets that would be least expected of a fresh graduate. Imagine if the employer gets to meet one marketing graduate (an ISP) who specialised in the finance industry who knows about the various financial products and services, the processes, the competitors and the government machinery which oversees the finance industry. Do you think the employer is going to select the hundred others who have an ordinary marketing degree or the former who is an ISP graduate?" he asked.

ISPs are business, IT and Entrepreneurship graduates who have not only mastered all the "same old things" taught at universities but people who have specialised in-depth knowledge about a particular industry.

"In fact many international students have come to realise that the ISP advantage is a powerful differentiation tool for them too and this has resulted in a sharp increase in overseas students flocking to Binary University College over the last two years," added Adaikalam.

Binary Business School (BBS) which is one of the oldest business schools among the private institutions – offers the Phd, DBA, MBA, BA (Hons) Business Management, BA (Hons) Marketing and Diploma in Business Administration. With a record of 34 world business awards, BBS has produced thousands of business graduates who today occupy excellent positions both in the private and public sectors.

The School of Technology Management (STM) on the other hand offers the MSc in ITM, BSc (Hons) Computer Science, BSc (Hons) Management of Technology and Diploma in IT. Apart from the normal Pentium labs, STM is equipped with industry platform labs such as the SUN Ultra and IBM RISC labs imported from the USA. For this reason, some of the world’s leading IT companies such as IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystem and SAP have forged strategic alliances with STM to offer industry relevant programmes.

A shoot of the business school is the School of Entrepreneurship Development (SEED). Binary is the first entrepreneurship university dedicated to producing professional entrepreneurs. Students interested to do business qualification with the intention of starting their own business should consider the programmes offered through SEED. SEED offers the BA (Hons) in Entrepreneurship and the Diploma in Entrepreneurship.

"The unique thing about Binary Entrepreneurs is that they start their own business via the Incubator when they are in the final year of their degree. They would thus graduate with a degree in Entrepreneurship and have a business of their own," explained Adaikalam.

Head of School of Accounting & Finance Assoc Prof Chung Cheng Hoe said another programme worth considering is the BA (Hons) in Accounting.

"With Malaysia needing 49,000 accountants by 2010, pursuing the BA (Hons) Accounting is an excellent investment. Thousands of students apply to local universities to do an Accounting degree every year. However, only a small fraction get a place successfully. STPM students can apply to enter direct into the first year of our degree, whereas SPM students can either do the foundation course or the diploma in Accounting and thereafter progress to the degree," he said.

"Our accounting degree is CPA (Australia) accredited and has been awarded the maximum nine papers exemption by ACCA (UK). The degree is recognised by PSD. In addition, ours is an honours degree," added Chung.

Those interested to pursue diploma or degree courses in Accounting, Computing, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing, and Management Technology with the ISP advantage may call Rudy Chi (018-2156238) or Roland Wee (012-9717647).

The next intake is on May 10 for full time programmes. There is a special intake on February 3 for ‘A’ Levels graduates. Working adults can also pursue these programmes on a part time basis. They can attend the courses on weekends or weekdays.

Those who wish to study at the Kuala Lumpur City Campus for the Diploma in Business Administration, Diploma in Accounting or Diploma in Information Technology should call 03-40418562 (Chandran or May Ling).