utm next strategic plan 2026 – 2030 (Work-in-progress)
UTM ASCEND 2030
The UTM Strategic Plan 2026-2030 (UTM ASCEND 2030) represents UTM’s commitment to transforming into a resilient, innovative, and socially responsible institution. It sets forth four Pillars of Distinctive Eminence, six Strategic Objectives aimed at ensuring UTM’s relevance and leadership in an evolving global landscape, particularly within higher education and research. These objectives align with our mission, vision and core priorities, including fostering adaptive graduates, pioneering sustainable and integrated knowledge practices, enhancing financial resilience, and establishing UTM Kuala Lumpur as a central hub for STEM.
The journey to UTM ASCEND 2030 has involved extensive consultation and collaboration across all university levels and stakeholders. Initiating with the establishment of a dedicated task force in early 2024, the plan’s development followed a systematic approach including Strategic Management Series & Idea Bank, Faculty & Top Management Engagements, Alignment & Prioritisation Workshops and Finalisation & Refinement.
UTM ASCEND 2030 is yet to be finalised, and the information available here will be updated from time to time.
Launching Countdown
Four Pillars of Distinctive Eminence
UTM ASCEND 2030 reflects the university’s collective ambition to scale new heights of excellence, inspired by the spirit of UTM Sanjungan Bangsa. The four Teras Keunggulan Terbilang outlined represent UTM’s commitment to advancing knowledge, empowering talents, ensuring sustainability, and upholding humanity-centred values. These Pillars of Distinctive Eminence reflect our shared aspiration to become the pride of the nation—UTM Sanjungan Bangsa—through impactful education, innovation, and ethical leadership.
Lonjakan Kebitaraan
“Lonjakan Kebitaraan” represents UTM’s commitment to establishing itself as a globally recognised research university through strategic investments in high-impact research centres, scholarly excellence, and commercialisation of research outputs.
Bakat Global
“Bakat Global” focuses on attracting learners to UTM and the holistic development of students (learners) to become future-ready professionals equipped with global competencies.
Kemampanan & Kelestarian
“Kemampanan & Kelestarian” emphasises sustainable development and financial resilience by optimising resources, infrastructure, and operational efficiency.
Kemanusiaan & Kesejahteraan
“Kemanusiaan & Kesejahteraan” underscores UTM’s commitment to humanity-centric development by prioritising ethical leadership, well-being, and social responsibility.
Quick Facts & Figures
Pillars of Distinctive Eminence
Strategic Objectives
Desired States
Strategic Initiatives
Timeline
The 1st Strategy Management Series (SMS) kickoff with Datuk Asma Ismail delivering her talk on Uncertainties in the Higher Education Landscape.
Nineteen (19) core members were appointed as the main task force SP2030 with 1st meeting held on 19 Mar 2024 to lay out the foundation.
Chairman of LPU, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, was invited to speak on leadership experience that was tied to his 77-day journey of 77 trains around the World.
A call for ideas via a digital platform was launched from April to August 2024 to gather ideas from staff and students.
Faculties were engaged in the preparation of inputs to be used for SP2030 development.
The main task force went through 80+ strategic plans and reports (including NIMP & NETR). A total of 57 objectives were crafted, using trigger points from the document review.
All the faculties of UTMJB and UTMKL attended a two-day workshop to develop their respective aspirations for 2030 and identify gaps between them and the current status.
A roundtable discussion was held with Pn Latifah Daud, ex-HR strategic from Khazanah to discuss key issues on managing talents and strengthening institutional governance.
Top management delivered their aspirations for 2030 and spent some time developing a total of 294 strategic factors (SWOT).
A strategic alignment workshop was held to align the aspirations between the top management and faculties with an average of 15% well-aligned agendas between top management, the task force and the faculties.
During the retreat, the prioritisation of ideas led to the crafting of strategic objectives and their corresponding Desired States.
Drafted Strategic Objectives & Desired States were further refined during this workshop, resulting in a total of 7 Strategic Objectives (SO) and 11 Desired States.
Tan Sri Noor Azlan Ghazali was invited for SMS series #3, delivering a talk on future-proofing public universities by challenging the norm.
All nine (9) key departments were consulted during several engagements, finalising the 7 SO and adding 1 Desired State for a grand total of 12 Desired States.
The main task force sat down to identify the critical success factors for all the Desired States while discussing potential risks and the associated mitigation plans.
Closed group discussion with the acting VC on SP2030 and his aspiration, outlining several aspects for strategic alignment.
Taskforce sat down for a more in-depth look at Acting VC’s aspiration, focused deliberation on the impact UTM aspires to introduce in SP2030.
Reiteration of VC8’s aspiration, now with 4 broad focus areas, with the intention to realign SP2030 into a more compact, relatable, and ambitious format for more effective communication and execution.
Top management convenes to discuss the Desired States and Strategic Initiatives to represent the 4 Strategic Focuses.
Taskforce SP2030 scrutinised the suggested Desired States and deliberate their relevance to the 4 Strategic Focus areas.
Desired States were further refined by Taskforce SP2030 by clustering them together, merging similar ideas and crafting possible Strategic Objectives to represent the intention.
Cross functional groups were gathered according to the 4 Strategic Focus, to refine the Strategic Objectives and crafting Strategic Initiatives to reflect the strategic direction.
Town Hall SP2030 was held to communicate the “new” direction to our stakeholders and to gather valuable feedback for improvement.
The draft of Strategic Objectives & Desired States was presented and deliberated at length with the Board of Directors.
Post LPU Retreat workshop to deep dive into the concerns raised by the Board of Directors.
The final version of SP2030 is expected to be tabled at the LPU meeting, seeking official approval.
What’s Next?
This section compiles key reference documents to help faculties and centres align their planning with UTM ASCEND 2030. Although the plan is still being finalised, many have already begun internal discussions. To ensure coherence and avoid parallel strategic plans, faculties are encouraged to adopt UTM ASCEND 2030 as the single institutional strategic plan and build their Action Plans accordingly. Here, you’ll find the latest draft of UTM ASCEND 2030, the Action Plan Toolkit, and other essential resources to guide your next steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is UTM ASCEND 2030 the only strategic plan for UTM?
Yes. UTM ASCEND 2030 is the single institutional strategic plan that guides all faculties, centres, and units. It replaces the need for each PTJ to craft a separate strategic plan. Instead, PTJs should align their action plans to the strategic objectives and desired states in UTM ASCEND 2030.
2. What is the difference between a Strategic Plan and an Action Plan?
The strategic plan outlines long-term university-wide goals (the “why” and “what”), while an action plan focuses on short-to-mid-term execution at the PTJ level (the “how,” “who,” and “when”). Refer to the comparison table provided above for more detail.
3. Can faculties or centres modify the Strategic Objectives or Desired States?
No. Strategic Objectives (SOs) and Desired States (DSs) are fixed and university-endorsed. However, PTJs may prioritise specific SOs/DSs that are most relevant to their context and develop targeted actions around them.
4. How do I start developing our PTJ’s action plan?
You can use the Action Plan Toolkit provided in this section. It includes a structured template and drop-down menus for selecting strategic objectives. The toolkit ensures alignment and simplifies reporting.
5. How often should action plans be updated?
Action plans should be updated annually or as needed. Progress should be monitored quarterly or semi-annually depending on the PTJ’s internal review cycle.
6. What is the approval process for our PTJ’s action plan?
Action plans are approved at the PTJ level (e.g., Dean or Director) but must clearly reference which SOs or DSs they support. They may be reviewed centrally to ensure alignment.
7. Can we customise KPIs in the Action Plan?
Yes, KPIs can be customised based on PTJ context, but they should still align with or contribute toward the overarching KPIs or Desired States defined in UTM ASCEND 2030.
8. How will the university monitor progress?
Through periodic reporting mechanisms coordinated by the Office of Strategy & Corporate Affairs. More details on reporting formats and timelines will be shared in the next phase.
Current Draft of UTM ASCEND 2030
Slide Deck from Mini LPU Retreat
This section features selected presentation decks shared during the Mini LPU Retreat 2025, offering insights into key deliberations, strategic considerations, and leadership direction that informed the development of UTM ASCEND 2030. These materials are provided to ensure continuity, institutional memory, and alignment as PTJs translate strategy into action.
| Lonjakan Kebitaraan | Setapak Development |
| Bakat Global | Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone |
| Kemampanan & Kelestarian | Medical Engineering Faculty |
| Kemanusiaan & Kesejahteraan |
Action Plan Toolkit
This is the official Action Plan Toolkit developed to assist faculties and centres in translating the strategic direction of UTM ASCEND 2030 into concrete, actionable steps. The toolkit provides a structured Google Sheet template for drafting annual action plans aligned with the Strategic Objectives and Desired States. Click the button below to access the template and begin outlining your unit’s initiatives, KPIs, and responsibilities in support of the university-wide strategy.
Strategic Plan vs. Action Plan
| Strategic Plan (UTM ASCEND 2030) | Action Plan | |
| Purpose | Sets the long-term direction: Where are we going and why does it matter? | Turns the strategy into day-to-day execution: What must we do—by whom, by when and with what resources—to deliver the strategy? |
| Scope | University-wide; high-level goals that cut across faculties and offices. | Unit-specific (faculty, centre, project) or theme-specific (e.g. carbon reduction, digitalisation). |
| Time-horizon | UTM ASCEND 2030 covers 2026-2030. | 1–3 years, reviewed annually and adjusted as needed. |
| Content | ▸ Vision, Mission, Core Values ▸ Pillars / Strategic Focus ▸ Strategic Objectives (SO) ▸ Desired States (DS) or KPIs |
▸ Actions / initiatives aligned to each SO or DS ▸ Responsible owner (PIC) ▸ Timeline & milestones ▸ Budget / resources ▸ Success indicators & review cycle |
| Level of detail | Broad, outcome-oriented, inspirational; does not list every project. | Granular, task-oriented, measurable; can include Gantt charts, SOPs, budget lines. |
| Approval | Endorsed by LPU, JPU, and communicated university-wide. | Approved at PTJ level (Dean/Director) but must reference the SO/DS it supports; reported upward. |
| Update frequency | Mid-term review; full refresh at next strategic cycle. | Rolling updates; progress reported quarterly/annually. |
| UTM example | UTM ASCEND 2030 (the only university-level Strategic Plan). | ▸ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Action Plan 2026-2028 ▸ UTM Smart Campus Carbon Action Plan ▸ JS-SEZ Collaboration Hub Action Plan |