ISDEV WELCOMES NEW MISDEV15.2 STUDENTS

For the very first time since ISDEV offered its Master in Social Science (Islamic Development Management) programme in 2008, ISDEV accepted a second batch of intake for the academic semester of 2015/2016 following the high demand received annually. A positive indication that this three semesters' mixed-mode course work programme is well known and well received. Thus, ISDEV welcomes the new batch of students on 12 February 2016 at the C06, Social Science Conference Room, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

13 new students have been accepted to pursue their Masters (Mixed-Mode) for the academic year 2015/2016 Semester II. In continuation of ISDEV tradition, this new batch of students is collectively known as MISDEV15.2.

RISDEV students with the juniors - MISDEV15.1 and MISDEV15.2 students.

The Ta'aruf Session (or Orientation Programme) for MISDEV15.2 started at 9.00 am with a welcoming speech and briefing by the representative of ISDEV Director, Dr. Mohd Shukri Hanapi. He started by introducing the students on what ISDEV is all about. Then he gave a brief general overview of the structure of ISDEV, the courses to be attended to by the students, introduced ISDEV lecturers and administrative staff as well as the manners and conduct that should be adhered to whilst studying at ISDEV.

The second session continued with multimedia presentation prepared by ISDEV Associate Members (ABI) focusing on ISDEV activities that are to be participated by the MISDEV15.2 students throughout their studies at ISDEV. In this session, Mohammad Zulfakhairi Mokhtar as ABI representative played his role to explain further about ISDEV activities to share with them the thrill and excitement felt by being actively involved in the activities undertaken.

ABI representative (right) and Dr. Shukri Hanapi in action.

After the multimedia presentation, current RISDEV (ISDEV Postgraduate by Research) students and MISDEV (ISDEV Mixed-Mode) students who are supervised by ISDEV lecturers were called to briefly introduce their respective lecturers from their point of view in terms of each of the lecturers' individual personality and their experiences as to how they are supervised. This is the time that everyone had a chance to know each ISDEV lecturer inside out. A question and answer session that came after that allowed MISDEV15.2 to seek more information and better understanding of what they can expect as well as what is expected of them.

All eyes on the power point presentation to provide a holistic picture of being a
postgraduate student of ISDEV is all about.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of ukhuwwah as exemplified by our beloved Rasulullah SAW, the current MISDEV15.1 are regraded as the Ansar community while the new batch of MISDEV15.2 are regarded as the Muhajirin community. The seniors as well as RISDEV students (consisting of PhD students and fully research mode Masters students) were also present to witness the seal of the brotherhood in ISDEV that day.

The new batch of students is rather a unique mix among them as there is an international student from Japan. At the end of the session, there was time and space for everyone to mingle around, all within the dictates of the Shariah. Even though most of ISDEV beloved lecturers, including Professor Dr. Muhammad Syukri Salleh who were not there due to his commitment as an Adjunct Professor at Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) Brunei Darussalam, certainly MISDEV15.2 students are looking forward to meet and to get to know more closely all the lecturers at ISDEV.

Some of the MISDEV15.2 students with Dr. Azrin Ibrahim (seated right).

ISDEV members hope that MISDEV15.2 students would not only be able to continue the excellent achievements of the previous batch of ISDEV students but also to put it in their hearts to be a proactive part of ISDEV fraternity and thus move ISDEV further towards a more rapid progress, in shaa Allah.

Congratulations and welcome to ISDEV to all MISDEV15.2 students.